Do you ask for your help in releasing me from two parks a day hell

[ivftake1]

I'm having to be quite careful with social distancing and I really need some ideas other than parks for me and my 2 1/2-year-old!

Search Pinterest for Halloween crafts or autumn leaf crafts too.

Could you look for a forest school instead of nursery? (Although it sounds like you might be quite urban). Might be a less risky way of maintaining peer interaction.

Swimming might not be a bad activity if you can find a pool that hires out sections of the teaching pool. I’ve done that a few times and it’s worked well (although changing rooms slightly harder).

@Ratatcat

Could you look for a forest school instead of nursery? (Although it sounds like you might be quite urban). Might be a less risky way of maintaining peer interaction.

Swimming might not be a bad activity if you can find a pool that hires out sections of the teaching pool. I’ve done that a few times and it’s worked well (although changing rooms slightly harder).

Loads of forest schools around here. I'm just not comfortable sending him off to be around loads of kids (for meal times etc). Hopefully we won't have to social distance extreme for much longer but certainly will be for the next 3/4 months

I feel bad that I moan about being bored but I really do love spending time with him. Just need to change it up a bit I guess!

This week I'm planning to:

~Bus/tram/train trip tomorrow
~Wednesday Battersea zoo
~Thursday Horniman museum
~Friday maybe a garden centre to look at fish etc
~Then the weekend'll be whatever goes!

Feeling really positive about this week now. Thanks everyone

Really not trying to be a dick but if you're having to be careful about social distancing then perhaps multiple trips on public transport isn't the best idea?

Obviously if they're empty you'll be grand but hard to tell in advance...

OP I sympathise. I have a 2 year old and, if it helps, I'm also 39 weeks pregnant and having work done to my house at the same time....

We go out twice a day a lot. The house is chaos and frankly he gets bored. I'm tempted to try painting with him tomorrow but I dont think there is anywhere that's is cleanable and he will most likely love it for 2.5 minutes. Whereas watching traffic on the main road keeps him going for hours...

It's really hard.

Both my kids loved trains so we would just go and sit on the station platform for hours watching the trains.

You could get some go-find-it cards and go on a walk with them. Each card has a different word on it and you have to find something that fits that card (eg something big/small/hard/soft/rough/smooth/red/yellow/blue/green etc). You can buy a set of cards on Amazon or make your own. Either choose 1 card a day eg. see how many red things you can find on a walk or see how many of the different cards you can tick off in one go.

www.amazon.co.uk/gofindit-outdoor-nature-treasure-families/dp/B00NB1ICMI?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

We spent 15 minutes today watching a viaduct waiting for the train to appear. In the rain.

It was part of a larger walk and he bloody loved it. Totally with you on the two park slog though. I do miss people's rainbows to spot!

There is an airfield at Biggin Hill and a cafe, you could sit and watch planes.

Freeze small toys, keyrings etc in a tray of water for a giant ice cube. Put it into a larger suitable bowl or sink.

Let him try different things to thaw it, like weak squash, salt/salt in water, bubbly water and so on.

Make funky cardboard specs or sunglasses for the larger toys with lots of stickers and stuff.

Make a little man or animal out of acorns/beech nuts and hide it in a hole in a tree trunk somewhere.

ivftake1 I’d say the forest school mine was at in June) was lower risk than some of the activities you’re suggesting (v small bubbles, tons of space to roam, no hugging etc). None of the children missed a single day- no illnesses eg. School on the other hand is very different and I understand why nursery might not be right if you’re shielding.

But... if outside provision with other children is too risky for you, I’m surprised you’d want to be doing bus trips or museums. It would be enclosed spaces that I’d want to avoid which is understandably a bit rubbish as winter approaches.

@Quarantino

Really not trying to be a dick but if you're having to be careful about social distancing then perhaps multiple trips on public transport isn't the best idea?

Obviously if they're empty you'll be grand but hard to tell in advance...

The trams are empty! Hurrah

@ivftake1

I feel bad that I moan about being bored but I really do love spending time with him. Just need to change it up a bit I guess!

This week I'm planning to:

~Bus/tram/train trip tomorrow
~Wednesday Battersea zoo
~Thursday Horniman museum
~Friday maybe a garden centre to look at fish etc
~Then the weekend'll be whatever goes!

Feeling really positive about this week now. Thanks everyone

If the museum is busy we won't go in.

Battersea is all outside.

Gardens centres should be empty during the week etc

I went to our garden centre entrance (used to take the kids all the time) and the car park was full and it was full of senior citizens so i thought better of taking my pre- school-attending toddler there! Might give it another go though...

Aah, the Croydon trams. Used to get bus to Croydon, tram to IKEA to meet a friend for coffee. We would both stick children in free creche, drink free tea, collect children and slowly walk through IKEA like it was some absurdist modern art museum. Outside playground at the end (dangled as good behaviour carrot). Mid week only mind!

Once got a train all the way to Brighton, turned round and straight back again. Baby asleep, train mad DS gogging out of the window the entire way. Love the giant viaduct. It broke up the weeks of parks.

We were also dedicated library tourists - bus to strange library, hang out, come home. Check whether they are open to all comers first though!

We were skint, but I had free bus pass...

Roaring success, empty carriages, mask and loads of hand gel. Surprisingly easy to not touch anything and to distance.

He loved it. Was a nice change of scene!

To brighten up the never ending walks I bought some of these

www.amazon.co.uk/Prehistoric-World-Dinosaur-Toys-Dino/dp/B07XDVKR5C/ref=mp_s_a_1_10?dchild=1&keywords=dinosaur+eggs&sprefix=dinosaur+eggs&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1602005683&sr=8-10

And take them out in my pocket and if DS is flagging I'll hide one in some bushes. It keeps him going for hours!

Also I saw a nice idea - where you get an egg box and put little picture of acorns/pine cones etc on the lid and the DCs have to try and collect all the things to fill their egg box.

I’m going to have a go with DS. ( although he’d love the tram idea)

Also Dean City Farm is open (quite a nice walk through Morden Hall Park from the tram.