Ideas for games/activites etc. for 15 month old

[cathncait]

I am starting to find my nearly 15 month old dd is getting bored with most of her toys (which I rotate every 2 weeks or so to keep it new) andalthough she loves playing at the park or on the swings in the back yard, she can't do this all the time - though we do do it every day. (she also screams if I try to make her wear a hat which is a worry). She loves, loves ,loves her dolls and feeding them etc but only for short times and then she crys at the cupboards for biscuits or at the fridge for...well nothing in particular - I think she just wants to look in there. I think shes bored and although I spend a lot of time playing with her etc. I just have no more ideas. SHe isn't interested in painting yet and plays with playdough for about 10 mins and thats it.
Has anyone got any other ideas? I would really appreciate your input.
Thanks

Ugh, I remember that stage all too well. Best way I found to ride it out was to get together with other mums who have kids the same age - their toys will be new and interesting even if they don't really "play" with the other children at this age.

I also (and still do now) try and have an activity a day to look forward to. e.g. tumbletots, a trip to the library, mum & toddler group etc. The rest of the half day was easier to "survive" then!

I don't know if your dd sees you doing chores at all or whether you wait for sleep times, but about that age ds did start to be more tolerant of me doing some cleaning and would either play by himself (for very short periods of time - no longer than 10/15 minute bursts) or follow me around to watch.

THanks for the reply Georgina. I felt glad when you said 'I remember that stage...' There I was thinking I'm just a boring mum with no ideas when really its just her age and lack of attention span I guess. So thanks very much for your ideas

Hi, mines just coming up to 16months now and I'm absolutely loving this age, she loses interest in things quickly but we go for walks round the coutryside and I point out squirrels and dogs etc, open farms are great too.

We look through books and make all the noises for different animals, scribbling with crayons, naming her features - eyes, ears, tongue. watch a video, play boo, lots of visits to play centres/parks/feed the ducks, sing nursery rhymes with actions etc

She's really lost interest in the toys that used to keep her occupied but we just do things for 10 mins then on to the next thing.

Is she walking yet?

Would she be interested in waterplay. Washing up bowl on towel on kitchen floor with various kitchen implements to play with (eg plastic measuring jug, measuring spoon, seive, whisk etc)?

I work full time so only have to amuse dd myself 2 days a week and find that hard enough! But at this age dd was just starting to get interested in helping me do things - I let her stand on a stool with my arms either side of her to "help" me wash up, and she loved taking things out of the washing basket to pass to me to hang up (and pulling them off the airer as well!) And she'd just I think started being able to go and get things - she used to love being sent to get a book or ball from her bedroom - she'd come back with such a look of pride and accomplishment on her face. Saucepans and wooden spoons amused her as well.

theres a great series of (slightly american book) called the busy book for toddlers - I have a copy - unused that was too young for my boys - you cna have it if you like

I would second the going for a walk - ds is the same age and it is only now that it has become possible and a pleasure for us both. Also duplo has suddenly come into its own. Copying whatever I am doing - collecting leaves for example is also good fun (I still don't get why it is necessary to empty out the leaves at about 20 but he likes it). just starting on the crayons. Ds seems to have a short attention span and so I do get him playing with duplo/crayons in his high chair pushed up to the table. Although he gets bored after 5.10 mins - after a quick whinge he is interested again

hereit is on amazon

oh - my sons loved going to the station to train spot - take a mag for you, some reins and a snack

OH and emptying out a box? doing the washing?

Int this a stage where they just replicate their MUms?

dd also likes nothing more than sitting in my wash basket and handing me the pegs. Defeats the objects a little as I now have to bring one item out of the house at a time as she takes up the whole basket!

Water play keeps mine occupied for ages and a small bag of sand in an old wahing up bowl is a lovely texture for little hands - you cen even hide things in it (different shaped pebbles etc). Any spillages can easily be swept or hoovered up too.

If you have any old bits of material that can are fairly transparent and light-weight just drape them over the head and let lit'len pull it off over their face to turn the world a different colour for a few seconds.

Will keep thinking of other ideas.

Coddy if they replicate their mums mine would be on mumsnet all day

My DS2 is at that stage just now, he is almost 17 months. He likes to push his doll about in a toy buggy (favourite thing just now), he has a little Fred Flintstone style car that he loves to be in but can only go backwards which is a slight disadvantage, emptying anything he can get his hands on, a bag of pegs, box of nappies, cupboards etc. He also does the screaming at the fridge and when you open it he just gazes at the contents and shuts it again, also lots of cupboard raiding for raisins, rice cakes, slices of bread, dates etc! All good exhausting fun!

I will be watching this thread with interest as there are some days I just don't know what to do with him.

My dd is 15 months old and has a short attention span too.

Perhaps its because its too obvious, but nobody has mentioned swimming - good for a morning or afternoon once a week (only leaves 6 and a half days to fill up!)

I second what somebody said about mums and toddler groups - of some interest to my dd because new faces and different toys / different environment.

What about feeding the ducks - we can spend a good 40 minutes on this (get through 2 loaves of bread though - however the cheapest loaf is around 29p)

My dd is also showing interest when I do household chores. I let her sit astride the hoover whilst I pull it around vacuuming the carpet. I think she'll be thrilled when she gets her own toy hoover for Christmas.

