What to do at home with toddler

[Paddingtonmum]

I feel like I've been here before and back again but mum guilt is getting me that I'm not doing enough with my LO. He's 16 months and has lots of toys to play around with, we read, play in the garden, go on walks etc but he's at that age where I find it hard to know what actual activities to do with him at home so tend to leave him just pottering around and playing.

Any tips for activities to do at home with a 16 month old or is it fine to just leave him pottering and playing with his toys for a fair amount of the day?

I think a lot of people will say it’s fine but I’ll be totally honest and say I don’t think it is other than for a one off. We don’t really have a proper garden though so maybe that’s different.

Mine has gone off sitting in the buggy but likes feeding ducks, playing at the park, soft play is a bit hellish I know but nice change of scenery, library visits even if they do involve emptying the bottom shelf …

Oh I’m so sorry I misread ignore me

Pottering sounds great, what activities do you think you should be doing? If you're going for walks and reading books and talking to him he's fine.

Pottering and playing is great! If he's happy doing that then there's absolutely no problem with it. He's learning and he's with you. Lovely.
For activity ideas to mix things up a bit, there's a Facebook page called 'Busy Toddler' which has some lovely ideas.
My personal favourites are cornflour play - mix it up to almost solid but still pourable; lots of tubs and spoons etc,
Food colouring. Safe and very easy to clean up. Also middle of the day bath. Put toys in, Duplo, shaving foam.

Sorry the food colouring bit was with the cornflour bit. Not sure why it capitalised

I also have a sixteen month old and it's hard at home!! I try and get out every day, for my sake as much as hers. When we're home I let her potter about quite a lot but some "activities" I do with her that she enjoys are (just in case you don't already do them!):

Afternoon baths (for the purpose of playing rather than washing, with or without me in with her)

Standing on a dining chair (sort of pinned in by me so she can't fall) so she can watch me make tea, and I give her things to play with like a plate of mushrooms I've just chopped or a potato or something.

Looking out the window for birds/binmen/our neighbour who she likes to wave at.

Sharing a bottle of fizzy water with me - she likes the bubbles!

Giving her a dustpan and brush so she can sweep/a pile of laundry so she can take it all out the basket and put it back in again.

I keep about half her toys in reach so she can help herself, and half out of reach so I can give her them at particular times and keep them special

But mostly, I have just lowered what counts as a day out and take her out every day and let her run about in new places as it's what she enjoys the most.

Cross post about afternoon baths!!

Look at Little Happy Learners on Instagram. She has loads of homemade activities that are just brilliant.

Oh and just because you didn't mention it in your OP, nursery rhymes! Endless nursery rhymes all day every day! She loves them, and will "ask" for them by saying "baa" for baa baa black sheep, "peep" for little Bo Peep etc. Not my favourite thing to do but she finds it very entertaining and can fill a bit of time.

Wow, if he’s happy pottering and playing let him crack on! Independent learning and playing is great - can he come give instructions to my nearly 2 year old 😂 we are out at toddler groups and the playground nearly all day on my days off! You don’t need to set up fancy activities at all, just carry on with the balance you have.

Just talk and sing. Narrate everything even making a cup of tea. It will help language development and you don't have to feel guilty about not actively 'playing' the whole day long!

DD enjoyed scribbling with crayons for a few minutes at that age, so we did that quite often. Insides of cereal boxes were better than standard paper – bigger and stiffer. Chasing and trying to pop bubbles was also popular. She also loved her big outdoor ball, and that's the age when she discovered the joy of stamping in puddles.

I'll also second @BlackcurrantTea about 'helping' with chores. DD loved having a go with a dustpan and brush or (completely ineffectually) pegging out socks from the washing at that age.

I spent lots of time outside with him when he was that age. Between that, Duplo, the odd cartoon and a nice long afternoon bath, the days tended to go by. Depending on your LO's mobility, 'helping' with chores was also a good one!

Emptying the kitchen cupboards. Emptying the washing basket. Emptying boxes of toys. There's a theme....Also enjoys chasing the hoover round, climbing the stairs, pressing all the buttons on the TV remote, launching himself off beds/the sofa. Such a magical age.

I usually just let him crack on with it and I do other stuff round him. DC1 was exactly the same and he's fine now. 😆

@Babyunledweaning

Oh I’m so sorry I misread ignore me

No problem. We do take him out each day, whether to the park, swimming, etc it was more about activities when we're at home as that's where he spends a lot of his time.

Feeding the ducks is a good one I hadn't thought of that, thank you!

@TulipsGarden

Pottering sounds great, what activities do you think you should be doing? If you're going for walks and reading books and talking to him he's fine.

