Calling mom's of energitic 2-3 year old boys?

[CADS]

DS is 2.3 years old and has endless energy and with all this rain he has been driving me up the walls with whinning and tantrums. I try to get him involved in my chores things like loading and unloading dishwasher, washing machine, etc but he soon losses interest and we land up with a tantrum. Also, have a 6mnth old dd which takes up my time too.

Unfortunately, we don't have any indoor play centres near us.

Can anyone suggest some active activities that he can do indoors to burn off some of his energy? Are there any toddler exercise/dance DVDs that might help?

Sorry, do not have a good imagination so any tips with help.

[Mum2Ela]

Do they have to be indoor activities?

[CADS]

Preferably, because it is raining cats and dogs.

[elliott]

I do disco dancing and den making with the sofa cushions (both of which usually involve bouncing on and off the sofas) with mine when its like this (they are 4.5 and 2.5). Or one of those IKEA play tubes might be a good investment if you don't like your kids playing on the furniture...

[robin3]

Not sure I dare suggest these two ideas but here goes....obviously secure dd first then...

1. lots of cushions/soft toys on the floor and let him wrestle OR
   
2. let him bounce around on your bed with said toys. You'll have to join in and supervise to avoid accidents.
   

5 mins of supervised wrestling and DS calms down again.

1. dancing....buy Barney or similar and get him dancing in front of TV.

[JackieNo]

Have you got any exercise videos/dvds? You could do one of those - doesn't have to be one specifically for children. And your DD can watch.

[gigglinggoblin]

make some playdough then use all your cookie cutters and stuff

have a bath (can last an hour here!)

we sometimes walk to the train station and sit and watch the trains for a while. ds3 finds it hugely exciting

go and visit granny?

go out for a walk anyway! loads of puddles about to splash in, 2yo dont mind rain at all (mine doesnt anyway). we will be walking into town later and getting the bus to meet daddy from work (he loves buses aswell).

[FrannyandZooey]

Just get him to copy you, try different movements to challenge him and wear him out - stretch your arms, kick your legs, wiggle your bottom, spin around, touch your toes etc etc. Say the action each time and he will soon get the hang of it, then you progress to the good bit where you sit down and just give the directions, with much cheering and clapping when he gets it right.

A hoop is fun to play with indoors if you have a little bit of space. Start and stop dancing is fun (you turn the music off and on) and you can try different things when the music stops such as jump in the hoop, put your hands on your head etc. These sort of games require a lot of concentration from a 2 year old which also helps to wear him out :)

[Toothyboy]

Give him a drum (real or pretend) and tell him to march around like a soldier - this is ds1's current favourite activity!

Other faves are standing on a chair at the sink with the tap running and various pots and cups, and playing on the floor with pots and pans, wooden spoons and dry pasta!

[LadyTophamHatt]

Build a camp.

Sheets, blankets or whatever over the table, off the back of the sofa, over dining chairs.

He'll love it.

[LadyTophamHatt]

toothyboy...are you mad??

a drum???

Good lord woman, go and lie down and think about what you've just said


Someone once bought ds3 a drum and had an evil cackle when he opened the present. She's a mother herself too.....anyway the drum is in the loft I think...might be in a charity shop somehere now I think about it.

Drums are banned in my house.

[Toothyboy]

Ds1 discovered it himself - he's made it out of an old Celebrations tin, which is nice. And loud.
I'm just trying to inflict my earache on someone else !

[CADS]

DRUM!! God, MIL inlaw gave him one which suddenly disappeared. The woman loves to get him noisy toys that don't have an off button.

Thanks for the tips. Have just thrown some sheets over the sofa and armchair and its got him very excited. DD is very hard work and demands alot of my time so I need things he can do on his own.

Have tried things like Simon Says, it doesn't work because of his delay with speech and understand.

A couple of times this week he has thrown or pushed over everything in sight in anger/frustration.

[alison222]

Is there room to bounce around on a kiddies spacehopper - DD has one and loves it. I know it says age 3 on it but she has been able to bounce for quite a while.
Dancing - see how many different types of music you can find.
Hide and seek.
huge blanket over the dining table to make a den?
Musical bumps - When the music stops you have to sit down.

[BettySpaghetti]

A mini-trampoline (one of those ones that are about 1m x 1m with a handle) ?

Go swimming?

[meowmix]

play doh keeps ds enteretained for hours (watch out for your carpets/keyholes tho). he also likes doing davina with me!

[sparklemagic]

Lots of good ideas here, particularly good for us are things like making a den under a table with sheets/blankets - this can be so many games - it's a dragon's cave, or a fire station (A little voice comes from under the table "Which service do you require?"!!!)

Sofa cushions to bounce on and bouncing on the bed save my life on wet days when he simply has to use up some energy.

Maybe you could set up sofa cushions as a barrier for him to knock down, would use up some frustration....

Also find playdoh can be really useful as he can get quite violent with it without making too much mess!

Do you have a garden? Once or twice when desperate I have dressed DS up in all his waterproofs and his wellies, and watched him jump in puddles in the garden, bizarrely even water the garden when it's raining and this kept him happy for ages..usually leads onto a warm bath after, and this combination can almost while away a wet afternoon....

[gigwig]

DS bounces around on our bed, and messes around with the sofa cushions downstairs.

He loves sorting out the kitchen cupboard with the saucepans and putting pegs and coat hangers onto a clothes horse - in different sizes/colours. Keeps him very occupied when it is wet.

[accessorizequeen]

Picnic/tea party etc keeps ds happy for some time, particularly if teddies join in and have cup and plate each. He's got a frypan, so I gave him a box of pasta shells so he shares out food as well after cooking it. Got my kit from charity, but m/care do sets for a fiver, I think. Vet's kit someone got him from Sainsbury's also extremely popular (teddies again, although sometimes I have to be a cat..). Those spongy paint bottles from elc also great as don't make much mess, I draw a series of shapes on large paper (like fish, octoposes & flowers) and he colours them in. All sounds easier when you just have one, due with no.2 and don't know how I'll do it all then esp if new one requires lots of attention. Rainy days make it all harder. Are there any groups nearby, storytime, softplay sessions etc? Storytime at nearby library a real hit with ds & his friend, and kills time on a slow, rainy Friday.

[Laura032004]

I print lots of pictures from CBeebies for ds to colour in.

He brings his sit-on/ride toy in the house and zooms around (we've got just enough space for this!).

Throwing a ball / rolling a ball on the floor.

Traintrack - he pushes the train around for hours, must cover miles!

We also get out whenever possible (five dry minutes!). I just dry all the garden toys off, and put his wellies on for the wet grass.

[CADS]

Thanks everyone for your fantastic ideas.

I got ds a mini trampoline yesterday and he absolutely loves it. He is completely exhausted after 5 mins. Argos and ToysRUs are doing them for £14.99

[Pruni]

Am so of all of you with boys who will do things on their own!

[acnebride]

Top CD for us - Tchaikovsky, highlights of Swan Lake and Nutcracker Suite. then cushions on the floor /spacehopper etc and lots of bouncing and shouting ensue. The version we have requires a bit of skipping through the slower bits - recommend Dance of the Little Ducks or whatever it's called though, and the opening track for Swan Lake in particular.

LOL at what service do you require

i'm getting a trampoline! - thanks