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Ideas for entertaining/playing with young toddler?

17 replies

Queenmummy · 22/05/2006 19:21

I have a very energetic young toddler and am finding it hard to think of new ways to entertain him. He's good at reading books and playing on his own (for a limited time) but soon wants to do things with me again. He's still too young for crafty/cooking etc activities (can't wait till that stage!!! surely easier?!).

Anyway - anyone got any good ideas?

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Marne · 22/05/2006 19:26

How old is he?
DD likes helping with house work, playing with wooden spoons and saucepans, drawing with crayons and she likes to have picknics on the rug with me and her teddy's.
DD has just started doing painting she gets it evrywhere, in her hair on her arms and on the floor.

welshmum · 22/05/2006 19:28

Musical activities, maybe a song cd you could do together? Blocks?

Original poster
Queenmummy · 22/05/2006 19:28

thanks for replying Marne - he's 14 months. He's a bright lad and very active with it (been walking 4 months already). He's lovely but very demanding

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Surfermum · 22/05/2006 19:29

Swimming?

sparklemagic · 22/05/2006 19:44

if you can bear the mess, why not do water play? bowl of water on the floor for him to play with, throw things in and out of etc!

Let him bang around with pots and pans, wooden spoons, etc....my DS loved this though you have to be prepared for the noise level!

Playdough?

Bugmum · 22/05/2006 20:14

DS and I (getting on for 16 months) do a lot of dancing; we put on the Wiggles DVD (!!) or an action songs CD or just regular reggae etc and boogie on down. Sometimes we do it just with me singing (oh dear), and he croons along. He LOVES it.

Original poster
Queenmummy · 23/05/2006 02:10

thanks everyone - some good ideas there. I do most of them with him anyway......ah well, I clearly need to develop a higher boredom threshold!! Like the water play idea though and the dancing one - will give them a go

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threebob · 23/05/2006 02:15

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ghosty · 23/05/2006 02:34

Agree with threebob ... I went out lots - and still do - rain or shine ...
Even a trip to the supermarket is an activity for DD ... But not if you need to do a big shop and have limited time. I do the big shop at the weekend or after DH comes home from work but on a rainy bored day, a little shopping trip can be fun. Pick a time where he isn't tired or hungry, you aren't in a hurry and it isn't full of lunchtime shoppers or people hurrying home from work. I take a basket and we wonder around all the aisles. If she picks something up to put in the basket (which she loves doing) I let her and then when she isn't looking I pop it back on the shelf Smile.

Luckily my children have never been the type to scream for stuff in supermarkets but that is because I have never fed them anything in a supermarket so they don't realise they can IYSWIM?
She likes to help put the stuff on the belt too.
Some people think I am mad doing this but if I am not in a hurry and only need some milk and bread then it works.
I very rarely take both of my children to the SM (that is disastrous) and I am as frazzled as the next mum if I have to take her on a big shop day.

UM ... what else ... We go for lots of walks - we are lucky as we have a beach down the road so we do lots of shell collecting etc.

I understand about crafty stuff but play dough is less messy for younger toddlers.
HTH

threebob · 23/05/2006 07:35

Feeding the ducks, Supermarket, Post Office, Library, anything free like a museum or art gallery. I use a hip seat so when ds gets tired I can pick him up - and also so he can chat to the post office lady etc. but he gets worn out from all the other walking.

I can't stand being at home with him unless he has little friends around or he's in the garden. He is much better company out of the house.

liath · 23/05/2006 07:43

Things my 14 month old dd enjoys - going to the park & the swings, going through the cupboards (I keep a couple unlocked with plastic bits & pieces in them), dancing (Madonna a favourite). The recent rain has been a bit of a trial to be honest as I depend on getting her outside to run around - I think by the end of the day she does get bored.

We have a couple of toddler friendly soft play areas nearby, she LOVES swimming and is just getting into drawing.

Difficult at this age as tons of energy and mobility but the attention span of a gnat!!! Am also waiting for that arts & crafts & cooking stage ....Smile

FloatingOnTheMed · 23/05/2006 07:46

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ghosty · 23/05/2006 07:54

LOL FloatingontheMed Smile

girrafey · 23/05/2006 08:02

i still do cooking activities with my dd who has just turned 1. I melt the chocolate and then when cool enough she sits with a big bowl of rice krispies and just mashes together with her hands. she is naked for this and goes straight into a bath ( pre run) this togther kills that hour after tea before daddy gets home some times. i then spoon the remaining goo into cake cases and we present to daddy on his arrival home!!!!
( only thing is to stay ontop of her hands going into mouth as obviously if not vigilant alot of it goes via mouth and then one hypa child!!!)

liath · 23/05/2006 08:12

Fab idea, amyjo - that last hour is always the hasrdest to fill. Will try that one Smile.

kitbit · 23/05/2006 08:49

ds (now 18mths) loves balls...tennis balls, bouncy balls, lightweight kiddy footballs, ball-pit style balls, all of them. We got him a bag of ball-pit balls when he was about 14mths and he loves to open the bag and get stuck in, sometimes they come flying out one by one, sometimes he sorts them into colours, other times he takes them out one by one and places them carefully around the room. Takes him ages Grin. Sometimes I up-end the bag and they go everywhere, cue lots of excitement and chasing especially if I start rolling them around the room as well.

Also dh made him a "posting box", basically a cardboard box with a letter box cut into it, as kids this age love to "post" things. He'd go around the room gathering everything that wasn't nailed down and run over to his box to post it. Advantages - you can always find the TV remotes/shoes/missing piece of wooden puzzle/other sock etc, and also you get the tidying up done for you!

We also build obstacle courses out of boxes and pillows and I chase him across the room through the course. He charges off squealing and has to climb over everything. Really wears him out Grin
Difficulty is calming down afterwards, but doing it gradually usually works without getting overexcited and ending in tears!

have fun

wannaBe1974 · 24/05/2006 08:21

instead of playdough can you make some biscuit dough for him to squidge/pat/cut out, obviously you will have to help with this but it can be done in the confines of your kitchen and therefore the mess is limited also. if you make the biscuit dough in advance you can wrap it in clingfilm and store it in the fridge and it's a lot less messy when it's cold. Then if he puts it in his mouth it's really not such a big deal and you don't even have to cook it if you don't want to.

Also you could make biscuits and buy a set of food colouring pens for your ds to draw on the biscuits.

music/dancing is always great. also a metal container, i.e. cake tin with wooden spoon is good fun if you can stand the noise.

or you can make shakers with dried peas inserted into a plastic bottle. Generally the noisier the better.

The swings in the park always were very popular with my ds.

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