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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

what the heck do you do to keep toddlers occupied??

29 replies

purplemonkeydishwasher · 07/08/2007 14:39

I'm struggling here. HOw do you keep your toddlers out of your hair while you get stuff done? (or MN )
DS will be 2 next month and he always wants me to play with him. i cna sometimes get 5 or 10 minutes out of him (like now) but generally my whole day is taken up with 'MUUUUMMMMMM'!!!!!!!
I took him for a long walk this morning thinking it would tire him out but he's given up naps too.
we have too many toys in the house that he's not interested in. ANd we can't afford to buy him more. He's driving me up the wall!!!

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

lilymolly · 07/08/2007 14:41

swimming, soft play, drawing, playing in garden, parks, meeting other toddler for play dates??
Hope that helps, but it is a nightmare

Original poster

purplemonkeydishwasher · 07/08/2007 14:42

yeah but what about in the home??

OP posts:

winestein · 07/08/2007 14:43

This is when I find that CBeebies finds it's own special place in our house.

It was the ONLY thing that stopped the constant pestering when I needed to do something

nailpolish · 07/08/2007 14:49

blocks and lego
the cutlery drawer
old diary and pencil

nailpolish · 07/08/2007 14:49

by cutlery drawer i menat without knives or sharp thngs!

we have a pretend cutlery drawer

nailpolish · 07/08/2007 14:50

also purple we have found a plastic tea set to provide hrs of fun

or just use cups and plates around the house

Original poster

purplemonkeydishwasher · 07/08/2007 14:50

lately even cbeebies, nick jr AND playhouse disney don't always do the job. although i think he's watching curious george at the mo. I should totally be cleaning the kitchen or something.

OP posts:

wheelsonthebus · 07/08/2007 14:51

watering can and hose in garden/ sandpit

NotADragonOfSoup · 07/08/2007 14:51

14' trampoline and older siblings

nailpolish · 07/08/2007 14:52

get a big basket and fill it with empty boxes, old containers with rice, tolet roll tubes, wooden spoons, any old crap around the house. old mobile phones. unused xmas cards.

a bucket of water and a sieve

WanderingTrolley · 07/08/2007 14:55

Try to involve him? If you show him how to use a duster now, your future DIL will love you forever.

For example, can he polish door handles while you clean the loo?

Housework will take a bit longer and be slightly less thorough, but at least most of it will get done.

I know someone whose dc were bought one of these which worked a treat (warning: link is very pink!)

witchandchips · 07/08/2007 14:55

wierd household stuff

dusting
my ds really likes running round the house dragging duster over skirting boards and flicking feather duster everywhere.

cleaning bikes with old toothbrush

cleaning out old + dirty kitchen cupboard

Original poster

purplemonkeydishwasher · 07/08/2007 14:57

i thought i was so clever the other day. I gave him a bucket of water and some paint brushes and showed him how to paint (outside obviously). just as i was congratulating myself i heard 'MUUUMMMMMMYYYYYY' so i go outside and he wants me to paint WITH him.

great ideas though! keep 'em coming!

OP posts:

Flibbertyjibbet · 07/08/2007 14:57

My ds1 2.7 has his own dusters, dust pan and brush, hoover, mop and bucket... all on his own little toy cleaning trolley, so we make housework into a game! He just follows me round doing what I am doing. Even ds2 14m joins in wandering around with the play mop or waving a duster about.
He just has plain water in a spray bottle instead of window cleaner etc.
It does take a lot longer to get stuff done but is less stressful and a lot more fun than trying to do it while they are wingeing/fighting etc.
For other things I need to do besides cleaning, at the moment Nemo is my best friend.
Also, put most of the toys away for a month or so. When you start to re-introduce them he will be into them again. I try to rotate them to under the stairs between interested phases. If you leave them all out all the time they get bored with them.

SpawnHorcrux · 07/08/2007 15:10

'Painting' on the patio with a bowl of water and a brush.

Bowl of water and some plastic cups in the garden.

Paper and crayons.

Making biscuits (well the cutting out and eating parts!)

Playdough.

Looking at photo albums.

CBeebies!!

chocoholicfrog · 07/08/2007 15:16

Great thread. I have exactly the same problem with my DS.

