What do you do with your toddler?

[Kittykat93]

Just that really! I have a 15 month old and am often on my own with him all day due to husbands working hours. He's got a lot of toys but isn't at the age where he will sit and play with them as such, just picks them up for a few seconds before getting bored.

I feel like I should be doing activities with him but at a loss as to what!

I'm trying to take him to at least one toddler group a week, and I do go for walks with the buggy (and dog) but with the cold and dark weather we aren't actually outside for long periods of time.

Please give me ideas before I go stir crazy. Sounds awful but I often find myself counting down the hours till bedtime as the day seems so long

We go shopping. A lot. A drive to Tesco’s and a mooch round the aisles can easily take up an hour. The library is also a good place to take them. I hate playgroups so don’t bother with those.

We also have passes to our local wildlife park and dd is free to get in so I can bung her in the Pram and head there if I’m bored. They have a soft play, park and we can get fresh air and see the animals.

At home she loves standing at the sink or with a bowl of water splashing about while I get on with some bits. We have a swing, slide and trampoline in the back garden as well and even when it’s freezing she will happily play outside for half an hour (with me trying to coax her in every few minutes!)

He will happily sit on my lap whilst I read books. It's quite unenjoyable for me - rather than the twee scenes I had in my head, we tend to read the same two pages of the gruffalo over and over because he screams at page turning.

We play in the garden - I wrap him up and we just go out and get dirty - he loves to be outside.

We terrorise people in the supermarket, lots of walks, I let him pull the house to bits, soft play about once a week, a day in nursery and a day with granny.

May look into getting some garden equipment for the summer then!

I do go grocery shopping a lot - trouble is I end up spending every time

I wish mine enjoyed sitting on my lap :( he doesn't stay still for two seconds. Even at the moment he's ill with a cold and cough, very miserable but doesn't want to cuddle or just sit with me, he just runs round grizzling at everything I try to do! It can be very frustrating.

Thanks for the ideas so far !

DD is 16 mo and enjoys trying to do watercolours, mostly just dipping paintbrush in the water. also scribbling with pens.

sometimes go to homebase or Tesco or Ikea just for a walk around.

she loves kitchen toys and will 'make' me a cup of tea or fetch me a cake if I ask her to.

I have a 16mo and know exactly how you feel. Some days I just feel like I run out of ideas. We go shopping once a day that’s an hour, usually a short walk around the beach (lucky it’s across the road) that’s half an hour, visit soft play and family a couple times a week. Usually if he seems to be getting bored I take him into another room to potter about in

I wouldn’t write off play groups! We go to a stay and play at a church and DN loves it (my own DD is only 12 weeks) and can run around and pick what she wants to play on while my sister can talk to other adults! We also go to soft play most weeks!

that was a hard stage...with DS probably the time i paid for most activities just to get out the house!
we did a playgroup 2/3 a week -different ones so different focus some did singing others just toys
they were mainly morning so afternoon would be walk to park . shopping something active
Library story time was weekly and even if he didnt always sit was hapy to wander around..
babygym (local ymca ran one so not too dear)
swimming

there was a local pre-school that took for a couple of hours from 18months so he did a session there from 18months -loved it and stayed there until starting school :)

sometimes we just went to the local train station and looked at the trains passing..or for a ride on a bus

otherwise I made him walk to everything as much as possible athough he was still not completely steady at 16months we just toddled slowly
do you have any children centres near you? they often have groups
this time of year is hard...summer easier as we lived in teh park...

we - well i had to get out the house though as went stir crazy

Some great ideas here thanks everyone.

I tried soft play by myself on Saturday and oh god it was hell on Earth. Toddler section was full of 8/9 year olds barging round knocking the young ones over, swearing etc. Complete nightmare and think we both hated it. It's a shame as he loves climbing and stuff but every time I've tried soft play it's been over run with out of control older kids!

Swimming I did used to do with him as a baby but I must admit now he screams and wriggles whilst getting changed and I don't know if I can gear myself up to go again!

Think I need to stop trying to do things in the house and get out more like suggested.

