to ask what to do with my three year old for the next few days?

[Imnotticketyboo]

My childminder is on holiday and I've broken a bone in my foot. I don't have any additional adult help I can call on. Epic timing!!

We usually head out during the day to a playground, a playgroup, friends house, soft play etc, but this week I don't have a vehicle and the bus service here is shockingly unreliable so I'm loath to hobble 20 minutes to the bus stop just for it to not turn up. The train is better but it's a 35 minute walk to the station and it's meant to be chucking it down all day. I do not have a buggy.

We've got a bit of colouring we can do...been saving a new colouring sheet for an emergency and think this is the moment! Also we'll sit and read together for a little while so I can elevate my foot, but usually if I sit down she wants to be clambering all over me and this has been quite painful as she's not very aware so will bump and knock my leg quite a bit. So trying to think of some other bits we can do which might entertain her.

Have this fab book called '5 minute mum' but previously have done a multitude of activities from it and I look at the clock to realise it's only been an hour and a half 😂 and I'm left exhausted from doing 10+ activities! My oldest will at least want to do the activities for a little while so it's worth the effort, but the little one still has a very short attention span. It doesn't matter how much I try to stick with the current activity, she's done.

We don't have a TV. She's dropped all her naps. I think this is the first time I've actually felt anxious about parenting. I'm usually super confident and get on with it, but right now I'm stuck trying imagine what we're going to do for the day, let alone Thursday as well. Friday I reckon I can team up with some friends as quite a few of them are off work on Fridays. It'll be alright when big brother is home, the evening seems to fly by when there's two of them. They entertain each other and me!

Any ideas? Or just some words of strength and positivity. I'm getting myself into a worry!!

I think you need a game of doctors and nurses!

Send some invites out for a friend to pop over for a cup of tea with their child

have you got a computer or phone they could watch the odd hour of a tv programme or film?

old magazine and a pair of kids scissors can use up some time

Then your normal household jobs but involving them?

do you have a garden they can potter in and you can sit in a chair?

don’t feel you have to entertain her as such all day- she’ll be occupied to some extent with toys too. Sometimes moving into different rooms is enough to provide variety. You can often do jobs like de cluttering with kids around too

@Sprig1 good shout! that is something she'll play for a while!!! Though she won't entertain the idea of using dolls and teddies, has to be a living patient. Send gin!!! 😂

Baking or Decorating biscuits. You could sit down at the table to do these so rest your foot.
Dressing up
Toys tea party
Jigsaw
Games on your phone

Thanks for this! Sadly we don't have any friends around on Wednesdays and Thursdays, they're all at work/nursery. We love the garden but it's looking pretty torrential tomorrow to be outside.

I don't have magazines or newspapers in the house, but we pass a shop en route to/from school so I could pick one up. That'll be entertaining! Pro tip I discovered recently, is letting them go to town on the lawn with scissors. They get to chop to their hearts content and you don't end up with a million scraps of paper. Less ideal in the rain though.

She does love helping with the housework, so that's a great shout. Will just potter about and she can help. DH was amazed recently that she could sort the laundry by herself as she recognises which clothes belong to who. DS is clueless about these things in spite me doing the laundry with him the same as I do with her! Gender stereotyping is starting off strong 😅

oh i love the toys tea party idea, could do the baking first and then invite the dolls to tea!! 😍

Taxi to the nearest softplay!

Build a den inside. cushions off the sofa and on the floor, upright chairs around them and blankets/throws draped over. Give them a torch and music and serve drinks and snacks in the den. Entry by password only!

Tell her to mind your foot/not climb on you, she's old enough to understand that.

Fill an old backpack with various interesting items from around the house and let her open all the pockets and discover everything. If you got small boxes/bags/purses then you can put stuff inside something and the inside the bad to slow her down!

Playdoh (you can make your own if you don't have any).

Daytime bath is perfect for a rainy day (add dolls/Duplo/dinosaurs/tea set for extra fun).

Stickers. Or if you don't have stickers, tape to stick on something. Maybe draw loads of pictures and stick them up to form an art gallery.

Screen time - this is the time to use it!

