To wonder what to do with my children on these endless rainy afternoons?

[catsandkittensandcats]

I know we should be in puddle suits and wellies embracing life at the park but we really, REALLY don’t want to do that.

I have a three and a half year old and an eleven month old. Eleven month old can’t walk but obsessed with pulling herself up to stand and wanting to crawl everywhere.

We have endlessly done soft play to the point where I drove to one 30 minutes away last week because I think we were all fed up of the other ones.

We have also done the role play places a LOT - they are lovely but worried they’re becoming tedious. And the baby can’t really join in although she doesn’t seem to mind crawling around eating any toys she finds.

Swimming is a no because you need two adults for two under fives. We’ve been to the library but neither find it hugely interesting and so it only fills about three quarters of an hour.

Groups are on in the morning but then I’m left with a loooong afternoon - is there anything I’ve missed?

@catsandkittensandcats totally get why you wouldn’t feel confident taking them both swimming. My 3yo is quite nervous which is the only reason I can take them, def couldn’t do it if she was running around throwing herself into the water like some of my friends kids!

We’re west mids so not overly sure of suggestions for your way but I’ve got the train into Birmingham with mine before and done the sealife centre. Think tank is also good as is the space centre in Leicester. Appreciate these are not every day suggestions though!

Have you got a National trust membership? Sometimes we just go for a walk around the houses if it’s wet.

Some trampoline parks have toddler areas or bits where baby can crawl around while the older one bounces.

Sometimes I drive to a big supermarket in the next town to kill some time 😂 and buy a packet of cake mix or biscuit mix to do when we get home. My 3yo quite likes a trip to a cafe to get a cookie as well or a sit in greggs for a sausage roll.

Going for a ride on the train to the next town is a good shout. I’ve always found people are really helpful with the pushchair or you could have baby in a baby carrier? Could just go into the next town to a cafe and then back.

Agree, no need to fill in every waking moment. What's wrong with being at home? There are a million and one things you can do at home. Go on to Pinterest and you will find lots of ideas at home. I have an 18mo and we don't do soft play as I just find all of them grimy and always too busy. I also do not do puddle jumps and stuff because I can't deal with the mess and after 5 minutes they are bored. I have an 18mo and just set up activities at home.
Today we filled her baby tub up, added some bubbles and put it in the living room, and she played for almost and hour washing her dolls and ducks and pouring from cup to cup.

We also did some tv time. There's just countless things to do.
I do classes with her 3x a week, but other than that we do lots at home. It's important for them to be bored a bit and learn to play independently.

Sealife is great - it’s a good hour from us though. Plus parking! I might try to take them before the end of the year though, they love it.

A lot of these suggestions are good but only on in the mornings (like library rhyme times) and we are spoiled for choice when it comes to morning activities. It’s afternoons when there’s nothing on and drag!

Can you do things at home? There’s plenty of things to do without the TV being on all the time (although of course some TV time is absolutely fine - I have to limit it with my toddler as we started to have tantrums when it gets turned off).

Things I do on a rainy weekend or if it’s school hols and my son is off preschool:

• baking/or even just “helping” mummy cook lunch or prep tea
• arts and crafts - strip them down, put the splash mat down and get the paints out! Or even just crayons, stickers etc. I got a cheap kids crafts kit from the the pound shop and it keeps him entertained for ages
• their own toys - I set my sons train set up and then he will literally spend hours with it
• Read books/sticker books
• dance - I put a kids playlist on Alexa and am always surprised at the ones my son has learned and picked up at nursery
• Carpet picnics - I take him shopping for the food and then he helps lay it out on a picnic blanket on the living room floor when we get home. His soft toys have to have a plate too

My little one also just likes to help with everyday jobs. He has a mini Hoover, his own “cleaning trolley” with sweeping brushes etc and when I’m doing housework he comes with his and copies me and he loves it!

Can’t you just let them potter around the house and play? I brought my kids up with ‘benign neglect’ and let them just mooch about and play with all their toys, watch tv or we’d read a book, or dressing up or art and crafts. If it was nice they’d just play with buckets and a bit of water in the garden.

I felt the pressure to go to petting farms and museums. They later told me they hated all that - felt sick in the car and got bored. They enjoyed just playing at home.

Is there at Pets at Home near you? Tack on a visit after going to the supermarket to see their bunnies & guinea pigs.

We can @Mel2023 but it is hard with them as my elder one isn’t into crafts or baking at all. He just doesn’t massively enjoy them and loses interest after a minute or two. I am fine at home with one of them but after about an hour with them both I’m tearing my hair out.

