Constantly asking to play

[Wheeliemummy]

My DD is just turning 3.

She attends nursery and she's a very happy girl.

She loves playing games with me, roll playing drs, cooking etc but she wants to do this all of the time! She only ever plays independently after a long day of nursery just before bed.
Obviously I love playing with her and if I'm not busy would spend all day playing but if I'm busy and I explain I can't right now or I will watch you play whilst mummy does this, she gets upset or angry or her face drops and I end up feeling really guilty because she just wants to play.

She doesn't have any siblings so I feel awful that she obviously just wants company whilst she plays.

How do I resolve this? Does anyone else have this problem?

Create a schedule so that she and you know when it's mummy play time and when it's time for her to do colouring or TV or jigsaw. Make it visual and stick to it.

Personally I find giving them attention earlier then settles them down. So breakfast, get ready, mummy play time for 1 hour (or whatever), snack time (gives a positive end to your game), then play on her own, then story, then lunch....

My four year old is like this. He’s at school now but when he isn’t he wants constant attention. At the weekends at least one of us ends up playing with him at all times (apart from when we put the TV on, so that we can grab a shower/make food etc). Apart from the little bits like lunch that have to get done in the day I do all housework/me stuff when he’s in bed.

By the way I’m finding siblings can make the situation worse - he has a baby sister but she tries to eat all his toys and he gets upset. Today he would have sat building a train track with me watching but she kept destroying it.

Not what you wanted to hear sorry. I like the poster above’s idea of a schedule, though my son is too hyper to sit and do a jigsaw/colouring in on his own.. but hopefully yours will!

Kids need to learn to entertain themselves. It’s not a bad thing to explain you’re busy, and you will play in whatever amount of time. It’s good for kids to learn how to play independently even if they don’t want to initially. I only have one, she’s seven now, and she has learned how to amuse herself. My mum a primary school teacher always said kids need to be bored sometimes, and they need to use their imagination. It’s not a bad life skill to develop.

Also I hate role play, so I will indulge occasionally but not always. I’ve often left my daughter to it and she then creates a whole game with her toys and it’s wonderful to watch.