Things to do with my 2 yo DS

[meltedchocolate]

Hello. I keep trying to think of things to do with my DS (like during the day I intend to then do those thins) and draw a blank. Was thinking if I had a wee list to resort to it may make things easier. He is 2.8 and a real boys' boy, except when he tries on my hand bag and high heels of course :o Have no car and no cash so it is things we can do in the house and our little garden. Local nursery wont take him until after the Christmas holidays. Any suggestions? Need plenty of different things to keep things fun and varied (and cheap!!)

TIA

dd (2.5) likes to wash her toys in the garden sometimes. We have a play table , fill it with water and a bit of washing up liquid and way she goes. Good for at least half an hour. I have a much older ds (9) and he still enjoys washing his cars sometimes

know what you mean about running out of ideas....

Painting, playdoh, colouring books, story books, baking simple recipes, Cornflour and water, sand and water play, toddler games on computer, obstacle course, building dens, craft activities, playing in cheap shaving foam, paddling pool on nice days, gardening, bike ride, library, local parks. Do you have a sure start centre near you? Ours had lots of free activities, even tumble tots, unfortunately ds is at nursery as I work so we can't go to that

Local childrens centre?

Pound shop for cheap colouring books etc

Washing up in the garden with a bowl and some bits and pieces

Baking cakes

Painting/drawing?

No parks nearby? My daughter is almost exactly the same age, we spend as much time as possible outdoors in summer. It's midwinter here, so we:

Go to the park basically every time it's not pouring
Go to the library a lot (free songtime things, or just hanging out on wet days)
Toy libraries are great, do they have those near you?
Plasticine and craft supplies like googly eyes and foam stickerss can kill a good hour or so
Building forts or tunnels out of cushions/draping sheets over chairs/tables/etc
Act out stories - Goldilocks or Gingerbread Man or Billy Goats Gruff are far more exciting and take longer if you act them out as you go. Employ soft toys.
At that age, definitely helping out with housework. Give them a spray bottle of water and a cloth and set them to doing windows or surfaces. Mine will hang clothes over a low clothes horse while I hang up on the line. Etc.
Painting and drawing are obvious, but painting covers a bunch of different activities. We spent two or three hours painting doilies the other day; we tried different techniques for painting the actual doilies, and also used them as stencils to make printed paper (will use as wrapping paper later), and when we'd finished we stuck doilies together back to back with lollipop sticks in the middle to create flowers, and painted a flower pot, and that's now our crayons/markers holder. Lots of fun art techniques.

I should have said that I live in the middle of nowhere. To go to a library takes an hours bus journey one direction and a 5 quid return ticket!! Thanks for the suggestions :)

good idea re: the doilies tortoise, I'm going to borrow that next week

Fill a squeezy bottle with water - your DS can then squirt to make patterns on the patio. DD also loves watering the plants in the garden.

Pots and pans to make drums. Make shakers out of a small orange juice bottle + rice/lentils and glue the lid shut. Dried pasta and containers can be fun for pretend cooking.

DD loves riding around the garden on her trike. Scour Freecycle/ebay/gumtree for cheap ride-ons or buy for birthday/christmas. We also got a free toddler trampoline for DD from freecycle and it's fab as can be used outside or indoors. It's an all-weather knackering out device!!

Check the discount shelves at the supermarket for cheap fairy cake mixes. Easy to make with very little extra ingredients (useful on a random wet day when you might not have supplies to make homemade cakes, or indeed the inclination!). DD loves to decorate them and then we can watch cbeebies while eating them

If you live in the sticks, then pop out for a walk, collect things and then stick them into a picture when you get home. Or paint pinecones for Christmas tree decorations. Invest in some wet weather gear and wellies so you can go out when it's wet too.

Dd and I go on a spider hunt around the house- always find at least 1 and she loves exploring! We also play chase and hide in the house. Cleaning toys I can also recommend. You can get a blank book and do an alphabet book (I will do this when dd is 2.5 ) each page a letter and stick things in ie pictures of things in that begin with the same letter
Walks take a lot of our time up- I let her choose direction and we search for cows and birds