What games/activities to do with a 21-month-old?

[bean612]

DD is a very active little girl and, like most toddlers her age I'm sure, has a very short attention span and also needs/wants my/DH's input most of the time.

We do the typical things, I guess - play with her train set, match picture cards, shape sort, build towers, read books (LOTS of books!), drawing (though she's not that interested yet), songs, physical play/rough and tumble, go outside to look at ants, etc. The other day I made a cardboard ramp (it was a bit rubbish but she's too young to notice/care, hurrah) for her cars. We also go to playgrounds a lot, and the odd playgroup (though she is at nursery 3 days a week so we tend to go to those less often these days).

I just feel as though there are other things I could/should be doing with her. I know it's typical of her age to be bored with things very quickly, but sometimes I worry she's not getting enough stimulation, and frankly I get rather bored too! What do others do with similarly aged DCs? I'd love any suggestions/ideas...

Sounds to me like you're doing enough already! I think it is a tremendous skill to be able to keep yourself occupied and I think you should work out ways of encouraging your DD to play without your/DH's input all the time. She may not like it but you are creating a rod for your own back etc. Don't worry about neglecting her, ofcourse there are times when we all interact, but it's worth it as she grows older.

Thanks blowbroth. I have been thinking that, ie. that it would be great for her to play independently a bit more, and I do encourage her to, but she is and always has been very attached to me - I literally couldn't put her down for the first 9 months or so of her life, and I wasn't aiming for attachment parenting, that's just the way she was (is). It's hard to know how to encourage independent play more, anyway, when she still has such a short attention span (and I don't think that's unusual for her age). I'd still be interested to hear what others do with their pre-2-year-old DCs, or what they do independently...

Hi Bean, my DD is 18m and I also went through a phase of thinking I should be doing more with her. I also work 3 days a week so felt a bit of pressure to make the days I was with her special. (And she was also a velcro baby until she was about 9 months old - we have a lot in common!). Anyway I have recently come to realise that she is happiest with the simplest things and just likes spending time with me. So now mostly we just go to the park and play in the playground - in all weathers with plastic trousers if necessary! But there are a few things we do that aren't on your list. We bought some plastic play food and a teaset off eBay and we have tea parties for all her toys. We play climbing on the settee and chasing games around the house. We have an aqua draw mat and DD can be entertained for ages by me drawing things on it (mostly bears which she's obsessed with). Sometime we have a bath and just splash around for fun with the shampoo bottles. Oh and the local library is always good for an hour or so. And sometimes [DrCosy whispers] I run out of inspiration and put on a recorded In the Night Garden . I honestly think though at that age they just like being with you and having your attention.

My DS2 is exactly the same and has an attention span of a flea - plus he is extremely clingy so even if he is engrossed in something, the minute I leave the room, he drops whatever he was doing and follows me

I can't really add much to your list as I am useless at doing things with my DC

Both my boys are rubbish at entertaining themselves so I often wonder if it is something I have done!

Hello Tiger - heh, that came out a bit dodgy!

Tea set is a great idea, thank you. We do do shopping, ie. she has some play food and I ask her to give me the items one by one to put in my shopping bag, but she has started in the last couple of weeks to get her toy animals to 'drink' from her cup etc, so she'd like that. Aquadraw also sounds great, had forgotten about those, must go and buy one. We do do chasing and climbing - amazing how much they love that, eh? - and the library for charging about looking through new books in the kids' area. Peppa is our own personal Night Garden, but I've got strict about just two shortish sessions first thing in the morning and again before supper, because she's so obsessed with Peppa that she would honestly watch her all day if she could...

I like your view that they just like being with you, cos I think that's true too, and certainly she seems happiest just playing in the park/playground, or messing about with me at home. It's just too easy to worry about the small stuff I suppose.