I may try a train visit tomorrow. My preschooler would love it but may need something to do at the other end so to speak. Then I’ll look into the museum of making on Thursday - keep meaning to go but not sure what it’s like for pushchairs.

Op I spend about an hour once a week planning a few new activities for the week.

So I slot new in between her regular stuff.

As in my previous post, both ages can play with water washing their toys, making bubbles.

Both ages- play doh and your older one flour and water.

Take them on a treasure hunt around the house. Give your older one clues about where stuff is hidden. Baby can follow along.

Make a fort and let them both play.

Get a few containers (take away ones are good) and fill them up with sensory stuff.

Put some toys in ice cube tray and give your older one a toy hammer to set them free. Same with your baby- make it with jelly so it's safe to eat.

A can of whipped cream and some spoons to mess around or hide their toys.

Lots and lots of endless ideas op

We’re definitely looking for outside of the home things but thank you

Hope the museum and train trip if you do them work out well.

Glad to read that you rule out tv as an option.

I personally hate all the faff around taking them out to museums, public transport, out in horrible weather etc. I just felt my dd gets tired after an hour and it was an extreme effort to go out for 5 minutes amusement.

We are very happy to do stuff at home and go for walks around the area, and do our baby classes. We did other stuff at the weekend as a family tooZ

cant You get your oldest into nursery in the afternoons and let the baby nap then it breaks up the afternoon and you get a break?
your eldest is entitled to 15 hours funding.

It is difficult, I had three under 4.

I (barely) kept sane by going for walks in the country, having picnics and painting. I used to visit national trust sites and have a good wonder, as well as forests.

I also looked at the local paper and checked if there were any local activities for children (library, local halls and nursery open days), getting us out of the house. There were toddler groups at different villages, cake mornings with children’s toys present. We went to lots of swings (all over the city), all very different equipment. We took the balance bikes out as well as scooters to make walks more exciting.

At home they liked to do craft days, with lots of playdough, drawing and painting. Lots of Lego and building blocks, as well as magnets.

If your 3 year old wants to help with the toddler, get them to ‘read’ together, it is really cute when older children pretend to read books to their siblings. Also fun to get them to ‘help’ with brushing their hair, choosing clothes… etc. I had a few laughs with the outfits they chose.

I agree TV isn’t always best, but a few programmes for your 3 year old can be fun for them.

Good luck OP! Soon your oldest will be at school and it gets a little easier.

I get it OP. I prefer getting out with my toddler and I've only one. He's 2 and a half and is quite content at home but not enough to fill the whole afternoon. He's happiest outdoors.

If it's really dire out or he's not well we get by at home with some telly, a long bath with new toys in it (anything waterproof really like Duplo), junk modelling with whatever's in the recycling bin (usually make a house or a garage for his cars), or we'll have an indoor teddy bears picnic to eke out lunchtime as a longer activity.

I still prefer getting out and I'm happy to drive up to a half hour or an hour to go somewhere, but he's very content in the car. I time things so he sleeps on the way and then he's happy listening to Yoto stories on the way back. Is there a parents facebook group for your area? There will be good ideas for places to visit on there.

I hate soft plays so we don't go to those. On rainy days we go to a local play cafe, library, swimming, or visit family or friends for a play date. Sometimes we take a train trip somewhere. If we're driving there are good indoor options like museums, garden centre with big indoor sand pit, play cafes, aquarium etc. I've seen the suggestion on here before to go to Pets at Home and see the animals.

Could you break up your afternoon? So you get home from playgroup at 11/11.30.

12pm - lunchtime

1-3pm - Quiet time. Put on a movie, read books, bring down lots of blankets and pillows and cwtch up. Do they both nap? Maybe put on some relaxing music and just relax together.

3-3.30 - snack time while you have a well deserved cup of tea 🫖

4-4.30 - activity (sensory play on a tuff tray, play dough, colouring, painting/magic painting as it’s not messy/teddy zip wire (tie a piece of string from the top of the stairs to the bottom, get little child hangers and give their teddies a ride from the top of the stairs to the bottom)

5/5.30 - tea

Then bedtime routine.

Don’t feel like you have to be constantly entertaining them - break up the day with solo activities and activities where you join in with them.

A little bit of screen time won’t harm them.

A great book is The Five Minute Mum - it has loads of ideas (indoor) for things to do with little ones.

Mine are young too and they love the cinema, if you go to children's films doesn't matter if they are a bit louder, especially in the week the screens are often empty. Technically TV again but I think it's more about the experience 😊

Agree with @WineGumm

I don't do well if we don't have a plan. Like you say, mornings are easy as there's always a toddler group or some such in. Afternoons I have to rigidly schedule if we're stuck at home or I go crazy.

