To wonder what to do with my children on these endless rainy afternoons?

@catsandkittensandcats get the slime that goes in the bath! Saved us through a miserable lockdown winter with toddler ds.

I feel your pain. Somehow it was always only half two even though I could swear it should be half five. I used to go to places with people so I felt part of real life. Garden centre, library, IKEA, supermarket, big bookshop near me. Might be worth joining any local historic house/National Trust place. Cafe once in a whole with sticker books, colouring etc gor your toddler. Look up what's on locally, sometimes you can find stay and play sessions, forest school type things, kids craft groups etc. Baby in a carrier rather than a pram. Good luck. As they say, the hours are long but the years are short. I used to hate this saying but now mine are older I realise its so true!!

Hi OP. I remember the very long afternoons when mine where both very little. We did crafts, making hand made cards for families and friends, hand/finger painting, make a cake and let the toddler do as much as possible, play dates, museums, galleries, indoor shopping centre for babycino and coffee or tea for you, walk around the big Tesco (it's something to do!). The main thing was to pick just one activity and do that mid afternoon when I was getting bored. If doing a messy activity then I'd clean while they watch TV. Oh and Pinterest was very helpful in finding age appropriate activities.

OP I would add that mine are older now and in hind sight the best days were the easiest. Those were where I couldn't be bothered and we did 20 to 30 mins in each room of the house.

In each room I had a basket with a themed activity. E.g. musical instruments for toddlers, sensory items, books, puppets and finger toys and make a show, books, wooden blocks, so we would go from room to room just doing the stuff in the basket. So easy, so fun and so simple.

Also don't feel you have to do stuff, let them walk around the house, everything is fascinating at that age.

Enjoy the little age, as they say, the days are long and the years are short. As much as it felt like the afternoons lasted forever, what I would do for one more of those days.

I am guessing that if the second child is 11 months this is imminent and she is looking for ideas to get through the last dull weeks of ML. But if not, do it!

Though apart from those activities, I know we never went on trips, and there were no parks or playgrounds nearby.

My own DCs had big tubs of plastic animals and big tubs of wooden blocks, and I remember they all got a lot of value from them, setting up little worlds even at age 3, and playing imagination games. They often pretended they were cats or dogs, and I provided bowls of water for them to drink from and bowls of dry cereal to munch. I remember suggesting DD1 sit looking out the window and bark at squirrels, burds, or passersby, which she did for hours.

Between age 3 and 4, you can gradually foster the ability to play independently.

Is the correct answer!

My mum used to make salt dough and let us play with it when we had eaten all our plasticene ran out of plasticene.

I remember spending what seemed like hours squishing it, rolling it out, using cookie cutters to cut it, rolling it into balls, forming it into cubes, making people shapes with it...

She also crumpled tin foil and let us smooth it out with the back of a spoon.

She made 'biscuits' out of shortcut pastry, cut in shapes or rolled in balls, and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. They were actually quite good.

We also did hand prints, potato prints, leaf prints, and apple prints using washable paint. Followed by a bath, usually.

Long baths can be fun.

Fill the tub so they can "swim."

Get lots of water toys, towels lining the bathroom floor...

You might like to look at Pinterest for very simple crafts or ideas for activities.

Crafts can be frustrating, though - many take more time to set up and clear away than to actually do, and many don't take into account the attention span or fine motor abilities of small children.
Sensory activities are often a better idea, and Pinterest might be a good resource.

Activities like freeze dance can be fun, and kids can burn off energy.
Could you find some mommy-and-me online yoga classes?

I'm guessing you read til you're cross-eyed many days.

TV is not the enemy some on MN think it is.

When mine were little we had Merlin passes and did Chessington , Legoland and Thorpe park on a very regular basis . One morning we stayed on the flying fish at Thorpe park for over an hour ! EH and NT membership was also useful . Local farm parks , steam railway and the most time consuming of all - buy a pony .

I get the feeling that it is you, OP, who is bored more than the kids?

I would suggest inviting people round to yours, e.g. other mums from morning groups. As many as you can handle. That way you will have a good chance of being invited back a few times in return. The kids can play together and you can have a chat. At the end, the house will be upside down, and clearing that up before your DH gets home will fill the rest of the day.

