My 4 YO boy doesn't seem to have many interests apart from telly

[OlderNotWiser]

He goes to pre-school mornings and gets home, admittedly weary, at half 1 and just wants to watch telly til school pick up. Which I could cope with, I accept he may just want to switch off for a bit; but once we are back again, he immediately asks for more telly...weekends the same again. He has plenty of toys he just doesnt seem to touch. I don't let him have the telly on all the time, in which case he will play with his older brother if he is around, otherwise he just grumpily loiters like some kind of bored teenager. What I find hard is that I can't actually say what his favourite toys are. There is nothing that seems to have grabbed him to date. I do of course try to play with him, but he loses interest very very quickly and is very half hearted about my suggestions and attempts, to put it mildly...

The only things he seems to enjoy are - playing with big brother/friend; being outside eg cycling/play ground; being read to; telly.

Is this his age? Is it a 'normal' list of interests for a 4 year old? What can I or should I be doing to expand his repetoire?

Mine generally crafted...painted...made stuff. Does he like play doh...or sticking things on paper with glue?

My DCs would happily spend all day watching TV too.
They spend most of their free days asking to watch it.
However, I have a rule that there is no TV until 4:00pm. They can then watch about an hour of it.
They are used to this rule now and know that they have to entertain themselves in other ways until then.
Jigsaws, reading, simple games, crafts, cooking, riding bikes etc.

I think this is pretty normal actually. There are lots of kids who like playing on their own (with lego etc) but others who find that boring.

If he prefers playing with a friend to playing on his own you could arrange afternoon play dates for him once or twice a week. How about taking him swimming or to a gym class?

Definitely not a crafty type sadly! Would love to take him out afternoons but I childmind and we are normally stuck in due to baby naps etc.

Plan to ban afternoon telly next week, hence wondering what to offer him!

Plus remember it's wnter! In summer he'll want to be out in sandpit/paddling pool/tent. If he doesn't like rafting what about bug colleting? Go into the garden and look under rocks...make a tray garden...fill a tray with moss for grass and then make a ittle pond with a bit of foil...hollow t out and let him put water in...little pebbles for paths and tiny twigs for trees. Mine love that.

Nice idea BOM! will try that.

My 4 yr old exactly the same. Wants tv or wii, but if I keep it turned off for long enough he will eventually play with something else if encouraged. Not for very long though, no attention span either. Don't know if it's a boy thing, but seem to want to be much more active outdoors and boisterous play, or mind numbing telly. Neither of mine would sit and do craft things for any amount of time. Baking is usually a good plan

My DS also 4 has never really been one for toys either. He prefers being out on his bike or scooter. He will play with his girl friends though who I think tend to initiate play more so than boys. He has also just got into Lego.

Oh, and he loves to cut out pics (from magazines or old Xmas cards etc) and stick them on a piece of paper. That's about it really!

Have you tried Lego? Keeps mine (that is OH and child) occupied for good periods.

Yes, have tried most stuff tbh, hence my dont-know-what-to-do-ness. He wont do lego, any kind of construction, play with cars, art/craft, drawing, cutting. Will sometimes do 5 mins of playdoh! Perhaps I need to ask what he does at preschool and see if he has a secret life there of things he will do!

Pretty normal and risking sounding old before my time here I blame technology. My 5 year old shows very little interest in terms of toys, he prefers TV, Wii or the DS even though he is only allowed an hour of either one of these a day - though his real dad has him every fortnight and he is allowed to play these whenever and however long he wants. A shame as when time is up here he never kicks up a fuss when the time is up but it is almost as if I have to instruct him to play with his toys as if I don't he will quite happily sit listening to adults or watch something totally uninteresting adults are watching. Again, I blame consoles and such.

I told him if he doesn't start playing with his toys rather than hanging round adults Father Christmas will not be bringing anymore. He begged for HM Armed Forces soldiers for christmas and I spent a fortune on them and all their equiptment for them to be played with about 3 times. It is very frustrating and he likes arts and crafts and also bought him various Hamleys blow pens/magic pens but again he will not use them unless I join in otherwise he will just sit there not knowing what to do with himself.

It can be frustrating but I think it is very normal.

My DD is 3.4 and sounds the same, very active outside the house and enjoys pre-school/other children, but once at home on her own (only child) she nags for the TV and just wants to sit and space out.

I let her watch a bit in the mornings while I get ready and then a bit more after lunch if we have been out having a busy morning, but it feels like a battle to always say 'no, time to play with your toys now', she has a good imagination and will make up little games but the bottom line is she doesn't really like playing by herself. I feel it is up to me to encourage her to, as I don't want her to rely on me to entertain her all the time.

Lately I just say she has to play on her own for say 1 hour and just let her get on with something, after that we might play a game together or do a craft for 30 mins say.

I find it hard when she is bored or listless as I was always happy playing by myself for hours when I was a kid, I am hoping it will improve as she gets older and have thought about banning TV altogether.

Sorry no advise just empathy.

We've banned Mickey Mouse Clubhouse in our abode. It seems to zombify our eldest. It's specifically that programme, it's worse than all the others.

Have you got any toys from his favourite shows/books? My eldest ds loves batman and has a small figure that he uses to have adventures with rest of his toys who stand in for various baddies/ friends and drives his imagination