I guess it's like the guided playing that I feel like I'm not involved in enough but he just isn't interested in playing with anyone else. I guess it's just his age?

@OhWifey

Pottering and playing is great! If he's happy doing that then there's absolutely no problem with it. He's learning and he's with you. Lovely. For activity ideas to mix things up a bit, there's a Facebook page called 'Busy Toddler' which has some lovely ideas. My personal favourites are cornflour play - mix it up to almost solid but still pourable; lots of tubs and spoons etc, Food colouring. Safe and very easy to clean up. Also middle of the day bath. Put toys in, Duplo, shaving foam.

Thank you, I've just followed the page and going to do the Easter egg painting activity with him tomorrow! Love recommendations like this, it's absolutely what I'm looking for for help!

@BlackcurrantTea

Oh and just because you didn't mention it in your OP, nursery rhymes! Endless nursery rhymes all day every day! She loves them, and will "ask" for them by saying "baa" for baa baa black sheep, "peep" for little Bo Peep etc. Not my favourite thing to do but she finds it very entertaining and can fill a bit of time.

Thank you so much for all of your comments. I've been doing nursery rhymes since you said and he's really enjoying them. Going to try and afternoon bath today too - I'd always seen them as an evening thing, but makes perfect sense so thank you!

If he’s happy to potter that’s ideal tbh, as it sounds like you take him out and about anyway doing bits with him.

Mine is definitely happier outside. At home he’s in the garden if possible, even all winter. Sandpit, mud kitchen, just added outdoor chalkboard.

Indoors you can start basically drawing at the table or simple two piece puzzles. Mine only has about a 5 min max concentration on these though still

@skkyelark

DD enjoyed scribbling with crayons for a few minutes at that age, so we did that quite often. Insides of cereal boxes were better than standard paper – bigger and stiffer. Chasing and trying to pop bubbles was also popular. She also loved her big outdoor ball, and that's the age when she discovered the joy of stamping in puddles.

I'll also second @BlackcurrantTea about 'helping' with chores. DD loved having a go with a dustpan and brush or (completely ineffectually) pegging out socks from the washing at that age.

Thank you - I didn't know if he'd be too young for crayons but I'll buy some and give him a go as this sounds like a great idea.

Any help with chores is always welcomed

@Bornsloppy

Emptying the kitchen cupboards. Emptying the washing basket. Emptying boxes of toys. There's a theme....Also enjoys chasing the hoover round, climbing the stairs, pressing all the buttons on the TV remote, launching himself off beds/the sofa. Such a magical age.

I usually just let him crack on with it and I do other stuff round him. DC1 was exactly the same and he's fine now. 😆

That's so good to hear. I guess that's my concern, my LO is my first so I don't have any experience to fall back on that it's not going to end up holding him back!

I love the hoover comment, I always try to do that when he's out of the way but told my fiancé that we should do it with him around to make it an activity. Thank you

Baking! I started cautiously baking when my little was 15m but we both loved it together so now do it every 1-2 weeks. We started with gingerbread and cookies and flapjacks so she could eat the dough without worry of raw egg. She stands on a chair and helps tip ingredients into the bowl (misses a lot), stirs, smells and tastes everything etc etc. A lot of fun but a bit messy. I can't go the cupboard with the ingredients now without her running in!

Also - little one loves doing household chores with me - hanging and hiding I'm washing (turn it into a game), unloading/loading the washing machine. A favourite is sweeping, she has dustpan I have broom then we swap and she's off with the broom for at least 30m.

Washing up generally but also - I covered some of her farm animals toys in chocolate powder gloop so they were 'muddy' and she loved sitting on the floor with a few brushes and flannels and a bowl of water with washing up liquid (and loads of bubbles, of course) to clean them all.
Anything goes really as long as it's safe and supervised.

We go out every day too, library, park, beach, garden, national trust gardens etc etc

My kids got a big kick out of cupcake cases and rice/ oats at that age. Let them line a baking tin with cases and then give them a bowl of rice or porridge oats to spoon into the cases whilst I got on with real cooking. Otherwise washing up was also popular - stand them at the sink and fill a bowl with lots of soapy water and any plastic cups, bowls, etc. Getting them out of wet clothes and into dry ones after that also took up another 15 minutes, usually....

Oh yes mine like baking too.
I tend to make the biscuit dough when he naps so he can just just cutters and make shapes like it’s edible play dough

Also homemade pizza. Again I make dough evening before so it has time to rise and leave in fridge. Then he ‘helps’ with tomato part and likes lobbing toppings on it

I have a potterer too. You can't be out every minute of the day and I've always found that when I try to do 'activities' (in the loosest possible sense), they're about 12 seconds of entertainment and then DS wants to poke his toys under the sofa again or whatever.