So for a no napping nearly 3 year old on a dreaded day stuck inside we do ...

Lunch 12-1. Drawn out affair with him helping to set up a picnic blanket and choosing his teddies. I have even bulk bought simple paper party hats for his teddies and we get the stickers out to decorate the hats. Little sandwiches, nibbles and cake to make it an occasion and play some music.

1-2 telly time. I do not feel guilty about this in the slightest

2-3 play time. This is the maximum amount of time I can bear imaginative play. So we get down on the play mat together and I give full attention to playing at farms or cars or whatever it is. Toys everywhere. I follow his lead and he decides everything we play. He bloody loves it.

3-4 housework. I find that as long as he's had a solid hour of playing with me then he's content to potter alone. I go mad doing housework because the busier I am the more content he is for some reason. 🙄 the bugger doesn't want me sitting down in peace and quiet.

4-5:30 dinner, general pottering, and bath time (he goes to bed at 6 so dinner is early)

6pm bed 🙌🏻

I keep a stack of large cardboard boxes in our garage precisely for these sorts of afternoons.

My older one likes poking holes in their box with a pair of (blunt) plastic scissors.

Younger one likes to have a "cat flap" cut in theirs to post balls and other toys out of.

I lie on the sofa and nap with one ear alert.

Check out five minute mum on Instagram. She has loads of games that are quick to set up with minimal equipment. If your elder one is having fun then you can just leave them to it.

Don’t move to Devon 🤣 there’s probably far far less to do if where you live currently you have multiple soft plays and role plays within 30 mins.

If we’ve been out or done something in the mornings then for us afternoons are for telly, free play, hands on play like kinetic sand, play doh. My youngest is 2 and oldest is a very very energetic 9 and they will all sit and play kinetic sand QUIETLY for about an hour. Revelation!

I know you want to be out of the house but that just isn't particularly practical for every single day!
Have you tried a mud kitchen in the garden? You'd need waterproofs but that kept my nephew entertained for pretty much the whole morning and he's not quite 2 yet!
I'd say it would be pretty straightforward to keep your eldest entertained, the younger one, not so much.
With my children, I'd just walk to the shops and we'd stop and talk about leaves, wildlife, door numbers, colours of doors and gates etc. Yes it's pretty tedious but also a great opportunity for discussion and just getting some fresh air! I don't drive, so we walked in all weathers too!

I have a 2.5 year old and I do feel your pain!

Things we’ve been doing:

We bake cakes or make his dinner together, he thinks it’s amazing because he gets to wear a little chef hat

he will “wash the dishes” I put a load of plastic cups/plates in the sink with bubbles and a sponge and he’ll play with this for about 40 mins

His favourite… living room races. He would play this for hours, we pull all the couch cushions off and hop from on to the next and he makes the games up as we go.

reading/song time/dancing

hide and seek

when it is nice outside, we’ve taken a bucket with us and collected up little bits of nature, sticks, stones, leaves, petals and brought them home to do some “art” 😂 if it looks like the morning is ok but the afternoon is bleak

I don’t have them both every single day @rainbowstardrops id lose my mind just two days a week.

Some ideas:

Museums
Castles/National Trust properties
Home made 'assault' course
Build a fort
Baking / Decorating
Dance party
Puzzles
Painting/drawing
Chalk drawing on pavements
Go to the park/a playground
Cinema trip
Garden Centre
Cafe (babyccinos and hot chocolate!)
Facetime family
Park near an airport and watch planes take off/land
Car picnic
Farm shop/Farms
Petting zoo
Actual zoo
Potato painting / rock painting
Crazy bubble bath
Helping with chores e.g. Laundry
Transport museum
Animal sanctuary
Botanical gardens
Local library
Playgroup - ask mums from playgroup for afternoon catch up at your house
Play in the garden with sticks and mud
Go to Pets At Home and look at the fish/rabbits/hamsters
Do an at-home treasure hunt

having to "DO SOMETHING" with children is a modern sickness- this idea of constant spoonfeeding of entertainment being necessary. There will be generations with no imagination because they were always at the zoo/aquarium/farm/softplay.

Here's a shocking idea from past generations - give them toys (or things they can play with like cardboard boxes, cushions, towels as others have said) and allow them to entertain themselves. Imaginary friends, casts of thousands, dolls, toy soldiers, plastic farmyard animals chatting to each other, colouring, drawing, scribbling, building a den, piling up toy bricks to make a palace.