How to keep 2 year old entertained all day

[Karma1387]

Just looking for some useful ideas and suggestions. Sorry for the long post.

Prior to getting pregnant with DC2 I never let my DC1 watch tv besides the occasional Miss rachel when he first woke up. Unfortunately when I got pregnant between sickness, pain and exhaustion we basically live off the TV currently.

DC2 is due in a few weeks and I would really like to try to cut back down on the TV. He loves watching a film but I don't want to continue with all day having it on.

Thankfully he goes to nursery 3 days a week so he gets a break then and we try to go to my dads once a week but it does mean hes having at least 3 days with an insane amount of TV.

But I find it very hard to know what to do for 10 hours a day with him. Hes not big enough to go around soft play yet on his own and we don't have a lot of groups etc around us that aren't pricey (and honestly I hate them). Hes extremely energetic and its become very noticeable that his behaviour is getting bad when we are just spending whole days inside.

So any suggestions on how to keep a very energetic 2 year old entertained (whilst having a newborn) would be greatly appreciated.

Out of curiosity do they not get bored going to the same places? Or at this age do they not really care or understand its the same place?

I remember feeling the same as you with a newborn and a young toddler. I’m not crafty and didn’t fancy messy play. We spent lots of time outside, every day, twice a day, lots of time in the park. Rain : umbrella, coverall and boots. Dark/night : high vis jacket and small Tescos torch. Lots of attendance at rhyme time sessions / going into shops (sitting in trolley / pushing a baby one) / going to whatever baby groups were on. It was hard but looking back I think getting out was what worked for us. I did force DC1 into buggy as well sometimes and they’d end up having to deal with it even if they were grumpy. It’s hard! You’re doing amazingly. Someone told me : convince yourself it’s easier than it is. It helped me :)

The opposite; they thrive on routine, consistency and repetition. It's vital for early learning.

Thats good to know!

Bless you. No need to change flooring! Just put a £2 painting mat from home bargains or get a cheap tuff tray or hand him the Hoover pipe to clean up and supervise closely. Takes ages, harder work, but sweeping and hoovering amazing is play to kids!

Also echoing pp of getting them involved in every day life. What does it actually matter if they have a tantrum? If it spoils an activity, try again tomorrow. If someone judges, you likely won’t see them again. It can only be better!

I have found the more you go to the same places, the happier the kids are - they know what to expect, they know how to behave, they know their boundaries and routine, they remember mummy didn’t let them do x so they don’t try again, they get better at playing there.

I would also keep the table, he's not going to be seriously damaged by falling from a toddler table.

We have dogs but they dont like him
I meant toy animals. Mine used to love all there farm and zoo animals we had a whole box of them.

@Karma1387 one thing that strikes me from your posts is that you seem to be wanting the perfect conditions for your son to play/ be fearful of him falling or not doing what you want him to do first time round.

Realistically children will fall. It is how they learn. 2 year olds are wired to push back and find boundaries - they are only just learning that they have some power and agency. The way you help them learn what they can can't do is by consistent reinforcement (physically move them away /the thing away) with a clear simple verbal instruction too.

If he is throwing stuff set up a play station outside which could be as simple as 2 buckets, or some chalk circles on the wall and get him to throw stuff. It's a skill he is trying to learn. Or get a bowl for the bath (ot bath chalks) and get him to throw the ducks into it.

Don't agonise over the perfect surface.
Of course don't put him deliberately in an unsafe situation but he will not learn if he can't experiment and get things wrong.

So what if he falls over in the bath? If the water isnt too deep he will be able to get himself up and he will eventually learn that we dont run in the bath.

@ otmarissa @ buildingbrilliantbrains and @ yourplayguide on insta have some great ideas

It depends where we are. If we’re in Asda/playgroup/in a normal public place I just act like how I would at home. If I was in a funeral/nice restaurant and she started to kick off, I’d take her out. Nobody is judging a mum dealing with a two year old having a tantrum. It’s better to deal with it now than when they’re ten and cannot accept the word ‘no’ or ‘behave’.

Thank you everyone for all your suggestions.

I think structure is the way to go. We installed some new toy storage today and had a organise of his toys and he actually came home from nursery and wanted to play by himself which was great! So I think we need less toys out for him to feel less overwhelmed. He even put a few bits away!

I will be making a plan based on all your suggestions for after I have recovered after having the baby.

Junk modeling