HELP!!! I don't know how to entertain my 20 month old son!!! :(

[Ollie27]

I am 36 weeks pregnant and I am struggling to entertain or find games to play with my son. I am near the end of my pregnancy and I am very restricted with the things that I can do.

The weather has not been fantastic so we have been stuck indoors. I don't know anybody near by I can visit as I am not originally from round here.

Can anybody give any advice to a desperate mum?

Messy things, painting, give him rice to sprinkle on a tray, glue to stick pieces of paper, my ds 22 months loves to stack wooden blocks, he also has a pop up tent that he can play in indoors (got his with a tunnel for about £20 from TK Maxx). stickers, sandpit. Get an large old sheet and lay it on the floor before you do messy things, then you only need to pick up the sheet and not worry about the floor.

Will he sit still long enough to do some cutting/ripping and sticking? You could get him ready for his new sibling by making a scrapbook with him. Get him to make every page a diffrnet colour or animal or shape. Then he can give it as a pressie 'To my new brother/sister from your big brother!'

nope, I am in the same boat. too knackered to do much with ds except sit and watch cbeebies

we have had limited success with sticker books and finger paint (left mess for dp to clear up )

Is he into cars? DS used to love driving his cars over my bump (and the rest of me) when he was 20 months!

Helping to wash up plastic plates in the bug boy sink, tea parties for teddy, wooden slot puzzles,searching for bugs in the garden,soft play areas,singing and dancing dvds.I used to do a lot of going out together for cake, ummm yum.

Washing up bowl and a bit of water. Wash the teaset always works here.

Den under the dining table?

Bouncing on the bed when he needs to get rid of some energy?

Stepping stones using cushions?

Has he got a baby doll?
You can show him how to care for it now. DS used to pull up his t-shirt and stick his babydoll to his chest while I was feeding his little sister.

water, water, water. Pouring it. Put it in jug and ask for "tea". Washing up after having "tea"
What is it about water????? They just love it!!!
Hope all goes well

i'm 37 +5 weeks and struggle with my 15mth old.

i'm finding that my mobile phone gives almost endless fun- he wanders round holding it on his head going 'yes...hiya...yes'

also, board books (he loves Meg and Mog at the moment) empty boxes and the occassional walk if you can manage it. wooden spoons and plastic kitchen stuff (strainers, bowls etc)

check if there is somewhere local you can take him- park etc. There's a little aquarium type place near me that i've taken DS. It's rubbish, but it entertains him for half an hour.

he also finds it hysterical if you crawl after him (can't do it for long) sniffing him, panting and barking like a dog. he runs round wearing himself out big style.

My 22 month old loves things that he can fit in other things if you see what I mean. I got him a pile of 10 blank CDs and CD cases from the pound shop and he can spend hours trying to open the box, take CDs out, put them back in, etc. I can give him a wet cloth and he'll 'clean' the table, the fireplace, the floor... A good DVVD last resort, like Thomas or Teletubbies.

If you want games to play with him early flashcards with simple words are good at that age, what I do is spread the cards over the living room floor and ask him to find the dog, the car, etc. Then we place the cards in 'category' by color. He loves that even if he dowsn't know his colors yet. Everything is always blue!

Thanks everyone for your ideas!!!!! I have just bought some play doh and some first jigsaw puzzles so we shall see how we get on with those to start with