I love the idea of the box full of useless household tat so much that I'm off to fill one now for when he wakes up.

WanderingTrolley · 07/08/2007 15:17

Have you got a friend with a similar-aged child, with whom you could leave him for an hour or two once a week, and then have her dc back on another day?

w&c what does your ds charge per hour and does he provide his own feather duster?!

witchandchips · 07/08/2007 15:18

sorting out the toy box is a great one. You are bound to find a toy he has not played with for 3 months. Say "Lets put this in the loft shall we, you are too big for it now". I bet you a bar of green and blacks that he will then say "no i am not and be absorbed with it for the next 20 mins"

witchandchips · 07/08/2007 15:21

at wandering trolley, fraid he also likes making mess as well

KITTENSOCKS · 07/08/2007 15:27

Could DS go to play at a friends house to play for an hour or two while you get things done, and you reciprocate? If he won't leave you, could your friend and toddler look after DS at your house while you do a few chores? With any luck he'll be distracted enough by the guests to not cling to you.
Put away toys he doesn't play with, but don't get rid, in another few months he may find them interesting, maybe he's just not ready for them now. Suggestions for cheap toys: make playdough (sorry haven't got recipe- try other mumsnetters) Play skittles with plastic bottles and a ball of rolled socks (teaches taking turns), plastic nesting tubs and lids from the kitchen (can nest in order of size, or make a tower with lids on) Musical instruments: a shaker with rice or dried peas in a plastic container, well sealed so he can't open it, a cardboard box drum with a wooden spoon drumstick, a "stringed instrument" from half an egg box with strong rubber bands stretched around it to pluck. Don't let him play with the instruments unsupervised except the drum.
Agree with lilymolly that activities she suggested are great for getting out and meeting others, for both of you and takes the pressure off, usually they want your attention the whole time.

Smithagain · 07/08/2007 21:58

Things work best here when I have a clear idea about what really needs doing in the house. And I just make up my mind that I am going to do it, and get on with it as fast as possible, while chatting to DD2 (now 23mo) and/or getting her to "help". But I try not to make the boring stuff last forever - alternate it with times when we do things together/read books/go out.

Varying the room we are in helps, too - when she is bored of kitchen stuff we go up to the girls' bedroom where there are loads of toys and she usually finds something to do while I frantically sort washing.

Failing that, stick on CBeebies and get on with something that needs doing. Resist the urge to switch on the PC ...! Fun as it is, it still leaves you frustrated that nothing is done and IME toddlers detest the PC because it makes Mummy glaze over and stop paying attention. DD2 always wants to sit on me when I switch the computer on, even if she was totally engrossed in something just beforehand.

We also spend lots of time out of the house, so I can't see the mess and she can't make it worse

On less organised days, I just don't get any stuff done, frankly.

hoxtonchick · 07/08/2007 22:00

dd will happily pootle around the garden on her scooter as long as i'm in the vicinity (ie lounging in a deckchair reading a book).

dissle · 07/08/2007 22:10

just accept that youwill not get any thing done till he is at least 3.5/4.

just do bits while you can or save it till he is in bed at night.

i used to prepare dinner for the following day and shove it in the fridge, wash up immediately after tea, clean the bathroom later, or spray with cleaner and rinse off before i got in bed.
put washer on last thing at night then washing out in the morning when dc is eating brecky...in high chair/booster.
as soon as ds went to playschool for those precious 2.5 hrs twice a week, i would gut the house...do the cooker one day, cupbourds the next.
its amazing what you can get done in a very short period of time!

mummydoit · 07/08/2007 22:21

I used to get dinner made by letting DS1 stand on a chair next to me and 'cook'. I'd give him a pan and a spoon and he'd happily stir the potato peelings or other unwanted bits while I made the proper meal. The drawback was that he sometimes expected Daddy to eat it! We then progressed to letting him make banana and custard which, luckily, is one of Daddy's favourites. Even small children can cut up a banana with a blunt knife, spoon on some custard from a tub and sprinkle on some hundreds and thousands. The pride on his face when he presented Daddy with his masterpiece was priceless.

nailpolish · 08/08/2007 10:56

ooh i agree about the banana
mushrooms are easy too

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