Tips for helping an 8yo learn to play on his own?

[eslteacher]

Hi,

DSS(8) is with DP and I four or five days out of 14. He is a great little boy, but does have a problem playing on his own.

He's very sociable, and at his mum's has other half/step siblings close to his age who he plays with all the time. At our house, its just me and DP.

We always organise activities to do with him: swimming, outings, gardening projects etc. And we both play with him in the day. But the problem is he wants one of us to be CONSTANTLY playing with him. When we tell him we are busy doing something and he has to play by himself for a bit, he is at a loss even though he has a roomful of toys and games. Its so hard to get anything done as he mooches around saying he doesn't know what to do, and repeatedly calls out asking when we're finished so we can play with him again!

He's fine in front of a screen, but we try to limit that to one or two hours per day.

The obvious solution is to invite a friend! But a bit complicated as we live a few towns away from his school and friends, and don't know the parents...

Any tips for helping him learn to enjoy time on his own? And any guidelines on to what extent it's reasonable to insist he entertains himself sometimes?

Lego City is excellent for children to fiddle with and build and learn to use their imagination. Ds1 is younger, nearly 5yo, but will happily play with his lego city fire engine and motorbike by himself, and will take bits apart and rebuild them. It's also a fun activity to do with them yourself, when you get a new thing to make for the first time. I wouldn't feel bad about not knowing parents of his school friends, but if you live miles and miles away I agree a playdate at your house is a bit tricky. But could you arrange to meet somewhere nearer the school? Idk what 8 year old boys are into and if they are a bit old for the park or play centres. Sorry I can't be more helpful, hopefully someone will be along who has an 8yo boy who can give better advice!