To ask what activities you actually enjoy doing with your small children?

[Tryagainplease]

I have a just turned 4 yo DS and I have to admit that I am absolutely rubbish at playing with him.

Are there any games you like to enjoy playing with your small children or do you just grin and bear another ‘let’s build a ramp for the cars’ game

In all seriousness though, he is great at solo play and I love taking him out and about and talking to him about stuff etc but I do struggle to think of things to do when we are at home. Any suggestions please?

She watches me play Animal Crossing on Nintendo Switch and I give her a running commentary/storytime on the game. WIN

Thank you - these suggestions are golden!!

I used to like blowing washing up liquid bubbles and watching her run around trying to pop them! Or blowing up lost of balloons and playing tennis, or doing her best to keep as many up in the air as possible.

I also liked playing with the Playmobil zoo and airport, but "my" characters were never allowed to do what I wanted them to do!

I have dgs whilst dd works now so get do the playing all over again I hadn't forgotten how tedious it was first time round tbh. I'm better at the crafts and baking and love reading to him.
I don't like his small world playsets, the thirty minutes I was forced to play with the Peppa pig house whilst daddy pig played hide n seek and they all hid under the bed is thirty minutes I will never get back.
We go to the park a lot when I've had enough of the playing.

These threads always make me feel like such a rubbish mum, I'm not sure I enjoy any of the playing at home, board games always end in tears, crafts etc were a real pain with a perfectionist child, I'm definitely not the fun mum I thought I'd be!!

I put my DC off playing make-believe with me by asking them loads of follow up questions - "So the teddies who live at the bottom of the garden - do they live in burrows?". I didn't actually do this to put them off - it was just my natural annoyingness. But I may not have stopped, once I realised it was having a deterrent effect....

Remote control cars. Basic ones. We have two and try to crash them into each other and run rings round the other. The best part is that I don't even have to move from the sofa and my coffee since my car can be controlled from there.

I quite like arty things and now my DS is 4, he can get involved in some of them. He doesn't like colouring but we do collages sometimes (he loves cutting and sticking) and etch art and large stencils. I do mine and he does his next to me.

Building wooden railways. We have a large set. It is quite tortuous but oddly satisfying when you get all the ends to link up.

That reminds me. I loved them playing make believe and sometimes ended up with an enormous mess because I didn't want to break the spell

Hiding all the farm animals/letters from abc board for him to find, less tedious than hiding myself or pretending I can't see him behind the curtain. Camping in a blanket tent is another great one for getting a sneaky lie down.

Have a just turned 4 year old and ‘monster school’ is my current favourite. You’re the teach and set them loads of tasks, ie pull the scariest face, make the most disgusting slime pie, draw the ugliest monster etc. Basically I can relax and play with the baby whilst issuing orders.

Getting favourite books and flicking through them whilst lying in bed
Playmobil
Pretend cafe
Colouring in

Crafting and cooking was of no interest to DS so that never worked

Anything except make believe play. It's always "firemen and policemen". Bloody fireman Sam and his range of vehicles.

Fortunately he's as into reading as he is playing firemen. And getting the concept of the basic orchard toys games

Puzzles
Simple board or card games
Art and craft
Going out
Being in garden if you have one
Making cup cakes

Have you watched Bluey? It's absolutely brilliant but also has ideas for fun things to do with little kids. I may have a slight crush on the dad....

www.bluey.tv/blog/10-bluey-games-for-the-whole-family-to-enjoy/

Mine is almost 4 and a half and i find spending time with him more enjoyable now that at any of the younger ages.

I like doing lego or building elaborate train sets. He can play simple matching games with turn taking. We do jigsaws, baking. He's got the attention span to actually sit through a whole film now and follow the plot.

Playdoh
Baking
Arts and crafts

She also loves role play but I really hate playing it!

At that age, mixing up cornflour and water and giving them some bowls and spoons took up so much time. It wiped up very easily too. Also making salt dough decorations / dinosaur bones etc…they loved that and again, not messy, especially if you prep the dough in advance (add food colouring / cinnamon for extra points!).

Stick a plastic toy in a Tupperware box, add water and freeze…then get your child to “release” it (better in the garden in summer, but still OK for now).

I’m dreadful at imaginative play…luckily my two prefer to do that together and actually ask me to leave the room if they’ve set up a big Playmobil scene and are doing voices etc.

Reading books
Bike rides
Walks
Swimming pool trips

Don't mind a bit of puzzling or colouring, but really I prefer to go outside and do something active.

Luckily I have two children so they do all the pretending games together.

Mine loved crafts, I bought a ton of random bits and we'd choose a theme, ie fairies, monsters, flowers, animals etc then make something.
It could be a picture, model, puppet, anything at all with the stuff we had.
They're now 6 and 8 and the craft stuff gets used for their homework

They also like the "3 marker challenge", you close your eyes and pick 3 felt tip pens and have 3 minutes to draw something with those colours. You can either guess what each other has drawn or again choose a theme and then the drawer has to explain all about it. It's great listening to the things their imagination has come up with, they don't have to be real things, mine have done aliens with superpowers and weird vehicles etc

Bike rides. Making stuff and art projects with clay, paint, colouring etc and junk. Jigsaws, pick one that is too tricky for them to do alone with a picture you like. Lots of Lego (big tip again is to choose the sets you like! My 3/4 year old boy had a lovely collection of creator 3 in 1 Lego buildings that I wanted to build! Lighthouses etc.
Brio builder. Games where you match the pairs by turning over two pictures that match, again buy a set that you find nice (I picked up some beautiful ones from IKEA many years ago and this helped me enjoy the game).

I think picking items you enjoy and find stimulating really helps. Mine were always happy to help/ join in.

Cooking and baking, orchard toys games and drawing/colouring.

I really struggle with pretend play.

I am so glad I am not the only one that is terrible at pretend play. I hate it and usually get berated by dc for not asking the right questions.

Baking is always a good idea in theory but there is usually at least one tantrum during it because they can't eat raw eggs/put their hand in the mixing bowl while the mixer is on/put the tray in the hot oven. The peace while eating the baked goods is worth it though.

Puzzles, board games, colouring, and play doh are good.

I enjoy art and crafts, lego, board games, puzzles, swimming, trampoline park, stomping through woods.

I loathe role play/make believe/small world. Fortunately DH is really good at it.

Not a game idea but I found it really helpful to set a time - say ten or fifteen mins - for myself. So he’d have my undivided attention for that time, then I could have a break. I still do that and he’s 5yo.

Lego
Any kind of board game

I've recently had fun teaching him stuff like noughts and crosses and rock paper scissors