Children cannot play without adult interaction

[peppajay]

I think I have made a terrible parenting mistake from when my children were babies. I have a 6 and a 4 yr old and they have hundreds of toys but they do not have any idea how to play without adult interacttion. When they were babies I always took them out and spent lots of time playing with them and I never used the TV till they were about 3. Now I can get nothing done because they will not watch TV, and will not play unless me or my DH are playing with them. This holidays has really highlighted it as they got loads of new toys but cannot entertain themselves. They would play for hours if I played with them but when it is the holidays housework etc needs to be done. They love being out and we spend lots of time at the park or the beach and I have never stayed in for a whole day until these holidays where the weather has been so damned awful. They are extremely active and have gone out on their bikes with my dh this morning. Any ideas how I can get them playing more without adult interaction? I have a friend who never takes her daughter out much and very rarely plays with her but she plays beautifully. Sometimes I wish I hadnt done so much with them then they wouldnt expect it now and would play on their own!!

Borrow your friends DD and any other child you know who will play by themselves or nicely with their siblings and friends.

Children need to develop their own games not have a grown up show them all the time.

DD2 does it naturally, she plays for hours making up imaginative games with her playmobil. She is equally good at pretend play with any friend who visits.

Meanwhile, DD1 who doesn't do people, needed far more encouragement to play on her own. She liked colouring drawing or being outside climbing.

She only does pretend play because her little sister has taught her.

I haven't read all your replies so sorry if I am repeating
I would sit down and make a poster list of things to do that take about 30 mins, you could grade this by starting with a shorter time such as 10 or 15 mins
Make a big fuss of the poster and decorate it, could have TV programme,colouring, jigsaw, toy, sandpit - anything you have
When you need to do something get DC to choose from the list and set a timer
Good luck. A teacher friend had recently told me they have noticed how poor children are now at independent play
They need to be allowed to get bored to develop their own imagination

One more thing
When my DS was young I used to box up toys and rotate them. I think the more they have the less they play with
and you get the novelty factor when you bring a different box out

Might sound a bit daft and trivial but have you tried putting music on (radio or CD) whilst they are supposed to be playing unaided. On the whole it seemed to help mine to play without constantly mithering.