Toddler activities

[MummaBear4321]

I have a barely turned 2 year old (non verbal) and an 8 week old. No option for a support bubble, tier 4, no friends are willing to meet for a walk as nervous about CV or sticking to their bubbles, nursery is about to close I think so no break in the week, DH works 5 days out of the house. I am freaking about how I am going to keep my toddler entertained. There are only so many playparks you can go to in the freezing cold. So hit me with your tips for entertaining a toddler.

We already do lots of reading, colouring, stickers, playing with general toys, some painting, housework, walks. Any specific crafts or activities to encourage speaking would be appreciated.

Duplo, play-doh, baking, build a den, teddies at nursery (teddies are the children, toddler is teacher). When going out, collect things - stones, leaves, sticks... look for things - point to something red.

Ours like a bath in the middle of the day! Loads of bath toys, this happily kills half an hour. You can chat about the toys, play cafes with the bubbles that kind of things.

Kinetic sand is brilliant, buy the one with all the tools, they love that, it also lets them play on their own for a bit if you need to feed the baby etc.

Dancing to music is a good time killer too.

Try to set up a bit of a routine similar to nursery so you have a plan each day and definitely factor in some tv time. You have a new baby in a pandemic, it’s about survival at the moment!

My son is under SALT for speech issues. I found online library rhyme time sessions good, as singing seemed to help him to practice sounds.

My DD likes pegging and unpegging her own clothes and her dolls clothes from a mini washing line that I string up between two chairs
Stack and unstuck/knock over paper cups.
Rolls balls down ramps. We’ve got some old guttering set up as a ramp in the sitting room!
Make a drum kit out of upturned saucepans
Make dens and tunnels with furniture, cushions and sheets
Draw on patio/paving slabs with coloured chalk
My dd also loves printing - hand printing, potato printing etc..
Hide small objects (we use clothes pegs) round the house and go hunting for them.
Cook up a big saucepan of porridge and let it go cold. Add some food colouring and it turns into a fantastic squelchy messy play activity, especially with little toys hidden! I do the same with custard and with mashed potato using a packet of instant smash! Polenta works well too, as does cooked couscous or cooked spaghetti.

Sympathies OP, I'm in a similar boat but with a 1yr and a 3yr old. Nowhere to go except the muddy parks we have been to every day for the last year!

Last year when they were your DCs age, the baby basically lived in the sling and luckily slept a lot as I would bf him in the sling. I also pretty much relaxed any screen time allowances for the older one so that i could get anything done (and still got basically nothing done). My older boy is a total handful though and needs a lot of engagement. I wouldn't set your expectations too high with setting up loads of activities, unless you know your kid will really engage with it. I always found it stressful when he wouldn't be interested in the activity and then it would be another load of stuff to tidy up.

Keep the older one fed often and try to get outside at least once a day. It does get easier.

Mini Music Makers on Youtube/Facebook... it is about half an hour long and is nursery rhymes, songs, with a pre-schooler on screen some of the time who sometimes takes part, so children watching get to see the adults playing an instrument, dressing up as characters, doing actions, as well as seeing another child do things that children do.

@MaizeBlouse . I wouldn't set your expectations too high with setting up loads of activities, unless you know your kid will really engage with it. I always found it stressful when he wouldn't be interested in the activity and then it would be another load of stuff to tidy up.

I can relate to this! DS is always so happy to play independently with his duplo or cars or whatever, but then I feel guilty that he's not doing something more enriching so I create some fun activity for him but of course he shows no interest and just goes back to his duplo! Maybe I should just be grateful that he's an easy toddler and leave him to it?

We make obstacle courses inside (run around table, climb up on couch etc) which are great for a bit of indoor exercise but also for learning up/down/around/beside/ fast/ slow etc. And you can direct from the couch if feeding baby.

Ditto the above recommendation for MMM. We started watching very early in the first lockdown and quite honestly, it has saved my sanity. My boy had just turned one and now he's nearly two - he's learnt loads of stuff (mainly animals/noises/songs/actions) from them, now requests it and it's a good watch for the adults too. We also got him lots of puppets for Christmas to recreate the songs. They're live every day at 10am or you can catch up later on YouTube/FB. They said they'd just done their 180th show so plenty to watch if you've not seen them before!

