PLEASE tell me how you entertain your 18 month to 2 year old? I am desperate

[whattodppp]

What clubs if any do they go to?

What sort of toys do they have?

I am at my wits end and feel I’m missing something, I want them to be happy and busy but I never know what to do with him since he started walking! I’m a first time mum

Go to the park and play? Bring a ball.
Duplo?
Read books?
A play kitchen?

Mother & Todler gym class or go to the swimming pool?

Mine are older now, but around this age I used to take them to lots of baby classes - toddler group in the village hall, tumbletots, music class, swimming, library rhyme time - because I'm the kind of person who likes the structure of a class.

Plus trips to the park for them to go on the swings, run around etc.

At home I read to them a lot. It depends on your child of course - DS1 liked jigsaws, DS2 liked toy cars.

You need to keep trying activity after activity anything and everything in short bursts, and eventually you'll find one that particularly appeals and can use that more frequently. Walking on grass in the garden or the park, sweeping up, a jigsaw, building and knocking down bricks, an instrument, dancing, a little bit of Miss Rachel, looking at a book, emptying out a drawer and then putting it back, playing in water of any sort, visiting someone, filling a bag with random objects for them to take out and fiddle with, pretend cooking...

I think it’s a tricky age for activities. They’re active but not that able to do a lot of stuff. I found after they were 2 it gets much easier as they’re better at role play, getting paint onto the paper etc.

Look up local children's centre or church stay and plays
These SAVED me

Playgroups, swimming and ballet. Then trampoline parks, soft play, the park, going on walks, toddler cinema.

Kids that age typically want to mirror their parents so engage them with whatever you're doing. Give them little jobs - have them unload/load the tumble dryer, give them a cloth to "clean" with etc.

I have a 2 year old and we go to:

The library (they have a free rhyme time on a Monday morning)
Various soft plays
The local parks
The farm
Swimming

Play dates with friends
Toddler messy play / sensory classes
Time in the garden on the slide
Tv time with the blanket watching nursery rhymes

Bookbugs (it’s free)
swimming
dance class for toddlers plus parent
music

at home: arts and crafts (sticky foam shapes and Googley eyes are a big hit and not messy lol but we do messy stuff too)

books

helping with baking etc (soemtimes this means playing with utensils while I do most of it but giving them easy bits to do like pouring and mixing etc)

jigsaws, duplo, building

music sessions

Oh and books. Garden.

soemtimes I sit outside with a cup of tea while little one plays on the side.

soemtimes I put on cheebies while I read kindle

Mine used to love playing with balloons, and bubbles. And her play kitchen.

Also used to have swimming lessons at that age, and enjoyed going to the swimming pool just with me too.

I would check out your local leisure centre and see what classes they have available, usually loads, and see what you think they would enjoy. Look for local toddler groups where parents stay with their child for a couple of hours play, often held in church halls but you don't have to be a church goer to attend. Have a look in your local library for story time sessions too.

Get a box of random toys down that he hasn't played with for a while. Put them all out and then just sit on the floor with him, you don't have to play with him or entertain - just watch him and engage, ask him questions about what he's doing etc.

Mine would do it for hours, and me making the decision to just sit and not put pressure on myself to play with him made it a lot more enjoyable for me.

Break the day up

I used to plan an outing every morning - various parks, muddy walks in the woods, duckpond, library, toddler group, swimming pool. We went out rain or shine - waterproofs essential.

I'd make sure we went out somewhere in the afternoon a lot of days too but more like errands - supermarket, post office or even just walking to a post box, other shops, visiting friends or neighbours.

At home the big win toys were:
Toy kitchen,
Pretend shopping till
Brio train track
Duplo
Crayons/pens
Playdo
Kinetic sand or a sand pit outside

Plus "helping". Helping sort socks, helping bake, giving him a plastic knife and a banana to chop.

At that age (which was a long time ago)

Stacking cups and wooden blocks to stack up and knock down.Again and again...

Lots and lots of books.

Jo jingles classes and bookbugs at the library.

Swimming ( doesn't have to be classes, just splashing around in pool)

Trips to the park.

Getting them to 'help' when in the kitchen, doing housework etc.

Jigsaws.

Singing and dancing around the living room.

Crafts (I had a big box of random stuff).

Big tough tray and fill with different sensory stuff each day. Uncooked rice, lentils, pasta. Saving foam, ice cubes, kinetic sand. Mine lived sensory stuff Sat that age.

Big towel on the kitchen floor, washing up bowl of water, some plastic beakers/spoons/cups. Obviously you're getting them changed after this!

Outside, give them a bucket of water and a paintbrush and show them how to "paint" the wall/fence. Or a tray of earth, some pots and something to "plant" (new potatoes? Lego?)

They want you and your stuff at this age. On the kitchen floor, give them spoons/saucepans/plastic bowls and carrots/potatoes to "cook". Or do some cleaning and give them baby wipes to do some too.

Put them inside a big cardboard box with some crayons.

Library storytime
Toy household objects - broom, dustpan, hoover, play kitchen, pots and pans
Let them 'help' you clean
Read lots
Dance / sing with videos
Playground with baby swings
Sand box
Doll and buggy
One structured activity - maybe swimming, gym and swim, playgroup (don't become reliant on activities you have to pay for outside the house though)
Take him or her grocery shopping
Sorting objects
Stringing big coloured beads onto pipe cleaners - match colours
Chalk and blackboard
Painting with water outdoors
Long bath with toys

Yes to this.

And sing the clean up song when it's time to clean up.

DD2 will be 2 next month, she goes to nursery 3 days a week, does weekly swim lessons with DH and does a toddler music/dance class.

Currently she plays with:
Play kitchen and play food
Dinosaurs
Balloons
Doll & pram
Her big sister's Barbies
Books
Aquadoodle
Doll's house
Soft play
Megabloks

Garden toys like the mud kitchen, slide, mini trampoline, sandpit & water tray

Playgrounds - every one in a 5 mile radius
feed the ducks.
walks in forests “finding sticks” and jumping in puddles
Splash parks in summer
garden centres
church play groups
under 5 soft plays as a treat

no clubs it’s a racket and I have better things to spend my £ on

toys - I rotate them and just let them play most popular question I ask is “can you show me how…X?”
can you show me how you put the baby in the pram?
can you show me how the toy works?
can you show me how high you can bounce the ball?

fave toys are:
play kitchen
play cafe
magnatiles

Home made ball pit - travel cot and balls. Tuff tray for messy play. Art, crafts, music dance, story time, role play. Mine loved the little pop up circus IKEA tent. Get them out and about activate play a few times a day. Mine loved running around after me in the park.

I followed advice from a friend's amazing nanny.

You go out twice a day every day, or once a day if you have visitors. Aim for at least one adult conversation every day.

Find playgroups, toddler's gym, swim, music, stories in library, NCT coffee morning, 1 o'clock club, soft play etc. Something each day to give structure to the week.

Then add a trip to the playpark or rec, or to the shops, health checks etc. We'd sometimes just go for a ride on a bus or a train as they love watching the world go by.

Don't feel at all guilty using TV as a nanny for an hour or so every afternoon. CBeebies goes on while you make dinner or have a cup of tea.

Encourage safe playtime alone - my DC loved water play. I'd fill the old baby bath with warm water and put it just outside the kitchen door so I could sort laundry or clean while he played. Looking back, I wish I'd done more of this. I felt I had to entertain my DC all the time and it was so exhausting. If I had that time again, I'd leave them to entertain themselves for a bit longer.

Play with him a bit - read a story or build a tower until it falls down or make teddy bears have silly conversations with him.