am i doing enough?

[steph29]

hi, i'm a new childminder and i'm just not sure if i'm doing enough with the child i look after he is nearly 2 and just likes to potter around the house all day playing with toys which makes me feel a bit redundant! his mum is fine with it and says he wont sit down for long enough to do activities. he tends to cry if you sit him down and encourage play with playdoh or anything although i did get him to do do some finger painting this morning. Does anyone have any good ideas?
Also my 3 year old daughter really doesn't like him at all. she pushes him over and snatches her toys from him all the time. I think she's just jealous but she's really great with the baby i look after and older kids.

i have a 19mth old who is very similar. prefers to be left on his to just potter and play. i tend to try and sit with him if he gets engrossed in something but its very rare. it does make it hard to do eyfs planning and observation on him! I tend to let him do what he likes but try and encourage him if we are doing an activity to at least see what we are doing and maybe do some mark maing on some paper (but he'll do two scribbles and then get down!) its very frustrating but i think as long as you provide opportunity for him to join in then youre doing all you can. he'll focus when he's ready (well i hope so anyway!)

This is what I think is soooooooo stupid about targets etc

He is wanting to PLAY !!!!!!!!!!!!!

And is obviously happy doing it IMHO it is stupid for the OFSTED people to want us to force a child to stop playing how THEY want just so that targets can be achieved

Also I think your DD behaviuor is normal

I have two little mindee also boys, same age who are just the same.

I mainly let them potter around playing with toys, we go out to the park and soft play, and I have a table in the garden whch I alternate sand and water. They will do crayons or paints but not for long. Just go with the flow. If he is happy and mum is too I wouldn't worry.

Also you can still observe his development while he is playing, 'x says car as he plays with it, and drives it toward me to show it - plan more car play for him eg stories, road mat, picture books, etc.'