Ideas for entartaining 17 month old

[liath]

I've just cut my hours to one day a week so have lots more time at home with my dd. I'd love some ideas for keeping her (& me!) occupied - especially on days like today when it is CHUCKING with rain !

I have crayons/paints/paper. There's a playpark & softplay nearby. I am going to make a treasure (wnaky!!!) basket after being inspired by Frannyandzooey. But her attention span is very short so any other ideas welcome - cheers.

By far the best and simplest tip I got this summer was to provide chunky paintbrushes and small buckets of water and let them go mad in the garden 'painting' garden furniture, toys, paving slabs, bushes, patio doors... you name it - even the cat got painted and it kept DD and 18mo DN occupied for hours. Not for a rainy day though...

-make dens and hide under tables and chairs, or hide teddies so dd can find them
-dollies' tea party with REAL water (in v small amounts!)
-dolly bath time - dd gets undressed, into empty bath and gives dolly a good wash in washing up bowl
-posting letters - I got a nice little post office set from tesco today for about £3, but all you need is envelopes, bits of paper, 'stamps' (ie stickers of some kind) and a box with a posting hole in it.

• making musical instruments - ie jars with lid on full of pasta, cardboard tube with paper stuck over each and and filled with rice, upturned saucepans, and if your dd really loves making a noise you can play music and bang and sing along

Thanks for those! The rain din't let up all afternoon but the painting with water thing worked a treat with coloured paper and a lot less messy than indoor painting .

Perhaps I should consider some art classes or messy monsters for her.

Ooh - doing it with coloured paper is a great idea, why didn't I think of that...?

outside chalk, washes away with rain.

ds got into his fisher price little people train set at around this age

also started to really like playing with vehicles (especially emergency vehicles!)

would also flick through books for ages

playdoh?

bubbles?

Make up some pastry (or buy readymade) and plonk her in high chair with it, some raisins, some 100s and 1000s etc. Hours of peace!

When bigger, use a gingerbread man cutter and say you'll bake it later (but don't, will be inedible!)

loads of stuff to do indoors with your dd
bake
playdoh (make your own)
dress up
go to libray
make dens
play dolls
bring outdoor slide/etc in
use paddling pool as ball pool

dont make the mistake of entertaning her all day encourage her to play alone with small wonders toys to build her imagination up and to stop her reling on you

play doh

1 cup plain flour
1 cup water
1/2 cup salt
1 tbsp cooking oil
2 tsp cream of tarter
food colouring

mix together in a pan and cook on medium heat for 5 mins, or until dough thickens, stiring all the time, take out of pan and allow to cool
store in a plastic bag