I live about 10 miles from a really good zoo, and I am thinking of getting a season ticket which will allow me unlimited visits with dd over a 12 month period.

I also live about 2 miles from a theme park (Paultons Park) which has about 6 toddler friendly rides, some aviaries and some excellent play areas, and again I am considering a season ticket.

Pegs helped when my dd was at this stage.
She'd play with them for ages. In & out of the peg basket, lining them up, i'd clip them to her clothes, she'd unclip/yank them off, try & put them back on. When she started loosing interset I'd put some in a pan & put the lid on. We'd get another 10 mins out of them.
I also put all plastic containers in one cupboard that I'd let her empty, she knew which one was "hers" as I put ribbon on the handle when I realised that they all looked the same to her.

Another thing that occurred to me today. About that age my ds was getting a lot more active (well, he'd just started walking, lol) and a lot more hungry as a result. He wasn't taking any more in at mealtimes necessarily, but I quickly found out that he did need snacks in between (which he hadn't so much before) which didn't impact on his meals like I thought - he would be very whingy, clingy and hard to entertain until he'd had some food in his tummy then he'd be all smiles again.

You say she's pointing at the cupboard and fridge - could it be that she's also getting a bit peckish which is helping to distract her?

Thnks so much for the great responses everyone! There are some things that we do do already but also some great new ones for us to try (I know she will LOVE feeding the ducks) . She has been wlking since 10 months so she is very agile and climbs a lot. She may be getting more hungry in between meals though so I will keep that in mind George.
I look forward to trying some new stuff with her. Thanks again - keep em coming if you have anymore thoughts everyone!

i too remember that stage ....
I used to break the day into 2 halves with DS's nap in the middle ...
I would aim to go out at least once a day, either morning or afternoon so if you can think of 5 things to do 'out' in the weeks then that is half your probleme sorted ...

1. Swimming
2. Feeding ducks
3. Supermarket shopping (my DS loved it and still does
4. Soft Play/tumble tots/toddler gym/Jo Jingles
5. Tea at a friend's house ...

Then for the 5 'sessions' that you are at home get people round for tea, empty the tupperware cupboard, help mummy with the hoovering or washing, watch a bit of telly (!) and all the other stuff like play dough and painting and water play ...
My DS had a little tent (one of those pop up ones) that he liked to sit in and play with his toys or eat a snack ...
HTH ...

I've just remembered something else I used to do with ds at that age and thought I would post in case it helps (although you may already be doing something similar anyway).

It's supposed to help encourage them to play more on their own and to develop their language skills, but I just liked it as an alternative activity.

Firstly, set aside a half hour of time where you won't be distracted. Turn off telly/radio/music so there's no sound distractions. Make sure there's lots of toys in reach.

Take your child's lead, watch them play and just comment on what they do - apparently it helps them focus on that toy for a bit longer. Only get involved if they ask you to, try to just observe. Absolutely NO questions allowed - it makes them stop what they're doing to process the question and whether they should answer or not.

E.g. "You've got the red ball. You're trying to fit it into the shape sorter. Uh oh, doesn't fit into the square shape."

You don't have to keep up a running commentary constantly, don't be afraid of silences.. just every minute or so (depending on how focussed your child is on the activity). Allow them to wander and choose something else, just comment on their focus of play.

I actually found it really really difficult (I know it sounds easy when writing it down!) - I kept slipping in questions at the end of sentences for a start, lol! "That doesn't fit, does it?" DOH! I did find that a) it filled up some time, b) meant ds was focussed for a bit longer on his play and c) encouraged him to play a bit more independently.

Hope this gives you something else in your arsenal of entertainment!!

GeorginaA, that sounds like a great idea. I'm going to try that myself!!

It works for any age really, but I did find it particularly helpful at that stage when attention span is very short! I must start doing it again with my 2.5 year old soon actually...

I started cooking with the sluglet at that age. Nothing difficult, making cheese scones was a favourite (still is) We did most of it on the kitchen floor - apart from the rolling out of course - it's her job to tip the cups of flour into the bowl, grease the tray (happily smear butter everywhere) and rub the butter into the flour - or spray flour around the kitchen and leave floury footprints everywhere.

The little jobs suit their short attention spans and the connection between the mixing bowls and food is soon made. Another favourite job in loading/unloading the washing machine, though these days I always have to check for teddies before putting a load on.

Slug, do you have any good receipes that a 16 month old could get involved with?

Do you think things like fairy cakes or cheese straws would work. I hate cooking so it might be a way to encourage us both!! I know I'd enjoy it more if I were doing it with dd

Nigella's recipe for cheese bisciuts is ace to do with little ones. I'll dig it out in a second.

Peg bags have always been a winner here - even now at 4 dd uses them to attach blankets to her 'constructions' for dolly.

Like Nutlob and a cupboard full of kids plastic plates, tupperware etc which was not locked ditto pan cupboard.

About this age musical instruments started being popular. Get your child to decorate a sheet of paper (glue/glitter/pen etc), stick it around a plastic tub (Vanish Oxy-clean would be good although it wasn't around for dd) and put some lentils/rice/pasta in and secure the lid. Then stick a nursery rhyme tape on and sing ...

It worked for us because each phase was so brief.