To be able to entertain visiting children you need a few simple toys.

Paper. Lots of it. Paper can be used as a backing for a collage for cutting and sticking, for colouring, drawing or writing. You can also fold paper into shapes and do origami!

Colouring materials - either pens, felt tips, crayons, pencils, paints or any other art medium you like using. When you sit down and spend quality time with a child doing art you can allow your own artistic skills to come out a bit. Start them off with a quick doodle and let them finish the rest of the picture. For some children colouring in is their favourite so you'll need to be able to create black outlined drawings in either pencil or pen to allow them to get on with some colouring.

Glue is needed for cutting and sticking and making models. If you're crafty you'll probably have some PVA glue around. This is good glue for children as it'll wash off clothes and hands easily. If you don't have any then you can make a simple glue using flour and water.

A ball is a great standby toy. Ideally a soft football as this is most adaptable for playing both football and softer indoor games. You can turn a hallway into a bowling alley very easily with a few empty plastic bottles and your ball! You can throw the kids outside in good weather and they'll get on with playing ball or you can join in and play piggy in the middle!

A board game of some description. You might already have a chess board, scrabble set, a pack of playing cards or even dominos. All these games can provide entertainment for children. You can teach children the rules and play the games or make up other games with the pieces. A Chess board can be used to play checkers on with the chess pieces, or you can play dice chase across the board. Each player has a playing piece they start off in a corner and taking it in turns to roll the dice one player tries to catch the other. It's a good game for encouraging them to count squares too. Cards are versatile as so many games can be played including basics like snap!

Just a few simple items in your house can make all the difference for a visiting child to have some fun!