Also, see if she'll be up for pretending you're the Queen and she has to run around fetching things for you. I find this weirdly popular with kids. Particularly, if you're a horrible Queen who keeps moaning, they think it's hilarious!

Build a fort (blankets draped over sofa or clothes airer will do) with extra cushions and blankets and then read some books by torchlight and practise shadow puppets (always a hit with my 3yo, and you can lie down!)
Make a bit of salt dough and you can paint them the next day.

Have a look at busy toddler on Instagram, she has loads of ideas. A bit like 5 minute mum. Also, screen time!

Make your own paper chains. Plain paper cut into similar size strips, get her to colour them, and then glue or tape them together to make the chain. Plain flour and water will make glue if you don't have tape or glue to hand.

Let her make up your face / use face paints if you have them.

Oo some fab ideas here thank you!

Dens were a staple during covid, thanks @Cantgetausername87 and @JemOfAWoman, haven't pulled that one out in a while. We have a disco light that could go in there as well!

@NuffSaidSam she'll adore that backpack plan, am off to prep it now! I like the diy playdough idea too, used to make that with my mum <3 The Queen plan is hilarious. We have a version called 'Jemimas' where the person who is being Jemima is essentially a demanding d*head and everyone runs around trying to please them. It's even entertaining for the adults!

@Ossoduro2 I'll check her out, thank you!

@GoneFishingToday I love this plan! We've actually done some painting/stamping pre Christmas every year so that I have paper chains which extend every year and have become more elaborate as their artistic skills have grown. Maybe it's time for a summer set!

@user2037272727273 it's crossed my mind! This foot is a 4-6 week healing process though, feel like I might want to keep the taxi money for later in the game in case it's needed.

Have a look at some of the old lockdown threads for inspiration! When we had COVID I ordered one of those mega craft boxes with all sorts in it, which kept DD quiet for an hour or so a day lol.

Get all the toys out, like Duplo or happy land or whatever you have. Ditto playdoh or kinetic sand. Let them dress up in your clothes or their fancy dress stuff. Let them watch too much TV.

Papier mache? Flour and water paste and strips of newspaper onto a balloon. Can make it one day, let dry overnight and paint it the next day. (have to admit I haven't actually tried this myself but am reliably informed it works!)

Oh poor you. Do you have a small tub or large dish? Fill it with water and bubble bath and let her wash her dolls, give them a bath, dry them off and some lotion. My LO loves doing that with her dollies. If you don't want too much of a mess, leave out the bubbles.

Potato stamps are fun, find a good cookie cutter and shove it into the potato and trim the edge.

sitters.co.uk. If you can afford it, get someone in to take her out for a few hours in the morning (playground/shops etc) while you rest up, and then do quiet at home activities in the afternoon.

Big box in the middle of the living-room.

Mound of sofa cushions and soft toys.

Kiddie dance/yoga videos on youtube.

The other thing you could do is put a small cardboard box over your foot and let her colour it in and stick stickers onto it. You get to rest and protect your foot, she gets to decorate and be near you - win, win.

I blooming love that!!! Great suggestion, thanks :D

If she’s happy to play in the garden while you watch from inside, I’d stick waterproofs on her and let her go out and get muddy. Then follow it with a bath to warm her back up and occupy some more time.

Bubbles, or balloons, if you have them.

If she has a play kitchen, give her a washing up bowl of soapy water to wash and dry all her pans/plates/the food and any other toy that looks like it needs a good scrub.

Daytime bath!

It's like a normal bath but in the daytime and therefore it's exciting! Also you can take in normal toys (obviously if it won't damage them) so, Barbie becomes mermaid Barbie, dinosaurs become swamp dinosaurs

Bubble bath or a bath bomb or bath crayons just make it take longer

When we're done it's hot chocolate and watch something after (it's a staple for poorly but not really poorly days) and that takes up more time 😂

Mine loved a long bath, especially with lots of bubbles or other stuff to make potions. They could spend an hour plus in there. Admittedly not the comfiest place for you to sit.

It's a bit messy but cornflour and water makes a weird mix that is not quite solid or liquid and quite fascinating.