Best two year old activities at home- about to have newborn

[AluckyEllie]

Hello!

So, next week I will be having a baby and I already have a two year old (turned two in Feb.) I’m lucky she will still go to nursery two days a week but I am going to be on my own with two 3 days a week (husband working away atm 3 days a week.) I will try and get out and about at least once a day but what games/toys/entertainment do you find useful?

For example, my mum gave her two empty bottles today and she spent a good 20 minutes pouring water from one into another 😂. Any toddler entertainment like that you have found
by accident?

I’m going to get an activity tray/table for outside for
water play and sand. We have a mini trampoline and the usual puzzles/duplo/books. She isn’t really into colouring or sticker books yet.

Basically, I’m asking if you have any ideas to distract a toddler for ten minutes using things you have around the house. Thanks 😅

Pretend cooking. Give her saucepans and plastic bowls, wooden spoons, whisk etc pasta to put in her pans.

When my little one was 2 she loved doing things like getting the Tupperware out of the cupboard and practising opening and closing them, organising and putting things in them, playing with plastic kitchen utensils to mix things 😂.

Another one was getting her hands on cardboard boxes and decorating it with all sorts! Simple but effective and kept her entertained for ages!

Also threading pasta onto string which is good for fine motor skills haha.

Hope all goes well for you ☺️ wishing you all the best xxx

Follow 5 minute mum on instagram and buy her books 😊.
Realistic activities.

My son loves water pouring in the garden. Bad weather i chuck him in the bath to play.

When the weather gets warmed a paint brush and water outside is fab. "Paintjng" the walls of the house/floor and it dries up. Repeat.
You can vary the paintbrushes eg giant ones from b and q. Hours of fun.

A doctor kit plus Dot stickers on teddies, first chuld has to put them on teddies to make them "poorly". Then they have to make them "better". If you role play what to do with a stethoscope etc. Child can then repeat it themselves.

I'd also recommend getting a yoto story listening device, the travel one is nice and small and you can train up a 2 year old to use it independently to listen to audio books, you can also record your own voice reading a fave. Book, so if u r busy with baby you can press play with xyz and know you have 5 mins spare. They r expensive but last very well and my 7 Yr old still uses it.

It's great you've got a garden- it will be a godsend now with the nicer weather coming. I'd go all out and get as much for the garden as you can: tuff tray on a stand can be a sand or water table as well as a place to paint, picnic blanket in the garden for a teddy bears picnic, little pop up tent with cushions in it, bubble machine etc.

For indoors we love Duplo, magnatiles and Brio. We also have a tub of big metal clips that we use to pin up sheets and blankets all over the place to build dens. Pikler triangle and slide is a big hit. We have an indoor sand table (ikea flisat) that is out multiple times a week. Highly recommend kinetic sand for indoors, it's very easy to keep together and tidy up.

For mess-free "painting" indoors, search online for Japanese calligraphy paper. You can get large scrolls that you paint on with just water and it disappears after a while to be reused over and over.

Junk modelling is fun. Start collecting some things instead of recycling them: cardboard boxes, egg boxes, yoghurt pots etc. You can cut and tape them together to make houses/castles etc for figurines. I do it with my 2 year old son. I do all the work but he enjoys being a part of it! And then he'll play for ages with toy animals in the junk barn, or cars in his junk garage.

If I'm ever really stuck for something to do we have a bath! All it takes are some different toys from the norm to make bathtime more interesting, or fling some unusual kitchen utensils and containers in there to play with. You can buy trays that rest across the bath and make a great play surface for toys. My son loves foam shapes too- he has a set of various vehicles that you stick to the bath tiles and little pieces you join together to build a road.

Thank you all so much. These are all great ideas and I’ll definitely follow the Instagram account. Sticking cardboard together is a good one, she loves organising things or moving things into different containers so I’ll get the Tupperware out too. We’ve also been handed down a kitchen which is in the attic, that needs to come down. I’m saving this post for when I’m in the brain fog days. It does seem helpful the good weather is coming and
the garden can be used as well as parks/beaches/endless walks!