What mundane things entertain your children?

I took DD (3) to the natural history museum last week and as far as I could see the highlight for her was jumping on a large grate by the exit .

When she was younger we also had a year (!) of botany videos on YouTube, and the best thing about a recent holiday was Henry the Hoover. I just leave her to it now tbh

Second @Youdiditanyway on cardboard boxes. A large cardboard box with a child-sized hole cut in each end. Bonus points if you cut some circles in the sides and provide some small balls to drop through them.

My dog. My one year old is a bit obsessed with him and crawls around after him. The dog gives in and leaves a ball by the baby to throw for him. Best game ever apparently.

My son loved to watch the washing go round in the machine, as a toddler. 40 minutes of bliss. Occasionally I would put it on a long cycle. Heaven.

The bin men and the lollipop lady are celebs in our house!

@firstimemamma Pinterest is your friend for a cake as long as you have a rubbish truck toy to hand.

Mine are older now but if I had to say most played with items when they were little I suggest you invest in.
A bucket
A pile of clean middle sized pebbles
A long heavy chain from the DIY store
A bag of old single socks

Cardboard boxes. My DD is almost 9 and still loves a cardboard box. She makes the big ones into a fort and the smaller ones are cut up to make strange crafts. She most recently made one into a bed for her soft toy.

Looking at the creepy crawlies under rocks. I keep a load of small ones in the allotment for her to turn over.
She also loves pigeons, her favourite cuddly toy is a pigeon!

My 2 and a half year old is currently opening and closing drawers looking for t shirts that are right in front of him 😂

Zips- my 2 year old is obsessed- I bought one of those montessori boards with the zip/laces/buttons but she can spend so long zipping, unzipping...its kind of a nightmare when I'm trying to put a jacket on...

My make up case makes a louder zip noise which has her in hysterics.

Oh and ripping (second the kitchen roll), she gets it in the smallest bits and makes a tidy pile looking so pleased with her accomplishments, I'm going to have to replace so many books though, even the board books have been demolished.

Do have to watch that she doesn't eat any bits all the time though, what is it about paper that looks so appetising!!??

DS (6) loves our retractable tape measure. If he’s ever bored I tell him to get the tape measure and I give him a list of random things in the house to measure. After each one he does ‘the release’. Epic.

When mine were little they would sit on little chairs and watch the washing machine like it was a TV! My now 9yo can still play with a really simple toy (like two Lego bricks stuck together or one of those Jacob’s Ladder toys) for days on end!

Also for the bin lorry cake, I would get a small bin lorry toy as a present and put it directly on top of a plain cake. This was my go to when DS asked for a paw patrol cake, if you can find some other small playmobil/Lego bits and bobs to use as rubbish to strew around it could be really great!

My 2.5yo DS is obsessed with garage doors. He'll stop in the street to watch them open and close. I can't convince him to keep walking until the garage is closed again.

And pretty much any sensory book, especially those with sound. We don't have a TV and a zero screen policy for the kids so that may be why.

My daughter used to love pulling baby wipes out of the packet one after the other!
Another one for both kids is throwing little stones or sticks in to puddles.

4 year old DS loves cars. Sometimes he takes a notion of giving me a v long guided tour of all the parts of the car, usually when we've just got home and I'm desperate to get inside for a wee and a sit down.

Me: DS please come in
DS: wait mummy! This is the brake light, this is red. This is for stopping.
Me: very good DS, clever boy. Fancy a drink inside?
DS: no mummy wait! This is the engine. Let's check the engine. This bit is for water. What is this bit for?

It could go on all day really. He'll probably become a mechanic.

Potion making honestly is hours of fun for my two. Empty margarine tubs/plastic tubs, bit of soil, grass, water and they're done.

They also love 'cleaning' stuff outdoors - old washing up bowl full of water and rags and they'll clean anything, a bike, the wall, etc.

Also, they love painting a brick wall with water and a paintbrush outside

#savemoneyhavefun

😂

Tissue / wipes….granddaughter is obsessed with cleaning!

And counting snails and slugs after a downpour.

The door-stop spring. Boinnnnnggggg. Boinnnnngggg. Cat also loves it.

My kids used to love IKEA. Unfortunately we haven't been able to go since the start of lockdown. We are literally going to go the first day of their summer holiday