What do you do all day?!

[topsyanddim]

I have a 3 year old who I have one full day a week with and I’m finding it increasingly hard to fill the day!

We are up at 7ish and bed at 7ish. That’s a whole 12 hours which all the playgrounds, drawing and visits from friends can’t fill and I’m turning increasingly to TV which isn’t ideal. What does everyone else do?

Also have a Monday with a 3 year old. This morning we played with a toy he got from Grandma yesterday. We were at the library for 11. Met friend and her DS at softplay at 12-2 then met my other friend at 2:30 who has just had a baby. Left there at 4:30, nipped to asda to pick up a parcel and then home for tea. He is now watching Masha and the bear before bathtime in 30 mins. It is tiring.

I have my 3 year old on my own 2 full days a week. We do go to the park, go to groups, see friends, go swimming, go to the cafe for milkshake, go to a local country park for walks, go to farm parks, do crafts/painting/play doh, take the dog for walks, go for scooter rides, go out for lunch... all sorts!

Are there no playgroups/toddler groups near you on the day you have the 3 year old? Soft play?

Oh and the library and garden centre with soft play.

Baths with food colour dye and washing up liquid, going to post a letter, playing with farmyard animals, going to find the nicest leaf outside we can, go walk and see how many doggies we can see, washing the windows together, sweeping the floor together, simple baking, feeding the ducks, looking for insects. IME you have to slow waaayyy down and look at how ordinary things can be fascinating to 3 year olds.

I have my 3 year old dd 3 days a week and we do toddler group, sporty type class and a play session at the children's centre in the mornings and then home for lunch. We often do play grounds, parks, cafes and libraries in the afternoons. We might have a day further afield if we miss one of the sessons- our nearest city to go to one of the museums. We're limited by the school run now ds has started school.

By three years they should be able to amuse themselves for quite long stretches. I used to set mine up with a few toys and get on with some freelance work for an hour or so, then we'd go out or do something together at home.

You can't entertain your child for 1 full day? You don't even need to constantly entertain them. I am a bit confused by this.

By the time my ds was 3 we had a regular “thing” each day I was off. Swimming or a group or a regular play or lunch date. Just made it easier than thinking of something new every time.

Garden centres with a cafe are great.

Agree can you enrol into a weekly class like gym tots or swimming to break the day up, give you a peg to hang your routine on?

I'm confused.
Are you the 3 yr old's parent ?
Or
Are you minding them for a day (maybe the Grandparent ??) ?

Are you looking to see how other people's days pan out - ie..their timetable, or are you looking for people to suggest activities their 3 r olds enjoy, so you might try them on some days too ?

Because, for most parents, I would have thought a large part of the dat involves getting on with things like the washing / gardening / shopping / changing the sheets / bit of housework / getting dinner / clearing up etc etc along with the 3 yr old.

It is my own 3 year old. Of course I do bits and pieces around the house but she seems to wander about bored when I do so. Or constantly asks for TV. She’s not very good at entertaining herself for long stretches of time.

We go out lots, but there are 12 awake hours and even if we do a morning outing and an afternoon one there still seems to be quite a lot of sitting around the house. Going to the park or a group only takes an hour or so.

I’m looking for tips for entertaining her

I have my 3.5 year old all day, every day, except for the 2 mornings she spends at preschool.

Dance class, library, garden centre to look at animals and kitsch ornaments, national trust, farm, bike ride, soft play, cooking class, walk, Playdoh, Lego (lots of Lego), playing with toys, reading, baking, museum...

Being a bit bored is good for them, gives them a chance to figure out what to do.

