Help: run out of activities for 18 month old who easily gets bored in less then 15 seconds

[wotuc]

My 18 month old DS gets bored very quickly.

*I have tried stacking cups trying to get him to build. all he does is knocks what i build and thats the end of it. doesnt want to play anymore
*toy cars-gets board in a few seconds
*etch a sketch bored in a few seconds
*chubby crayons...bored in a few seconds
*reading books bored in a few seconds
*happlyland toy building site...bored in 15 seconds

sames goes for bouncy ball. i have run out of ideas...help.

DD is 19 months and never seems to play much with toys as such, but if I leave the shoe cupboard door open she will happily play at putting on everyone's shoes for ages.
She also loves emptying the loose change from my purse and putting it into various empty boxes, then puts it all back again..over and over, thats another favourite.
Stickers... she loves stickers!
Water and bubbles, water if outside, bubbles in a washing up bowl on a towel on the floor if inside (with wooden spoons and pots etc)
Emptying the saucepan cupboard and bashing them all with a spoon.
Emptying ANY cupboard and moving the contents elsewhere!

Shoes
Stickers
Tin cupboard

Thanks do far venuswinetrap and carpejugulum....i saw a sticker book in the shops the other day and was going to buy it but thought he would be too young but you've convinced me.

that's a good idea, cupboard and saucepans

I got dd a circus tent from IKEA for a tenner. She loves it.

Both my kids have loved their toy buGgy and shopping trolley at that age too.

My 19 mo is also a big fan of shoes and loose change!! Stickers definitely are great but be prepared to find them stuck all over the house. I bought playdoh the other day - no-one told me it gets hard if you leave it out and if you wet it to make it moist again, all the colours blend together to a yucky grey. But she liked it. I got sticklebricks recently - some success. She loves loves loves painting. Recently she has started to 'help' putting clothes out in the line -handing me bits. Toy animals - cows, sheep, pigs etc. are a big hit.

DS goes up and down the slide in as many variations as he can, he puts toy animals down, his ball, cars, a shoe, banana , after a few weeks he mastered going down backwards and climbing up the wrong way In fact the slide is the default plaything ATM.

Oh and I'm buying her a cleaning trolley as she loves 'helping' me sweep and mop and it does my head in.

Also, she loves building herself a wee den behind the couch, she pulls a throw in there and sits on it and hides 'treasures' in and moves them all around.

She mainly spends most of her time looking at the gate into ds's playroom though and hatching an evil plan to get her hands on all that lies beyond...

A couple of plastic containers of water with a few drops of food colouring in, plus a variety of bowls, bottles and tubs to pour it into and mix it up, = happy 19 mo DS and me able to have a chat to a friend nearby in the garden for 45 mins, interrupted only by periodic coloured water refills and mess admiring. And he's another 15 second kid normally.

Other magic activity: helping Daddy with any DIY, carrying all the tools around and hiding them behind the shed-- .

Loads of stuff!

A big tub of coloured rice to tip/pour/run hands through.
Dry pasta with a couple of pans and utensils.
Messy play (loads of ideas at The imagination tree)
Painting. If you're worried about it going in mouth then use flavoured Angel Delight stuff which still produces a colour but is safe if it gets eaten)
Water play: Big plastic tub and soapy bubbly water, a few plastic cups etc or different tubs of water coloured with natural food colouring & a paintbrush to paint patio/walls.
Helping to plant seeds in little containers. Sunflowers are good because they grow really quickly.
Take a walk through a wood or go feed the ducks.
Have a sensory bath with food colouring and essential oils and bubbles. Make bath paint with shaving foam and natural food colouring or whipped cream from a can a natural food colouring.
Bake with him: let him mix/pour/measure etc
Make some play dough or salt dough and let him squish.
Fill a pool with balls, bury lots of little toys in there and get him to help you from them. Or full the pool with shredded newspaper or tinsel for a sensory experience.
Make a den with him and have lunch in it then perhaps snuggle down in there after lunch, read a couple of stories and take a nap.