What do you do with your 15mth DS?

[milkyman]

My ds is very lovely and lively and has no attention span! I know this normal, all he likes to do is walk from one room to the next! We go to groups, walks etc.. But running out of ideas at home

Sounds exactly like my DS! Attention span of a gnat and would rather spend his time charging around with a toy in his hand than sit quietly playing with it?! to be honest I just let him get on with it when we are at home, he is obviously happy. so if we are at home all day we will maybe have 2 or 3 short activities such as:
-a walk round the garden

• doing nursery rhymes and actions

-playing with gis toys ie me actually joining in and playing with him -pushing him round in his little tikes car -reading books together -maybe some crayonning in his highchair if he's feeling amenable

• thomas the tank dvd

The rest of the time im doing jobs (cleaning up his mess!) and hes happily charging around.

Out of the house activities are seeing friends, rhymetime class, soft play, being spoiled by Grandma

I found starting peg puzzles, ball games (learning to throw / catch / kick into boxes / hoops etc) and stickers were brilliant at this age. We also used to play games with flash cards like spread them out on the floor and ds runs to pick up the words I shout out.

Also, we spend at least 15mins after meal at the table concentrating on something like the puzzles etc, it's a rare moment in the day that ds is satisfied and calm, and there are no distractions around

DD sounds like this too! Watching with interest for ideas, especially for rainy days. Our days sound like Aworryingtrend describes though I haven't been brave enough to try crayons yet (she's a bit younger than 15 months).

Stickers sound fun and flash cards - where can I get those (could make flash cards)

One of the main things I find is that house is not open plan si have to follow him everywhere!

There are lots of flash cards online (Amazon) but you could also do with regular household objects.

Without a doubt though the peg puzzles were biggest leap that we made in learning something new and ds loves them... Has at least 10 (transport, animals, numbers etc) and is a great way to introduce idea of fitting pieces together. Again it's something you can do at the table after dinner.

Stickers are brilliant at this age, I scribble tree / pond / house etc in background and then ds picks stickers he wants and sticks them all over to make a"picture". You can get great sticker books of course as well, have a look in news agents or supermarkets.

We also have floor mats with numbers on and use them to run around on, throw bean bags onto etc.

They are starting to get into role play at this age, so food and pots / pans can be fun too.

We have nursery rhymes in the background when we are playing and sometimes he picks one and does a little dance!

Would love to hear any one else's ideas too.

stickers and puzzles and flashcards

Wouldn't fight it if hes happy.
It's still an exciting time to use new found legs. My son was like that at that age, hes still only 20 months but has naturally grown to get more involved in playing and drawing in recent weeks.
I was a bit upset because as a baby he would sit with me for ages reading stories and I felt like a great mum for it, like I was enriching hes development and its only lately he has sat through whole little stories again, but never mind It's not really hes job to make me feel like a great mum I should have just waited it out.

Couldn't agree more ihatemrtumble. They will tell you when they are ready for things and it won't always work first time... Patience is very necessary!

Please don't take this as a criticism, I am genuinely curious. Why do you feel have to follow him around?
I always just tend to leave them pottering around if they were happy to do it. If there is an unsafe room I put a safety gate up.

Our house is not v child proof. Obvs we have done our best but we old victorian fireplaces etc... and hard floors in every room so dont feel comfortable

Now am feeling a bit uncaring as neither of those things would bother me

Me neither notso.
Been reading lately that children can find it harder to fill the inevitable voids in the day between activities if things are too laid on for them iykwim, its good to know how to potter its contentment and exploration without the need to be catered for he can amuse himself.

he does amuse himself but i just follow him! for example today he enjoyed pulling all the cereal packets out of the cupboard..