Tips on how to keep an 18 month old happy for 13 days?

[Rosebell100]

Hello. My DS is 18 months, and he's a very active, busy boy, he loves the park and he loves other kids. He also has no language yet and gets frustrated easily. I am fearful on how I will keep him entertained for 12 days in our flat over christmas. We don't have any family or friends nearby so he will just have me and his dad to play with. We can take him to the park twice a day, but how do I fill all the other time? He seems so quickly bored with all toys and then he throws the remote at me to get me to put the tv on which I really want to limit.

Say clever boy great communication and put cbeebies on for 10 minutes
Cbeebies in betwern park eating naps playing is fine
Make a visual timetable so he learns x then y then z

Put a set of toys in each room. Kitchen can be a plastic tub and some cutlery/cups. Move from room to room so you don't spend too long in one place. Not sure about your Christmas present situation but hold some back if you can to bring out in boredom/tantrum emergencies over the next couple of weeks. Bath time is a great re-set for a grumpy toddler - we often did lunchtime baths with our first when he was in a bad mood and for some reason it always cheered him up! Fresh clothes, maybe a nap and a snack and then start again. Long walks, bubble machine and light projectors were also good distractions (albeit pre-pandemic). Work tv into a routine so toddler knows when to expect it. Not popular on mn I know, but I do screen time every day - half an hour around 5pm-ish when everyone is getting grumpy and hungry to allow me to get the dinner on and give me a break from the whinging! Hide the remote if that sets your little one off.

Balloons. Especially ones with confetti in. You would not believe how many hours for days on end an under 2 can spend playing balloons. Mine is in isolation...

Staggering the gifts over days will be great too for stringing out the entertainment :)

Set up an obstacle course with cushions.
Have him help with cleaning (kids love dusters and sweeping).
Washing up bowl with plastic pots.
Make a tent with a clothes horse or chairs.
Flour or shaving foam on a tray to draw in with fingers.

What have you been doing with him until these 14 days?

Painting / drawing / chalking on paper or in Bath tub
Water play /bath time (anything that can get wet can go in the bath (teddies/duplo/plastic yoghurt pots)
Stories/singing/dancing
Facetime people
Go for walks

Look up
Sensory play
Loose parts play

My DS is 17 months and our days generally look like this-
Wake up, play in bedroom for a bit
Let him walk downstairs (I hold his hand of course)
Breakfast and CBeebies (loves hey duggee)
I’ll put dishes away, have a coffee etc then we get dressed and go outside - either explore in garden or walk in pram
Lunch for about 11 (no morning nap) I’ll put radio on for him while I make lunch and he plays with his toys, maybe do some drawing, sometimes I have to put telly on if he’s hangry and losing the plot
Long nap: 12-3 usually. I get chores done and have a cuppa
3 he wakes, plays with some toys, I read to him, then we might FaceTime my parents
Will also try to go outside again before it goes dark
More tv or radio while he plays and potters while I make his dinner for 5
After dinner he likes to practice going up/down stairs, running round house, open doors...I run his bath so he’s in bath for 6.15/6.30 and then bed routine so he’s in bed for 7.
He’s only just started getting into his crayons so I think I’ll try him with some finger painting in a couple months. At the moment I think he may just try to eat it!
I just keep changing it up really. He usually tells me he wants to change room/activity anyway, like he will open a door, shake safety gate, or bring me his wellies!

Oh I forgot he has his own little sweeping brush to help me sweep... and likes to help me with a dusting cloth 😂 I try to let him entertain himself at times so he finds things himself!

Google sensory bins, keeps my 20 month old busy for ages and I do a different one every day

This is stuff I did with DD from 13-24 months, a good chunk of which was spent in lockdown! Screentime is a lifesaver and keeps them entertained so I would say use that whenever possible. If you can afford it, then buying some new toys also helps keep both of your sane when stuck indoors.

• Washable crayons and letting her scribble on everything. I took away the darker colours (red, black, brown, dark blue) and the rest were easy to clean off.
• Play Doh. This was doable when she came out of mouthing things. There are so many sets with different things to make, and quite fun for adults if you're playing with her.
• Stickers! She adored this and I got loads cheap ones from the pound shop. She loves peeling and sticking and spent hours sticking them onto different things in the house (and herself).
• Sticker activity books. These are easy to get on Amazon and tie in with loads of series (Peppa, Duggee etc). She's obsessed with ones featuring characters she knows from Youtube, so letting her watch some cartoons pays off. She can sit for hours with the sticker book and it's also fun for adults to supervise.
• Bathtime with all kinds of bubbles, foam, old makeup, cups, etc.
• Dollhouse style toys like Timber Tots, Fisher Price Little People etc. This kept her absorbed for much longer than blocks, stacks or simpler toddler toys.
• Unpacking advent calendars. Especially now there might be some heavily discounted ones available online.
• Indoor Ball Pit. There some very cheap ones on Amazon and I've also seen them in discount shops. The "pool" is a thin pop-up plastic thing but enough to hold the balls inside. Good for getting rid energy in toddlers that need to move a lot.
• Balloons. Alternative to a ball pit is just filling a whole room with balloons. Hell to clean up but probably great fun for baby ;)!

As a final tip, if money isn't a big issue, then consider getting a Pikler Triangle with a slide. This is a climbing frame that folds flat, and usually grossly overpriced but a godsend for active toddlers who can't go outdoors. It's like an indoor playground and they can get so much energy out using it.