How much do you play with your toddler?

[Dualipa]

I'm struggling to find ways to play with my toddler, lockdown seems to have changed our whole routine & way of life.

How much do you play with your children?

I don't really play with him, he potters around the house investigating various toys and other things, I just follow him round making sure he doesn't do anything life threatening. If he gets really bored I'll get out one of the more complicated toys that get put away separately like the building blocks or velcro fruit. I tried to set up a pretend supermarket for him yesterday and he put some things into a plastic basket but then DS1 got involved and tried to make it make sense so he got frustrated and gave up.

We sometimes read a book or do a jigsaw together or do some colouring together. He likes to "help" with things like hanging up washing. I take him for a walk every day, so I help him with steps and things and make sure he doesn't run into roads and we talk about things we see. He's getting fairly independent in parks now too.

My DS (2 last month) won’t really play by himself. He wants my constant attention all day, and it’s really hard to come up with different things to do!

I usually take him for at least one walk each day. We often go to the park as well now that playgrounds are open again. Other than that, we play with his toy vehicles, do jigsaws and read a lot of books. I try to do painting and colouring with him but he’s not really keen on arts and crafts.

My 17 month old potters about and plays with her toys for a bit, when she is getting fed up I will sit with her and read some stories or encourage her to play with a shape sorter or jigsaw. We will maybe go and play outside for half an hour with a ball / on the slide. I've got an older DD who will entertain her for small periods. If she is tired or grouchy I will maybe pop telly on for a while (current favourites are hey duggee and bing) playing / entertaining both of them is a huge chunk of my day at the minute!

DS tends to potter around by himself, stopping occasionally to play with a toy or fiddle with a book. Usually I just follow him around, keeping him off the furniture and out of places he shouldn’t be (like inside the washing machine). We will sit and play with blocks or duplo but he doesn’t stay still long

For example currently he is trying on everyone's shoes.

DS goes to nursery in the mornings. We tend to play a bit in the morning and a bit in the afternoon. It’s a mixture of playing together, him playing by himself and him ‘helping’ me with whatever I’m doing.

My DD just generally potters about and does her own thing pretty much most of the time. I’ll sit and read to her and try get her involved in a puzzle or game of some sort but at the moment she wants to play fairly independently or with her brother.