Can I have suggestions of what activities to do with a VERY active 18 month old that doesnt cost much/anything please..........

[VeniVidiVickiQV]

He has an attention span of a gnat!

TIA

I expect you've thought of the park

Park is too exhausting. He just turns and runs in one direction and just keeps running and running. Alot of parks around here don't have proper fencing/enclosed play areas.

swimming?

Build a cushion assault course in your living room.
Get a ball & some pots you are happy to take out in the garden. Hide the ball in one of the pots & get him to find it. Repeat until he is bored.
Play catch the balloon. Balls are usually to tricky for 18mth olds, but balloons work really well.
Make or buy some bubble mixture & get him to chase bubbles.

lol VVVQV! Sounds like my ds, also 18mo, also having trouble coming up with things to do... Swimming tires my ds out, but our local pool is quite cold. Do you have any childrens museums nearby? Garden centre to smell the flowers? Sometimes my ds likes just going somewhere different, but not necessarily somewhere you'd think he'd like. Or what about library story/sing time? Although my ds loves books he seems to go hyper in the library and tries to wreck the place rather than looking at the books... Not being much help here am I It's really hard isn't it?

I have found this website and find it quite good to find out what is going on in your area.

You just have to register, but it only takes a mo and there is lots of really helpful info (in my area anyway)

Hope that helps.

watching thread with interest... having the same problem VVV. LOL at attention span of a gnat! sounds familiar!

Those are good ideas fox and Bugsy. 18 month olds are very tiring

Dare I say it (cos I loathe them myself) but toddler groups? You may have a small chance of getting a cup of tea while he runs riot with other toddlers.

Do you have a local gym club for toddlers? We have a great one that is way better than tumbletots in that it is not so structured and costs a fraction of the price! Mine used to love jumping into the huge foam cube pits.

i sometimes take mine to the local garden centre (they have a large aquarium shop there) and let him run around peering in all the fish tanks. That kills 30 mins or so.

those things near us tend to be quite expensive

WE're lucky ten as its £25 for a full term ie £75 a year. each session is 2hrs too.

Was going to suggest same as Salem. I take dd to our local gym farily often (£3 a pop else £10 per month IIRC) and they have toddler 'gyms' which are great.

Thank you for all the replies. DS hates swimming. Screams the whole time so i'd rather avoid that.

Anywhere that involves DS being able to run around needs restrictions of some sort or he will just run and run.

HE hates being in a stroller and can fight his way out of a 5 point harness if he wants to - even with the straps twisted across his front.

Are you starting to see my problem

Cushion assault course not a bad idea though....

yoga at home?

Our local leisure centre has a soft play facility that is half the cost of the private ones and they don't enforce a time limit unless they are really busy. I didn't realise it was there until someone told me so maybe there is something in your area?