My dd 4 won't play by herself for any length of time. Any advice please?

[Trickymoments]

My dd is 4 & also have ds 8. They don't play together at all due to age gap.
During the week I am at home with both of them after school hours (dd still at pre-school), I work until 2pm each day.

My dd wants my attenttion all the time & as much as I love it's driving me slightly crazy as I cannot
get anything else done.
She has lots of nice things to play with but won't do anything by herself.

Yesterday we had a lovely day out as a family & today ds & dh have gone out to ds's sport event.

My house is a tip, piles if washing everywhere, decluttering started & not finished, admin to do, garden to sort etc etc. Dd won't let me do a thing and moans if I'm not playing with her & then I feel guilty.

Please can anyone advise as I'm going slightly crazy & as everything builds up I get more short with her. Thanks

Give her jobs to do with you for a start. She can fold laundry - you can redo it later - put cutlery away, wash Windows etc. Put music on so you can sing at the same time maybe?

Maybe be really clear that you're not saying no, but you're doing something else first?

So something like: I will read that book with you, after I've finished folding this laundry.

Give her "challenges" especially if the result can be some kind of surprise you can see afterwards - like a craft, lego model, train track, etc.

Did you try just starting a play and then leaving her to it after 10 mins? I find that if i start playing with DD (4), set up a play scenario (either playmobil, duplo, dollies) she them carries on by herself. She just needs a bit of time with me first and then she'd happily play on her own.