Activities that work for nearly 4 and 18 month old

[yawningbear]

without ending in tears. Have been guilty of relying too much on cbeebies and am trying to mend my ways. We are pretty busy with nursery half the week and groups/classes so when we are at home there hadn't felt too much pressure and the tv gets switched on way too much. Over the last week have tried to rectify this but am finding it really hard coming up with activities that we can all do that dosen't end with someone crying or getting told off! Most successful has been long games of hide and seek where I can tidy up at the same time. Everything else has been a disaster. We have always done lots of play doh and yesterday after having a look at the imagination tree web site we made lots of sweeties and lollipops and DD cooked them all in her oven, loads of fun and very sweet until DS comes along and wrecks them all. He had been involved but I just feel like I get make it work for both of them. Any suggestions very gratefully received.

My kids are a bit older (4.5, 2.3 and 7 mo) but I find that if I try and think like a nursery it helps, so if I am feeling organised I set up a few activities round the room like a box of cars, the train set, some puzzles and a tray of raw pasta with spoons and pots to put them in. The older two then tend to just get stuck in leaving me free to read MN play with the baby.

Of course lots of squabbles also occur, but at least I feel like the kids have lots of fun options to play with either together or apart.

Thanks bundle, I do need to more organised, I will give it a go, I like the pasta idea too, reckon they will love that.

I love 'clean mud'. Grate a cheap bar of soap and have the kids rip a loo roll into tiny pieces. Mix the two together in a basin with a little warm water. Good sensory play for 18 mths and good modelling material for 4yr olds if you leave it out to dry. Keeps in a sealed container for a couple of weeks. Just rinse hands and dry for instant clean-up after.

We also like a handful of flour (really just a little, it goes far) on the kitchen table to make tracks in with toy cars, dinosaur footprints, fairy trails, building sites... you get the idea. simple and not too messy as it dusts off easily. Add a touch of glitter if adventurous.

If I'm really at the end of my tether, my DS has a bubble bath. At least I get a seat and he is contained. Not ideal for getting jobs done around the house, but lovely if all you want is 15 minutes for a cuppa and they need a rest too. Good luck!

Build a den with the clothes horse and some sheets/blankets, then they can take their teddies in for a picnic. They can make play food or have a real picnic lunch in there.

Am loving the clean mud idea, thanks Odd, DS is fondly AKA andrex puppy so I reckon it will really appeal to him, will get the grater out, and the flour thing is inspired, really easy but I think they would both enjoy it although I can hear the chants of 'more, more' already Will definately try den making again Squishy, last time DS just ended up destroying it which DD and her teddies took objection to but perhaps if I can make something more robust this time it will work