What mundane things entertain your children?

[Cheeseycheeseycheesecheese]

Ds (almost 2) has spent the past 25 minutes stood, face smooshed against the backdoor giving dh and I a running commentary about the pigeon in the garden.

"Pigeon fence!"
"In corner"
"Oh no pigeon... careful"
"Muuummmmyyyy, pigeon on shed, daddy it's fall"
"Night night Mr pigeon" as it flew away

I've never known a child to be so totally enamoured with the behaviour of a bird before...

So I'm asking what things that you would class as mundane/uninteresting held your children rapt for extended periods of time?

DS will be 3 in September and loves watching cars indicate!

My 3 year old is very into peeling onions at the moment. And he will throw stones into the river for ages.

DS2 (18m, spent most of his life in lockdown) loves the supermarket, he and DH go for 2+ hours every weekend (Aldi then Sainsburies), he waves at everyone, munches on baguette and has a nap in the trolley seat (DH brings a little pillow with him).

Ohhh these are adorable!!!!

We took ds to feed the ducks today, throwing the bread to them didn't seem to make sense so he just ate it 🤦‍♀️ even after dh squatted down next to him to demonstrate. He pulled his arm back to throw and then just shoved the bread in his mouth 🤣 was funny the first couple of times, I think he cottoned onto onlookers laughing which is why he continued

Cardboard boxes, I think he may be part cat.

DD loves the gumnuts that fall from the trees. She found one on a bush walk and sang a completely made up song for the remaining 35mins.
Its now become a family song and whenever she finds one we all sing the gum nut song. She will bring them home, give them names, make up stories and create homes for them. It can go on over a couple of days and is wonderful to listen to.

Thank you to those who gave me dustbin lorry cake tips, much appreciated! I'm loving this thread so much.

Loving this thread! I’ve screen shotted so many simple but ingenious ideas for my 3&5 year olds! And just looking on Amazon for a clicker

Ds 3yo: Washing the car.

Looking for worms in the front garden.

Loading the dishwasher with extreme ineptitude.

Counting every single house number on the way to preschool. Preschool is no 286 FML.

Smushing all the playdough together to "make a thunderstorm".

Traffic jams. Any more than 2 cars stopped at a junction constitutes a traffic jam. These need to be appraised loudly with lots of comments on each car, its licence plate, the people driving it, whether he likes the colour etc.

And DD1 6yo playing elaborate imaginative games using random inanimate objects instead of dolls. Also drawing road systems with chalk on the patio.

DD1 3yo wearing sunglasses. At all times. Upside down.

To add, we have a large ride on tractor and trailer in the garden, does my 5 yr old ever ride it? Nope. But bought a car washing set from Tesco and oh my, the hours he’s spent washing it all, getting all the bits out of the case and meticulously putting them back again. Every time it rains/gets grubby/or cobwebs on, he can’t wait for the weekend as he has to “clean the tractor” said with a tut and shake of his head
My 3 year old has a small foam ball which he tries to throw over our large shed and retrieve from the other side.. Probably manages it 1 in every 200 throws, but it keeps him entertained for sometimes two hours at a time! I fully admire his perseverance and I get to have a cup of tea in the garden in peace

Woodlice - he brought 2 into the kitchen the other day and said he had two new pets

Toy cars. DS and his cousin were obsessed with them, and happily my mum had kept a Cadbury's Rose tin full of them from when my siblings & I were little. The boys spent HOURS every day lining them up on one side of the room, driving them over one by one to the other side, and then back again. That was literally it. That was all they did. It was great

@Allmyarseandpeggymartin

Woodlice - he brought 2 into the kitchen the other day and said he had two new pets

I kept woodlice as pets in a jam jar when I was about three. I was genuinely in love with them. They had a dampened cotton wool ball for 'moisture', my mum stabbed airholes in the lid for them, and I diligently added leaves to the jar every day. I might have got them confused with stick insects.

@sadeyedladyofthelowlandsea Ah that’s lovely. They give me the creeps but DS is fascinated with them

@firstimemamma

My toddler is mesmerised by the dustbin lorry! "Look mummy, it's doing a tip tip! Hello dustbin man!" He's even asked for a dustbin lorry themed cake for his upcoming third birthday, I mean where do I begin with baking that?!

Make a large cake and decorate it. Buy a small toy bin lorry and arrange it so that it is tipping out a big pile of smarties or similar onto the cake. He also gets to keep the toy. My ds is also into bin lorries!

4 year old ds like dropping stones, leaves, daisies, blades of grass into water. Ideally a stream but in not then a bucket in the garden will do. His twin sister will spend hours sorting the button tin by colour.

@HumbugWhale thank you ds has a play Mobil bin lorry so will do your idea using that!

Pressing microwave buttons, turning on the fan, watching the bin men, climbing stairs (as long as he's not holding mummy's hand!), every time the car pulls off from a stop (vroom vroom!).

My work kit bag used to provide my children with hours of entertainment. High jackets in yellow and orange. Same for salopettes. Hard hat. Safety glasses. Work boots. Work gloves. Safety specs.

The Argos catalogue! Hours and hours of peace.....

Ahhhh I loved the argos catalogue growning up!

My 7 year old likes picking up dog poo!

A ball, a £1 lightweight football from the supermarket. He's 19 months and in his opinion this is the very best thing he has ever owned. He spends ages throwing it then going to get it all the while shouting "ball!". Very cute.

Mine all loved the salad spinner. They spun it on its own, put small toys into it, did it fast, slow, all sorts of medium.

I used to let them cut up coupon inserts from Sunday newspapers and leaflets from supermarkets. It occupied them for hours. Sometimes they found useful coupons for me.

Mine have both been quite different. Child no.1 loved taken stuff out of cupboards, books of shelves etc. She has always been quite messy and creative with her play. Child no.2 is less destructive and likes things quite precise and ordered. She’ll spend ages taking out wet wipes one by one and cleaning things . She is quite happy just sat on a chair watching things.

Both seem to like washing things.