What keeps your 2-3 year old busier than anything?

[belindarose]

Just about to have DC 2 and want to get DD a present. In particular, I'd like to get something to keep her very busy at crucial times. She's almost 3. Has dolls, bricks, farm set etc. Likes stickers, craft and drawing. Good fine motor skills. Loves books and has lots.

Any ideas? Thanks.

playmobil

Playdoh or Lego (the proper stuff)

Play dough or Lego

Peppa Pig Castle or Wow! toys - campervan & horses sets

sandpit and buckets

My DD is 2.4 and she will happily sit and play with her magnetic sketcher and her ELC Fairytale Castle with play people, for hours. Also, Lego.

She does like Play Doh but I only let her play with it when I'm supervising closely so she doesn't mix the colours

She hasn't got Lego yet. I could try that, thanks. Wondering if she'd be needing lots of help at first though.

Lego, painting, splashing with water and bubbles in the back garden, and hopefully the sandpit we'll get him for his birthday.

Mud mostly

Duplo lego and (currently) Mr Potato Head.

Also hasn't got a dolls house/ play set apart from her farm. Might be more than I can pay for at the moment though.

Small world sets, Happyland, Peppapig, Octonauts.

Only good if you DC is into smallword things - one of mine was, the other wasn't

Dd will play for hours with the play kitchen and teaset, her baby dolls and any kind of arts or crafts.

Happyland, especially the train- lots on ebay aswell

At that age my ds loved his dolls house

Too young for lego imo, lego great at five plus

DS2 has been using small lego since before he was three. If you get the box of bricks rather than specific sets there are less fiddly bits.

I tried the whole keeping DS busy at crucial moments thing. Didn't work once DD arrived (he was 2.2)... Might be worth holding fire until baby arrives.

Toy kitchen/food also universally popular, check eBay for cheap sets.

I can imagine, Iggly. I'm just hoping!!

The freezer. She loves the sodding freezer

Cutting up magazines with plastic safety scissors -you can get crayola ones that only cut paper much as they've tried on each other's hair

Duplo, playdoh , chalkboard, whiteboard, cardboard boxes of various sizes, saucepans, Happyland, digging in the mud, Wow toys, a small toy oven, puzzles, matchbox cars. He particularly loves sticking down precut shapes, I got a couple of assorted bags from Poundland a while back and along with a glue stick that keeps him happy for ages. Add in a couple of sheets of easy peel stickers and he is a happy boy.

The octonauts. They feature in every single game she plays now!
Cooking, with the octonauts...
Trains, with the octonauts...
The queen, with the octonauts...

Sand

For indoors, definitely magna-doodle board or whatever it is called now.