Activities for a boy toddler

[WeNeedaNap]

Hi all,

dad here, just felt like I needed to mention "dad" as it's mumsnet 😅

Hope this is the right place for this topic, apologies if not.

I need to be healthier I know, that aside, our toddler (boy) has a lot of energy, the weather here in England isn't always the best and we can't always be bothered to leave the house.

How do you all keep your toddler boys entertained, we don't have the TV on, he is just over 2 years old. You can just tell he's pent-up with energy even when its about to be bed time. So more than entertained what activities are you doing to make sure he is really tired.

We take him to softplay places sometimes but all he is doing is playing with montessori toys, a little in the ball pit, not much on the slides. I wish he'd run about- perhaps thats where I need to be chasing him.

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

thank you in advance.

We bought a fold away tunnel online and our boys like to play in that - not just crawling through, sometimes they’ll put loads of toys in it, sometimes they drag each other around in it. Similarly we also have one of those fold up beach tents and they enjoy playing in there in the living room. Can use the tunnel to get into the tent, put a blanket over the tent so the front is closed. Make a den etc.
Stepping stones are fun - good for balance and can practice colour recognition whilst they’re moving about. Can make an obstacle course with these and the tunnel etc.
They also enjoy when we take the cushions off the sofa and make a little at home soft play. They just jump all over them or jump off the sofa onto the cushions.
Put music on and dance. Do really silly dance moves to make him laugh.
Get some little hoops and bean bags and practice throwing the bean bags into the hoops. Again good for colour recognition eg throw the blue beanbag into the blue hoop.
Play a game where you ask them to collect things for you eg run and grab a tea towel from the kitchen, run to the toy box and grab your green building block, bring me 2 cars. Make them see how fast they can do it.

boys?!! more than one! you must be exhausted.

Thanks for this, think i need to get some these things, the stepping stones probably best as they don't take too much room.... if i get a tunnel I can expect our cats in there.

Going to try the collect things definitely, feel like that should send him back and fourth enough times to get him tired.... or is that just building endurance 😂

think we need more room but all of these sound good, thank you!

My son is 2.5. He has alot of energy and always has. He's constantly running around. We have to leave the house. The weather doesn't stop us. Puddlesuit and wellies and you are good to go. Even a walk around a supermarket or shopping centre my son loves helping with the shopping.

We go swimming, softplay, outdoor play group, church playgroup, toddler gymnastics class, role play cafe, park, library, he also goes to nursery 3 mornings a week and usually a playdate or two a week with friends.

think I. may be the problem, ours is the same age almost. Im just too exhausted after work and also working on a small business after work so need to be at the laptop so i can't be bothered to get out. Think I will have to find a way to get out and do stuff, wellies and a raincoat it is for the months to come.

Well done with how much you're doing, i'm sure he's loving it :)

You need to get outside! It’s the only way with boys! Parks, forest areas, walks to the shop. If it’s raining get your wellies and coats on! This time of year is great as you can jump in the leaves, look for conkers etc

I can understand you being tired but staying indoors will only make him harder to look after. They really do need to be outdoors for some part of the day. When my Ds was that age he had probably been to pre-school or playgroup, been to the park after lunch and we still went outside after tea to play with a ball. They really do need it.

Hi, there are a few ideas you could incorporate.
Some experts recommend rotating toys every two weeks to maintain novelty and keep children interested in their toys.
There are also two main categories of play:
a) Open-ended play — activities that allow for multiple solutions and encourage creativity, such as building blocks.
b) Closed-ended play — activities that have one specific solution and help develop logical thinking, such as puzzles.
To support balanced development, you could also make sure that the weekly activities cover different areas:

• Language skills — language and communication games
• Motor skills — activities that develop fine and gross motor skills
• Emotional regulation — games that help children recognize and manage emotions
• Cognitive development — games that develop memory, attention, problem-solving, and reasoning
• Social skills — activities that encourage cooperation, communication, and understanding others
• Sense of self — activities that help children develop self-awareness, independence, and confidence

You can find an example of a weekly plan here:https://esmekeffe.com/learning-activities-toddlers/ Hope this helps