To think weekends with baby/toddler is so boring

[nameisnotimportant]

I feel like we're stuck in a rut and all we do is go to the park over and over again and count down to nap time. What do you do with your baby or toddler at the weekend that you actually find fun/entertaining.

At the weekend we go to the park, feed the ducks, food shopping (18month old LB loves the trolley).

We do crafts, play in the garden, go for walks and now he's a bit bigger we do baking (I let him mix the batter and stuff)

How old are yours? I’ve found we need to get out or we all go a bit mad at home. Saturday mornings are taken up with activities for the baby and 3 year old. We then try and chill in the afternoon or go for a walk/to the park. Sunday there is another activity in the morning or we try and go to a garden to walk around. Basically, if we’re all stuck inside all day it tends to end in bickering. Summer is loads easier as can just move into the garden but it’s loads harder this time of year.

We used to invite friends over with same aged kids and have a laugh, snacks, nibbles, beers, and supervise the kids together.

Depends on the age. Babies, I just did whatever I was already doing. Small toddler - they did cone shopping. Sat in trolley, toy attached, and a piece if free Tesco fruit or packet of those little Kiddilicious fruit wiggle things of needed. They never kicked off, as I made it relatively quick and gave food if needed.

Now they are 2 and 4, and the 4 yr old has started school he's often tired and doesn't want to do much Saturday's but I struggle to stay at home all day. We also have 2 ponies so often go there in the morning, they run off some steam in the field while I do what needs doing, they brush and ride ponies. Home for lunch. Then it's only the afternoon - tv, bake, play games (orchard games) colour, play doh. Etc.

What child looks forward to going to Costa at the weekend ?

My niece loves it she campaigned to get her own costa card and everything!

Every child is different

I used to absolutely detest weekends when my two were younger. Everywhere is a million times busier than usual and a nightmare to navigate around with a toddler and a pushchair. DH works Saturdays as well.

I tended to visit family a lot on Saturdays, play dates with cousins etc. Then on Sundays they were DH's problem

They do have to go out. Maybe a 6 year old likes to chill at home after the week in school but not younger ones.

Helping with laundry, pottering with their toys, making a fort, drawing and painting, that takes you to about 11am if you're lucky, with a 2 or 3 year old. If they are early risers you'll have done all that by 10!

Then if you stay home, they just want to snack and watch TV, so it's hard to stop them doing that and so tiring. If they do have an hour of TV they are then grumpy, need to run about, and scream when you turn it off.

Going and doing "what I want to do" isn't fun. I want to do stuff without them like clothes shopping, seeing a film, taking a class in something, going swimming (not toddler swimming, exercise swimming).

The best things are places that mildly entertain them without my having to manage their moods - a relaxed soft play in a cafe, an interactive exhibit at a museum, a farm with a few sheep and a playpark, a park with a trampoline in. It's rare there are enough cheap and easy versions of these nearby- so yeah, weekends are boring and tiring for a couple of years.

@Lowlandlucky you’ve not met my 3 year old... he’s always asking to go to cafes for a cake and a babycino 😂

We just make the baby (13M) slot in. We go to B&Q, the garden centre, the gym (take turns to watch him in the soft play/cafe or swim with him whilst the other person works out or swims), go for family runs (DS in pushchair), visit relatives, go looking for ducks, play in the garden, go for long walks (DS in the sling)... Pretty much just do normal weekend activities but with a baby. He’s too little for baking and crafts really, although he loves scribbling and mixing so we’re not far off now!

I have to add that we are very lucky that DS is very sociable and just enjoys being around people so if worse comes to worst, he would enjoy a supermarket trip.

it's not about entertaining the kids tho is it? It's about helping OP not lose her marbles with two infants.

OP I agree that this time goes so fast. I also agree that it can be incredibly tedious, and I remember that feeling that the day was never going to end! My DD is 12 now but we used to divide and rule a little (unless you're on your own, in which case hats off to you).

I hate the play park, hate soft play and was rubbish at the imaginative play that my daughter loved. So we would try to go to a park that didn't have swings (sorry!!), walks in the woods. A few trips out, baking was a big hit, making playdough at home. I'd try to think about what you would like to do and work out how to bring them along with that. lots of good suggetsions here, but also hang in there - it does get easier and it starts to be fun

We visited friends, went for walks, visited NT properties, and went horse racing! If you go to local point to points in the spring you can take the car in, take a picnic and the DC run around in plenty of space whilst there is entertainment for the adults. We also went to country fairs and shows.

When mine were little, they absolutely loved going on buses and talking about things we could see out of the window - nice cafe at the end of the line, bus back, hey presto, half a day gone! (And we lived a mile from the nearest bus stop.)

Puddly walks in wellies and rain suit.

Sheet over the kitchen table for a tent.

Get them to line up and name all the soft toys.

We had an indoor ball that made lots of different noises randomly, and just kept rolling it back and forward with them, great fun. (NB it only made a noise if you rolled it - I couldn't stand noisy toys they just switched on and made a racket with.)

I like the idea of stacking lots of kitchen boxes, I never thought of that for mine! But we did have stacking toys that they would patiently watch me build over and over so they could knock it down ...

Slightly older:

Lining up their toys and the chairs for a "bus game", they are the driver (with steering wheel, I think they used a plastic plate).

"School" and they are the teacher.

Kitchen shop with a fold-up table, play-money and all your tins.

