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?

And pet shops, any baby groups, Asda, cafes, museums, trampolining…

Doesn't the oldest go to preschool?

I get the feeling that it is you, OP, who is bored more than the kids?

I would suggest inviting people round to yours, e.g. other mums from morning groups. As many as you can handle. That way you will have a good chance of being invited back a few times in return. The kids can play together and you can have a chat. At the end, the house will be upside down, and clearing that up before your DH gets home will fill the rest of the day.

My PIL were also an hour away, but I often visited them on days with nothing else to do - frees up a day with better weather!

When mine were little we had Merlin passes and did Chessington , Legoland and Thorpe park on a very regular basis . One morning we stayed on the flying fish at Thorpe park for over an hour ! EH and NT membership was also useful . Local farm parks , steam railway and the most time consuming of all - buy a pony .

TV is not the enemy some on MN think it is.

Long baths can be fun.

Fill the tub so they can "swim."

Get lots of water toys, towels lining the bathroom floor...

You might like to look at Pinterest for very simple crafts or ideas for activities.

Crafts can be frustrating, though - many take more time to set up and clear away than to actually do, and many don't take into account the attention span or fine motor abilities of small children.
Sensory activities are often a better idea, and Pinterest might be a good resource.

Activities like freeze dance can be fun, and kids can burn off energy.
Could you find some mommy-and-me online yoga classes?

I'm guessing you read til you're cross-eyed many days.

My mum used to make salt dough and let us play with it when we had eaten all our plasticene ran out of plasticene.

I remember spending what seemed like hours squishing it, rolling it out, using cookie cutters to cut it, rolling it into balls, forming it into cubes, making people shapes with it...

She also crumpled tin foil and let us smooth it out with the back of a spoon.

She made 'biscuits' out of shortcut pastry, cut in shapes or rolled in balls, and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. They were actually quite good.

We also did hand prints, potato prints, leaf prints, and apple prints using washable paint. Followed by a bath, usually.

Is the correct answer!

Though apart from those activities, I know we never went on trips, and there were no parks or playgrounds nearby.

My own DCs had big tubs of plastic animals and big tubs of wooden blocks, and I remember they all got a lot of value from them, setting up little worlds even at age 3, and playing imagination games. They often pretended they were cats or dogs, and I provided bowls of water for them to drink from and bowls of dry cereal to munch. I remember suggesting DD1 sit looking out the window and bark at squirrels, burds, or passersby, which she did for hours.

Between age 3 and 4, you can gradually foster the ability to play independently.

I am guessing that if the second child is 11 months this is imminent and she is looking for ideas to get through the last dull weeks of ML. But if not, do it!

Hi OP. I remember the very long afternoons when mine where both very little. We did crafts, making hand made cards for families and friends, hand/finger painting, make a cake and let the toddler do as much as possible, play dates, museums, galleries, indoor shopping centre for babycino and coffee or tea for you, walk around the big Tesco (it's something to do!). The main thing was to pick just one activity and do that mid afternoon when I was getting bored. If doing a messy activity then I'd clean while they watch TV. Oh and Pinterest was very helpful in finding age appropriate activities.

OP I would add that mine are older now and in hind sight the best days were the easiest. Those were where I couldn't be bothered and we did 20 to 30 mins in each room of the house.

In each room I had a basket with a themed activity. E.g. musical instruments for toddlers, sensory items, books, puppets and finger toys and make a show, books, wooden blocks, so we would go from room to room just doing the stuff in the basket. So easy, so fun and so simple.

Also don't feel you have to do stuff, let them walk around the house, everything is fascinating at that age.

Enjoy the little age, as they say, the days are long and the years are short. As much as it felt like the afternoons lasted forever, what I would do for one more of those days.

I feel your pain. Somehow it was always only half two even though I could swear it should be half five. I used to go to places with people so I felt part of real life. Garden centre, library, IKEA, supermarket, big bookshop near me. Might be worth joining any local historic house/National Trust place. Cafe once in a whole with sticker books, colouring etc gor your toddler. Look up what's on locally, sometimes you can find stay and play sessions, forest school type things, kids craft groups etc. Baby in a carrier rather than a pram. Good luck. As they say, the hours are long but the years are short. I used to hate this saying but now mine are older I realise its so true!!

@catsandkittensandcats get the slime that goes in the bath! Saved us through a miserable lockdown winter with toddler ds.