Entertaining my 2 1/2 year old

[slightlyconfused85]

I'm at home with me 2 and a half year old at the moment- she's gorgeous and lovely but doesn't need a nap so we have 12 hour days to fill- I'm finding it hard as I'm 33 weeks pregnant and the days feel long! Today for example she was up at 6.30 and watched cbeebies until 7.15. We did breakfast and colouring then went for a play date with her friend until 12.30. We came home via a shop and to feed the ducks in a local duck pond, then did some colouring, a jigsaw, played happyland on her own and it was still only 3.30. I've just put ben and holly on for an hour as I'm running out of ideas...tomorrow i have Lemon drizzle cake baking annex but not

[slightlyconfused85]

Sorry planned, and the park but thigs won't take all day...any ideas?

[MagpieCursedTea]

I quite like getting out of the house with DS. We often do day trips to cheap/free places. However since you're quite pregnant (congratulations! ) I can understand you might not want to trek out too much.

Don't feel guilty if there's a bit more CBeebies than usual while you get some rest! Or maybe inviting friends/family round to see you?
Maybe a trip out to hobby craft or somewhere similar to stock up on craft projects?

[Ineedacleaningfairy]

When I was pregnant we watched a lot of tv, my toddler knows about 50 signs we watched so much me tumble we did tend to go out once a day to the park/playgroup/play date/swimming but the rest of the time we hung out at home with the tv on. I also used the tv as a distraction for the first couple of months when I had a newborn but now the baby is a bit bigger we are down to half an hour of tv a day.

Play ideas that kept my toddler somewhat entertained for a reasonable length of time are brio train track and playmobil.

[Lovelydiscusfish]

Craft activities - any chance you could pop down to Poundland or similar and stock up on a load of craft bits. My dd and various of her friends we have seen (a bit older than yours at just 3) have spent hours this week decorating some foam butterfly shapes I bought there with different stickers - and it's so simple I'm not sure it even counts as craft, but the beauty is they can do it with hardly any adult input!
Have you got a garden? If so paddling pool is nice now weather is warm - maybe a watering can as well, lots of water play?
Also can you stock up on games suitable for toddlers, such as Orchard Games - we while away quite a lot if time playing these, and they are also often quite educational, or at least good for turn taking.
Good luck with the birth!

[tiddleypompom]

I have my two year old on his own three days a week whilst big brother is at preschool. We go out for the for one of those - National Trust/garden centre/local market town etc - for a wander, play, explore & lunch (picnic or cafe). Home for school run then he'll play with cars or watch DVD with DS1. Other days I spilt into two - active morning & more chilled afternoon. Quiet time after lunch if no nap.
Try to encourage lone play now as it'll pay dividends when dc2 arrives. I find at two they're pretty easy to convince that anything is fun - so gardening (pots, diggers, watering etc), walks to collect 'stuff' then make collage, making garage for cars out of boxes etc. Sandpits are great & absorb for a good time.
Hope you manage to get some rest. Try not to expect too much of yourself - hard to be super mum to a demanding toddler when you're heavily pregnant.

[trilbydoll]

DD is just 2 and has recently discovered stickers, she doesn't actually need many stickers, she likes sticking and unsticking them to various bits of furniture.

If you've got a soft play she can do unaided, that is good, or a friend to go with - I went with a friend who has a baby, I sat and held the baby, friend got run ragged in soft play.

DD also loves pooh sticks, although I don't think she fully grasps what we are doing, she loves watching the sticks float down the stream! Honestly, I think she would happily do it all day.

I must admit, I would have had cbeebies on until at least 8am if not the end of Tweenies at 9am, I'm not particularly quick in the mornings!

[slightlyconfused85]

Thanks everyone- I will indeed get myself down to poundland for a few crafty bits- I'm not desperately
Creative in this area but Pinterest has helped me out a bit so far. I feel bad about too much TV but I'm so knackered by the afternoon that it just ends up on in the run up to dinner. I have got a few good friends with kids her age that she loves playing with but not enough for a play date asuch as we both would like!

[Singsongsung]

You have my sympathy. My dd1 was 8 when I was at your stage of pregnancy and perfectly able to entertain herself but I found it so so hard. How anyone copes with a toddler at that stage is beyond me.
Don't worry about the excessive TV watching- just look after yourself. Your daughter will be fine and she has so much to look forward to. My dd1 has genuinely never been happier since her ds arrived.
Good luck!

[ababycalledbrian]

Ooh yes to stickers. Melissa and Doug do these fab ones made of latex or sommat which are reusable - my 2.5yr DS goes nuts for them.

[Lovelydiscusfish]

Don't feel so bad about the telly! A lot of the cbeebies stuff is pretty worthy and educational anyway, as far as I can tell.
I don't know if you have an iPad, or other tablet - if you do there are various apps that might occupy your daughter, and also help her develop some useful knowledge/skills. I have a couple of the Justin/Mr Tumble ones, which seem very good and dd loves them. Obviously one wouldn't want one's child doing that 24/7, but it seems a good and productive way to occupy her for the odd spare 15 minutes.
Also there are some youtube bits, such as Jolly Phonics and Letterland, which dd has loved to watch for 10 minutes or so, and which have really helped her basic phonics learning - we probably started this from about your dd's age, and she showed a keen interest.
Toys-wise, a doll's house was a big hit with dd from about this age, if you have space for one.

[lyssie29]

My dad has just turned 2 and I'm 20 weeks and already knackered! I normally take her out somewhere in the morning such as the library or swimming and then home for lunch. My dd still naps though but maybe you could have a story time after lunch where you can both relax? My dad also loves building blocks. I mean she LOVES them and will play for ages with them letting mummy have a cuppa. On the afternoons i arrange to meet friends if they are off work too and she loves the extra attention.

[BlinkAndMiss]

Similar situation here except I'm having complications which require me to 'rest' like that's possible. Things that I've found take up some time are cleaning things - we've bought kids cleaning things so he follows me round doing 'chores', he's being quite clingy at the moment so it helps me to keep pottering whilst allowing him to stay close.

A useful investment has been getting a tuff tray which is basically a builders cement tray. We use it for painting, play dough and other messy play. There's loads of stuff online about creating theme trays based on books or even just generalised themes. They take time to create obviously but provide hours of play. Story sacks are another one, a variation of this is to do a little treasure hunt of objects relating to a specific story, then read the story together and identify the objects as they are mentioned.