Obstacle courses. Running and jumping. Magic water painting books. Water with cups and jugs in a tray on the floor. Same with lentils or some other small things that can be poured. Magnets for fridge. Reusable stickers for windows. Water painting on lining wallpaper. Cleaning windows, sweeping... also following this for inspiration! She's teething this week which is resulting in extreme clingyness.

Some amazing suggestions here! They will definitely keep us going. I am trying to keep expectations low and my DD can be hit and miss for engagement with activities, but I feel like I have to try something every day for her sake. Poor kid has gone from playgroups, nursery, playdates with NCT group to me and 4 walls. Hopefully some of these things will get her (and me) through the day until the weather gets better and this whole situation gets a little better.

As others have said keep expectations low. My 2 year old has no interest in colouring, painting, baking etc.

He loves playing with water, shaking water from his cup that had a lid into other things. Very simple and not too much of a clean up.

He also loves putting washing into the machine, and taking it out at the end.

Stuff that has worked brilliantly last lockdown for my toddler when I had a newborn (newborn was in the sling pretty much 12 hours a day)-

Messy play-Making potions (using any random crap I have in the kitchen), cornflour goo, playing with shaving foam, play dough, painting an old cardboard box

Relaxing about screen time

Watching me do yoga/work out for 20 minutes, she was fascinated

Going to a different room in the house to do a certain activity. It just changed the mood and helped a bit of focus. Eg we would do stories in the spare bedroom.

We brought this wooden rocker, climbing frame, slide thing and it's been amazing. We have it inside and it gets played with every day and provides an outlet for burning off some of that physical energy.

Me listening to audiobooks or my music. I found I get more bored than the toddler so it really helped to have a bit of ' me ' in the background

Instagram is great for inspiration. I like the toddler activity guide but there must be hundreds of accounts sharing ideas to keep kids entertained.

DD, who has just turned two, has a small plastic slide we used in the garden last summer. I’ve put it in her playroom and she uses it for sliding, climbing, a run for her toys, a den underneath... she also loves two outdoor pouffes I have for indoor soft play.

Worth thinking outside the box and trying a few things out - I put my woolly hat on one of her soft toys for a giggle one day and she now spends ages fetching and putting our hats, mittens and boots on all her toys. Funny.

Sorry wrong thread! Quite dramatically wrong thread. I'll ask for that to be deleted.

DD18M likes water painting with the Chinese parchment paper, colouring, playing with her toys, ball pit, tunnels. Wasn’t too interested in kinetic sand or play do so that’s gone away. I also bought a tuff tray with lentils seives, gloop making stuff etc but haven’t attempted that yet!

My 26mo loves running races (against himself). He stands at the other end of the room, I say 'DS ready steady go' and then he runs towards me. When he reaches me, he get a hug, then turns around and repeats. For 10-15 minutes 😂.

He also loves hoovering and helping me put things in the slow cooker.

He didn't really have many words till he was 2, but he's really blossomed in the last couple of months.

I've two toddlers who are into everything!

The biggest hits are Duplo, a play kitchen, playing doctors/dentists, wooden puzzles and screwing things into a tool bench. My amost 2 year old loves helping with real chores (like taking things to the bin, organising a cupboard I save for her, putting clothes in the washing machine).

The both like sensory bins - easy stuff like shaving foam, corn starch and conditioner for snow, flour and oil for sand or flour and coca powder for mud. My little boys favorite is a tub of fake mud and a tub of water - he does a car wash thing with his construciton vehicles. It's messy and uses a ton of towels but it keeps him amused for ages.

For burning some energy we have an arch and slide (same brand @pinguwings posted), a indoor trampoline, an ikea tunnel and then a small plastic sandpit in the garage. I didn't own any of those things a year ago but they're great for days we're stuck at home.

Our library and local bookshops do their sessions online and I pop on some audio books or music if they fancy a dance.

I also pop on some audiobooks or podcasts when I need some me time. Wireless headphone in one ear and continue playing with kids!

There’s a good thread here with ideas and chat www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/4105179-trapped-toddler-parents-of-the-fabled-winter-2020-2021-puddle-suits-at-the-ready-hello-christmas