Help with 6yr old...

Ok so my DF and I are caring for our 6yr old nephew for a while as his Mum has just had a new baby, and was in need of a break. Now, while we only have him for 10days this time, it may be that we have him a lot more in the future. So, I'm having trouble finding things to occupy him thru the day that will also be educational and not just plonking him in front of the telly all day. He doesn't really get any nurturing at all at home, and isn't a very cuddly child, but it seems that he wants to be. He just seems very guarded and needs to be prompted to be affectionate.

So far we have come up with : playing at the river (runs thru the back yard, fenced off tho), Xbox (not my choice, but DF finds it easy), getting him to take photos and short videos of his time here to take back to Mum on a DVD, writing a letter to Nana, coloring in, writing a story, baking cookies with Uncle, puzzles, creative play (dress ups and the like), and a few others I seem to have forgotten.

Since we have been TTC for so long we are fully set up for kids, but seem to be a bit at a loss for a child who isn't very affectionate, and to be honest, has been let away with murder for so long at home. He is usually shouted at a lot at home for the smallest of things, so he seems to be appreciating the change of discipline. I love him to bits and really hope we can have a positive influence on him during his stay.

He has been very good behaviourally, which is unusual for him, but we have found out that in the week before he came down south to us to stay his behaviour and participation and manners at school (and at home) improved dramatically when he was told he had to be a good boy if he wanted to come and stay. So that was really sweet.

Any ideas are greatly appreciated, really just looking to be interactive without employing the television!

Thanks in adavance!

Thanks everyone, a lot of good ideas in there. Will be doing some craft things with him tomorrow, so he is looking forward to that.

We went to see the glow worms tonight, so he was rapt that he got to stay up a bit later than usual. We got to almost the whole way to the spot along the track when he got scared of the dark (we had a torch but had to turn it off to see the bugs) and had a bit of a panic attack. So my partner gave him a piggy back ride back home, and he felt a bit better.

So will take the above on board, and will dig out a few boxes and get a few toy cars tomorrow and have some fun!

THANK YOU!