So at 15 months mine was in nursery but things they did with him included singing songs with actions (wheels on the bus etc.), ‘dancing’ to music, making their own music - banging drums, shakers etc. Reading books, Mark making (paint with brush or fingers, chalk on board or path outside), water table - sometimes with food colouring, sometimes with ice, sandpit, lots of time in the garden (with slide, balls, tide on toys), playing with cornflour and water gloop (they let them sit in a tray of it!), making simple foods like crispie cakes where they can do the mixing.
At home he loved his trains, we have a spiral ‘mountain’ for them so they would run down and he’d put them back at the top, his play kitchen (mainly putting things in and out of it), reading more books, we’d go out a lot - park, softplay, farm park, walks at national trust place, swimming once a week. If I’d been at home with him during the week I’d have done at least one playgroup and if I could afford it a baby gym type class and a music/rhyme time type class.

Softplay during the week in term time when the older ones are at school, otherwise it’s first thing on the weekend before most of the bigger ones arrive and try different ones near you, some of ours are better than others.

I know exactly what you mean, it's the same here with my 15 month old. There's a couple of groups we go to but I'm not keen on the usual noisy stay and plays. I found some groups that suited us better on the hoop app which is definitely worth downloading if you haven't. Apart from that, she loves being on the bus so we get the bus somewhere a couple of times a week. She also likes toddling around the park so I put her snowsuit on and let her go for it. She'll sit in a highchair in a cafe if I buy her toast too. She also likes ripping up piles of paper (messy but occupies her for a good half hour) and playing with pots and pans in the kitchen.

I have a 14 month old (and a three month old). She’s very interested in everything we do so I just get her to help and accept that each task will take ages. She can unload the lower basket of the dishwasher, unpack the shopping and hand me each thing to put away, put clothes in the washing machine, hand me wet clothes to hang up. She’s never broken anything, although I have to watch out for keys/pasta/paper being put in the washing machine. I say thank you a lot and she gives herself a round of applause each time I do.
She’s also happy to play in the bath for 40 minutes while I clean the bathroom.

Soft play on a Saturday- no chance! Go during the week when the older ones are at school.

We go to tumble tots, our library do a music session every week, we go for walks, the park, pet shops to see the fish!

Ds is 18 months. We go to 3/4 playgroups or storytimes a week, lots of time in the park and playpark. We go for walks around the area to look at buses, lorries, signs and traffic lights. Trips to the local shops where I just chase him around the aisles and he attempts to get money out of the cash machine.

In the house we do painting, messy play, chopping, baking, singing and stories. I also encourage independent play as much as possible and make sure all his toys are easily accessible. Then the usual 'help' with the chores. He likes to sort the recycling and load the washing machine. Oh and flush the toilet, that's his favourite hobby atm

Dd is 4 now but we dis a mix of

Swimming
Soft play
Walks in local area
Park
Zoo
Local farm
Nature reserve
Library
Baby groups
Ballet

At home

Arts and crafts
Reading
Playing with toys
Baking and other cooking
Helping with house work (loved a duster)
Mud kitchen
Trampoline etc

Playing in garden
Matching games
Pouring games (use lentils, rice, oats, water)
Ice play (freeze blocks of ice with small toys in and let dc get them out as ot melts)

OP my son was similar when I'd take him swimming at that age so I found it helped to have him ready to go in the pool when we left the house (with a jumper and soft trousers over the top), and same for me, then getting into the pool was never an issue. As for changing afterwards, I'd plonk him on the floor on the towel with a bottle of milk and get myself dressed, then very quickly get a nappy, jumper and trousers on him and get him back to the car quickly. Wouldn't even bother with shoes until he was in his carseat as I'd carry him. The 5 minutes of wriggling and whinging in the changing rooms was worth the hour of fun he had (and the hour of sleep that followed!)

Does your local library do Rhyme time or similar? My toddlers have always loved that.

Our local gym had a crèche so DS could go there when I did an exercise class, best thing ever .
Playgroups were essential, try out a few. Walking with buggy, we used to do a four mile circuit every day. Invite friends over with toddlers? And hopefully getting invited back. We had an annual pass to a small local zoo, really kept the cost down and meant you could just go for an hour and not feel you had wasted money. Do you have a car? I used to deliver meals on wheels & local driving to hosp. appointments etc, the old folk loved to meet my DS and it felt that I was doing something worthwhile (expenses will be paid).

re swimming i did same as skip hop - costume/swim nappy under v easy trousers slip on/off boots before leaving the house ...then towelling hoodie type thing
www.decathlon.co.uk/baby-unicorn-poncho-id_8484406.html
or big bath towel so can completely wrap as soon as out of the pool then nappy/tracksuit and food -DS always starving when been swimming so often he would eat (banana or something not too messy) whilst i dressed ... bath at home! more playtime....never bothered with shower etc at pool always manky and temperature too variable..