I tell mine things like "Go read 2 books and build X out of Lego". The X can be as lavish as you like...play centre, school, supermarket etc

Today was my non-working day with nearly three year old DS. In case it gives you any ideas we:

• Breakfast together. He played with toys whilst I cleaned up. I built him a big train track and we played with it.
• He watched CBeebies whilst I showered and bunged some washing out.
• We went to town as I needed some bits. Had a drink and snack in a cafe. He charged around the square like a loon. Came home.
• Lunch together. He played trains whilst I cleared up. Got online supermarket shop in and put away. He busied himself with opening some of the Lego cards that came with it.
• Story then nap. He ‘pretended to close his eyes’ for an hour and half whilst I cleaned (house really needed it!).
• He woke up. We were loosely planning on the park but that didn’t happen as he was a bit dopey still. Watched Peter Rabbit and played trains.
• Made his dinner. He ate his dinner. We then had a ‘party’ aka curtains closed, his choice of music. Lots of Baby Shark and bouncing up and down. Knackering but fun. DH came home during and had to join in.
• Wind down CBeebies then up for bath around 19.00.

As it’s just the one day only the two of us I tend to really take it as it comes. I like it when we don’t have plans and can just do things at toddler pace. Realise I’m very lucky with the nap still (I’m the only one he still does it for - he knows I don’t take any crap!)

There seems to be an expectation these days that parents/carers etc have to interact/entertain/amuse their children every waking minute of the day.
I never did 🤗🤗.

If I was doing stuff around the house I’d simply give her a ‘job’ too, if she got fed up and wanted to do something else I’d just let her wander off and do what she liked.

It’s actually OK for them to not do much sometimes other than slob on the sofa with a comic and telly on for an hour or so.

Same here maddie
Mine would generally be "doing a job" like me - washing up / cooking / changing sheets / give them a duster even though I rarely dust / getting the washing out the machine / sorting out who the clean washing is for / getting things off the shelves in shops / and so on and so forth.

this is where I think they miss a half day pre-school kind of set up at that age. I think you would be lucky to happen to work exactly the same days as your part time working friends or family and so I imagine a whole day would be hard to fill.

Could you change your hours to short days each day or so you prefer a few full days a week?

Does she not like playing with toys?

What do you do at the weekend if you are not working then?

Swimming
Music class
Nature trail at local garden centre
Laps of park on scooter or balance bike
Look at the fish at Pets at Home
Soft play
Trampolining
Baking
DUPLO building
Hide and seek
Shopping (give them a list with pictures)
Running about in the garden
Sweeping leaves
Gymnastics
Kicking ball around the park
Kite flying
Local national trust places

Go for a walk to find funny shaped stones, pine cones and different leaves. Take them home dip them in paint and stamp them on paper and make a lovely picture. My almost 3 year old loves this!

We also search for stones in the garden and draw faces on them with felt tips.

We go and chalk on the garden path.

Plenty of activities to do at home. My gardens secure and patio doors so I can see dd when she's out there and she will chalk on the path for ages. Gives me time to do a quick whizz clean in the lounge/dining room

I never have anything "to do" as such. She joins me on whatever errands I need to run - shopping, getting veg from the allotment, cooking, cleaning, visiting a friend.... That fills most of the day and sometimes all of it.

Then there's the usual: cycling in the park, board games, some drawing or crafts, play dates with her friends...

I'm also working on getting her to spend time by herself in her room. My 4 year old is good at it and it makes a big difference to my day and I think is a very important skill to learn.

And yes, she gets some telly every day. I need a break! ;)

Apart from going out to particular places, and playgrounds and parks and walks (I'm presuming you know you can do all that) when we were in my little girl would never play by herself. She just hates playing by herself. She's very sociable.
You little girl must have toys and games?
Cos I'd just play with her with her toys and games. Or we'd play make believe games together, she'd lead those of course.

This is the age you need to teach your child to enjoy their own company. Just for a short time. This will allow them to stretch their minds and become creative. If your child feels it can only get entertained through you it could become a problem as they get older. Start off having a quiet time together but your both doing your own thing, for example reading your own books. Then expand from there. Your child knows where you are and feels happy to sit and play by themselves for a while. This will be good for you to.

If I was having a visit in the morning, a group in the afternoon, and another visit I'd say I was having a very busy day with my child.