April 24, 2008 is national Take Our Daughters or Sons to Work day. For older children, this is a special opportunity to see where their parents go and what they do when they say goodbye in the morning. Some offices create specific activities designed to help the next generation to start thinking about their futures and to send a message about the importance of their education. While younger children may appear to be interested in nothing more than a Xeroxed copy of their hand, they too can benefit from the experience by being able to visualize where mommy or daddy are when they are not with them and to understand what “going to work” actually means.

Whether during a planned visit or not (e.g. no school), the excitement of welcoming your children to your workplace - exposing them to another important part of your life, not to mention showing them off to colleagues, may make it difficult to stay focused on doing actual work. While you may appreciate the break, fellow staff members, especially those without children, may not. The last thing you will want to do is disturb anyone, so it’s a good idea to come to work prepared with a big bag of tricks. Let’s face it: spinning on a desk chair can only keep them occupied for so long. Try these age-by-age activities, designed to keep your kids entertained (read: quiet) until quitting time.