My PIL were also an hour away, but I often visited them on days with nothing else to do - frees up a day with better weather!

Doesn't the oldest go to preschool?

And pet shops, any baby groups, Asda, cafes, museums, trampolining…

I remember those days! Rain and toddlers/ preschoolers felt like a prison sentence.
I have little to offer, but here goes:
megablocks
den building
playdoh
baking
ball pool in the lounge (paddling pool and balls)
make shakers (bottles, rice, glitter)
put music on and dance/ shake instruments.
walk despite the rain
safari park
make a box fort
hoopla in the lounge
get a mini trampoline
balloons!
(let the 11 month old practice pulling up while you do the rest if needed)
pull all the sofa cushions on the floor and snuggle with books.
Glow stick bath

I really empathize, I remember friends asking me if I went out every day with a baby and being incredulous because I went out at least 3 times a day to kill time!

Great suggestions above- library can be a trip just to swap books if no rhyme time, combine with a cafe and babycino. Also worth exploring other libraries in the same council as some will have better toys. Children centres sometimes have afternoon sessions. iKEA or even just any indoor mall/big shop combining any conceivable small errand with a browse. Lots of libraries/Cafe/ local hub places do after school crafts/lego club which you can crash with a preschooler.

It does get much easier once you have two walkers.

Local farm. Pets shop (look at the bunnies and the fish). Get your food shop done. Museums often have a children’s play thing.
get on a train or a bus.
play dates.
Classical concerts for children.
ryme time at the library. Just go to the library and hang out in the children’s section.
but mainly… play dates. You get to speak with grown ups and they get to play.

• Shopping retail park with a few shops like pets at home etc
• Sometimes libraries might do a rhyme time session in the afternoons
• Annual pass to an aquarium/petting zoo/farm type place
• Costa for a cake/biscuit whilst you have a coffee
• Any play hubs near you. Can be pricey though.
• Look up local gymnastics places as they often do a toddler stay and play session. We have a couple near us and they are great.
• Garden centres! For the fish and pets and some have tiny softplays where again you can grab a coffee 😂
• Any indoor skate parks near you where they can take their scooters?
• Some museums have kids interactive bits of kid zones

That’s it I’m out of ideas. I would say though if I had to be outside on a rainy day I quite like a forest as the trees give some relief to the wind and rain and can be quite relaxing to be underneath with your little ones!

Definitely check out some local museums- we have an art gallery that has shite all for children in their main exhibits but an amazing play/sensory room, you’d be surprised what some places have!

We walk our dog in the rain on an afternoon, it's rarely actually raining the whole time

Other things are the usual suspects

Kinetic sand
Playdoh
Maganetiles
Duplo
Barbies
Dollys
Crafting
Puzzles
Doctors
Trains

My daughter is 3 and will play independently

We used to have annual passes to zoo / aquarium / science museum and go A LOT

Also a wee pottery cafe that had a mini soft play was somewhere we went most weeks

Playing in the bath with lots of bubbles

I love the posts that suggest the OP would not have thought to turn on the TV or let her kids play by themselves!

OP I hear you, the weather is so miserable and its really hard.

I used to get the fear with too many long rainy afternoons. My kids loved transport so I'd take them on bus trips/ trains. Museums are often free and have interactive stuff. I used to go to groups in the afternoon too. I joined a local zoo/ farm thing that had indoor and outdoor options.

There's a lot of comments already but I would be going to local stay & play groups, they usually cost like a couple of quid and you get grown up chit chat and cake, the kids get different toys and other kids to play with for your older one.

The other thing which I would do is go to my local libraries, there's 3 within 20 minutes drive of my house and I'd be going there too

Also do you have any role play type places nearby? So the kids go do role play in the pretend cottage/police station/hairdresser's and you have a cup of coffee

When I had a 4 and a 1 they used to dance. And they carried on when they were 5 and 2 and 6 and 3 (and then I think it stopped). I used to clear the living room floor and put on music I liked. Sometimes we did 'statues/shapes' when the music stopped suddenly and I used to take photos but mostly they just bounced and jumped.
I admit I got a bit bored (not as bad a role play though, that was so deadly) but they didn't seem to.