At what age is it reasonable to expect DCs to entertain themselves in the garden?

[AdamAnt]

I've tried plonking mine (20 months and 3.3) in the garden so I can et on with a bit of MNing housework, but they just drift around for a minute or two, then start pushing each other off the slide, and after about 3 and a half minutes they are wailing to come back in. It's a gorgeous day out there. How can I persuade them to enjoy it without me?

Dunno - but mine are similar ages and temperaments so I'll watch with baited breath . . .
One thing that keeps them reasonably occupied is telling them they can't touch something e.g. my brand new veg patch. They spent hours digging that up.
I'm contemplating putting their easel outside and some paints and letting them get on with painting outside (I'm gonna have a multicoloured shed I can see it)

Oh good idea Chris - in fact I've just remembered that last year I pinned some big sheets of paper to the fence and gave DD some paint. She spent quite a while amusing herself. It was v messy though and the fence still hasn't quite recovered.

i had a good idea?

Love the name by the way. I still heart Adam Ant.

Morning Adamant.

I give mine chalks then they can decorate the patio and it'll all wash off in the rain.

Also washing up bowls of water or
water play tables are good. Chuck in utensils and cups and leave to it.

Just been lurking in this thread - fantastic ideas for garden entertainment! will definitely try the chalks

Even easier than paint and chalk is water. ds loves painting the furniture! we also paint pictures on the patio or make foot/hand prints

This is the first year dd1 has realy played on her own (without shouting 'mummy' evry few minutes), she's 4

I would'nt leeve my 2 year old in the garden as she is always climbing and falling over.

Bucket
decorating brush
some water

"go and paint!" "Go and wash your toys!" "Daddy's bike needs a good clean, oh I wonder who could do that?"

Do you have a play tent? Or make a tipi from bamboo sticks and blankets. Mine will spend hours in those in the garden.

Mud pits and sand pits (of course, mud is more enticing for them) can keep them happy. or washing things, as others suggest.

Mine at that age used to always want to be where I was though. It's only as they got a bit older that they were happy playing in the garden when I was inside.

Both dd and I have, in our time, enjoyed collecting snails. You can then build houses for them out of shoe boxes, etc. Older kids race them. (Best not eaten, though.)

Downside is, you're never allowed to kill snails after they become pets.

Great ideas. (lol at the snails).

We used to do the water painting thing, but the patio area needs supervision (steep steps going up to garden).

Have just chucked them outside with water table and vessels. DS is already soaking (courtesy of DD), but no howling.....yet.

Right, so we're all ready with the buckets, the snails, the chalk and the paint. All we need is the weather!!!

housework isnot important spending time wityh your children is. why do you want to leave them. that isnt what being a parent is about.

think it depends on their ages and how much you can tolerate..I let my trio out in the garden and sit at dining table so I can see and hear them but if they have a tussle I dont intervene until they look likely to kill each other..they are 4.6,2.4 and 15mths

lol i think i am a wimp when it comes to weather.

No fabulousmum - being a parent also isn't about telling other parent's off.
AdamAnt wasn't suggesting abandoning them, just after activities that they could play and enjoy together.

fabulousmum... you must be nervous up there on your high horse..watch you don't fall now, y'hear?

my kids are exactly the same age and i have the opposite problem, if i'm not out there shadowing their every step they try leg it into the field across the road or down the road (cul de sac with only us living here but still)

gardening is a pain in the ass because i have to drop what i'm doing every 2 secs to run after one or both of them and herd them back.

they go conveniently deaf once they're 2 feet away from me

at fabulousmum....yeah right. Just keep taking your tablets, Sweetie

This morning was a great success. DS and DD had a great morning in the sunshine, splashing at the water table, 'painting' the wooden fance with water, shoving each other off the slide and eating ladybirds, while I "did the housework" and enjoyed peace and quiet.

I think that previous attempts were probably scuppered mainly by the miserable weather.

Mine have only just started playing out in the garden without fighting or asking me to get involved and they are 7 now (sorry, not what you want to hear!).

Last weekend they were out there building a snowman and I was pottering around inside. I glanced out to check on them and they had gone - they had made a hole in the back fence and escaped into the park .

wow sandyballs! Very enterprising of them!

If my two are in the back garden I tend to lurk in the kitchen - not least to head off mud-encrusted boots when they return

Agree that no matter how well-equipped your sandpit, nothing beats digging in the flower beds for "treasure"

lol sandyballs!

Treasure hunt?