Good sitting-down (me) interactive games / toys for 2.5yo ds?

[Ilovemybed]

I'm pregnant and ds is a whirlwind. We have a marble run, some jigsaws and a Buckeroo type game which are good for me sitting down whilst playing with ds.

Any other good recommendations? I got the marble run idea from mn. I'd like something that encourages taking turns but think he's too young for board games.

Hope you can help!

red dog, blue dog - brilliant game made by orchard toys. A kind of picture lotto and even if you don't play quite by the rules you can take turns turning over the cards etc.

Also - if you want other activities rather than just games - how about a couple of old catalogues and a pritt stick for some random collages?? Or playdoh?

books??

lucky ducks game

Orchard toys crazy chef game

megabloks to build stuff together

play food and kettle/tea set so you can sit down while your ds runs around making you meals and cooking up dinners to bring to you?

One of the only things ds sat down for was a home-made memory game.

Get a tray, put lots of things on it, get him to look at it for ten seconds then you whip something away while he closes his eyes and he's got to try to remember what it was.

picture pairs

ask him to find the dog then you find a dog, its something that even though its your turn he can still get excited about as he can see what your ment to be finding. i that makes sense?

thank you for your excellent suggestions. The orchard games look fab and have a bit of money off on amazon. Plus I can play them with him while I am bfing (if all goes to plan).

I really like the other ideas too. We have loads of books so that's always an option but as he has books in the morning and before bed he's not so keen in the day.

thanks again and please put anymore if you think of them!

Maybe sounds a bit daft but my DD 2.10 loves I Spy. Her choices can be random in that letters often don't match answers but it easily keeps her occupied for half an hour at a time.
She also loves to give and receive "clues" - it's green and it's on the table etc. Actually, without clues it might make for a very long game! Quite interesting to see their development too. When we first played it about six months ago none of the letters she gave corresponded to the answers and she'd "spy" bizarre things like giraffes but now she makes a lot more sense.

doctors. an excellent game for tired mummies - you are the patient and lie on sofa, while ds gives you 'injections' with a biro/spoonfuls of pretend medicine/take your temperature with thermometer/bandage you etc.
as soon as one of your symptoms is dealt with you invent another . if he has been with you to GP/midwife for antenatal visits so much the better, he can pick up some ideas....