Playing "cafe" with child's tea-set (this one never lasted very long, iirc).

Dressing-up with a bag of grown-up clothes (mostly blouses, sweaters, socks, shawls and hats). You can take a photo of each "outfit" if you like, keeps them going.

Reading a book with them.

Baking a cake, or build-your-own pizza.

Play-doh or similar (we always kept it well away from any carpets), especially with the little machines you can make it into shapes with, they love doing stuff.

Jigsaws.

Visiting friends with kids similar ages. And doing jigsaws...

Oh and no one has mentioned swimming, which my daughter loved. My dh used to take her tho which is why I forgot about it

Agree with Monty27 100%.

"What child looks forward to going to Costa at the weekend"

Um what child doesn't like a hot chocolate and cake?!

We go to the park, for walks, feeding the ducks, looking for conkers, splashing in puddles, swimming. Or inside we do puzzles, imaginative play (tea parties, playing postman etc.), painting, playing with balls, baking, acting out story books.

Look up the 5 minute mum if you're struggling. She has loads of games for toddlers and young children that are simple to set up.

We have luckily a variety of parks so there is always a change.

Museums, DD in a sling or buggy if it wasn’t too crowded. Similar with stately homes. We have a National Trust membership, DD practically knows the houses around us inside out.

Baking and simple arts and craft

“helping” with cooking, sorting washing

Pottering around shops with a coffee at the end.

Petting farms

swimming

Look up Facebook for groups in your area, often there are tons of gems you never knew exist prior to having a child. There are also websites you can search but often these are for the more expensive day trip options.

Gosh it’s been over twenty years since the toddler stage for me.Yes..I found it tedious at times and for the life of me am trying to remember what we did.We had a NT pass which was a godsend as we could visit a property / gardens and not feel we had to stay very long.

In the summer I used to get rolls of wallpaper and paints and dc would paint in the garden..bath straight after.Making play doh was another activity which went down well.

Dd loved looking at and then reading books from a young age ...sometimes we would do a bit of a fun project around what she had read ..eg Went to park after reading Percy The Park Keeper ! ( I was a KS one teacher ..can’t you tell.) I have kept all her first books and hope to do the same if gc come along !

We do different things most weekends (kids are 7,2 and 3 months). I use a carrier for baby and we go to museums, parks, cafes, so crafts, take the kids out on to play on there bikes, take walks, go to the cinema for kids films (baby just sleeps), woodland walks, nature trails, today we are going pumpkin picking, next weekend trampolining . I plan things for weekends at least one half day. The kids also have lots of different groups of friends so we meet up with them. My eldest is autistic so it can be difficult but the kids love being outdoors and I get cabin fever from being inside.

We love to go and ride the bus or train. The destination doesn't matter. We sometimes take a little picnic on the train too.

Swimming is always a winner. At home we do baking, or I have a big roll of lining paper for drawing. You can make your own playdough easily, or ds loves a big bowl of dried pasta with spoons and dishes to play with.

It's worth saving cardboard boxes from deliveries. We've made lots of things like car ramps and houses, plus if you have a big one you can sit them in it with a load of crayons.

When the rain stops we've been out collecting dried leaves and nature things to make collages. He also loves a trip to the garden centre.

My DS is grown up now but as a toddler/preschooler:

walks in the forest/park. We used to go and look at the animals in the 'zoo' there (it was free to enter).

Drive to the seaside (we're about an hour away from.the coast).

I tried to avoid London as my DS hates the tube but if you are in touching distance the museums /art galleries are worth considering.
Craft activities.
Are you in touch with parents from any antenatal groups? Maybe arrange a catch up, even a walk in the park with prams/buggies will seem less dreary with another adult to chat to.
I suppose it depends really if you have a napping baby who can go anywhere or a lively toddler who have their own ideas as to entertainment .

purpledeed
"What child looks forward to going to Costa at the weekend"

Um what child doesn't like a hot chocolate and cake?!
.........
Agree with that or any cafe. Mine liked it. There used to be Woolworths when he was little and we went to a big one in a shopping centre fairly near but not on doorstep. He was given a badge which said, "I like to eat at Woolworths", which he loved! Shortly after we visited an elderly lady of our acquaintance and she had a poster of the Queen on her wall and another poster of Pope John Paul ll. She gave my tiny one a badge with Pope John Paul's picture on it. She asked him what it was about and he said, "I like to eat at Woolworths". Well he was not quite two.....
A lovely memory.

Honestly, the op is doing her best and I'm sure her little child is fine.

From the age of about 18 months onwards, dh would regularly take ds on a 'mystery tour' at the weekend.

Dh would choose somewhere they could get to on an easy bus or train journey. They would get off and DH would let DS choose/point which way they would go and they would wonder around, being led by DS's choice completely (unless it was something dangerous or illegal of course). DH says some of his happiest times with DS were spent on these trips. They ended up in some unusual places and discovered all sorts of stuff and DS was usually very content as they did things at his pace. They would do this for the morning and have lunch somewhere and then come home, by which time DS was usually ready for a nap !!

We go for coffee trips out to Costa Ahhh! you are one of those parents that think a Costa is a creche! DH and I had to leave our local Costa recently on a Sunday morning after gulping down our 'quiet relaxing coffee' after being unable to hear ourselves think for the screaming, shouting, running around children completely uncontrolled by their oblivious parents.