What do you do to entertain a boisterous 19mo at home?

[toddlerhip]

He will not entertain himself & only thing to keep him occupied is to go out and about or in the garden (which is down a steep flight of stone steps and not child friendly so he needs to be supervised). I really need things he can do at home for more than 2 minutes so i can get on with things...Does anyone have a boisterous toddler and still manage this? Our tv is too far away from what i'm doing to make dvds practical except in the evening when we all go upstairs.

I know it takes longer but get him to help make the bed. Keep swaping sides. Mega bricks are great, a small box of strange toys and some pillows so he can hide into. Toy brush etc.. Pull up a chair while you are cooking and chop up some snacks he likes (sweet pepper and apple) some toy cooking pots. Make play dinner with the peelings. I know its a fag I've got one of those too. Mine has got better.DS is 4 Now he can almost make his own omellette even crack eggs without getting shell in the bowl. (not the cooker bit) Still a bit of a nightmare everything takes twice as long. Roll on next September when he starts school Your DS will be 4 & 5 sooo quickly.

Thanks starbear. He has made omelette with granny which was a big hit. Love the peelings idea. We will get some toy pans or try our small one.

Coooeeeeee....anybody else out there.....Are we the only 2 with toddlers like this? Do they all entertain themselves...?

No all the others are boring ha ha I'll think up some more and post later should be making the bed!

ds i really likes washing up (sinkful of warm water, bubbles, plastic bits and bobs to chuck in it, wasing up brush to swish around). if he is stood on a chair doing this at the sink i can stand next to him preparing food, cooking or whatever for ages.
bombing around on a trike is also popular and he will do it by himself for a bit (helps if you have room indoors i know, our house is openplan downstairs so he can get a relatively long way). will kick a ball about by himself for a bit again indoors.
he likes helping with chores although it means they take longer. will also spend a while unpacking things out of a box/bag so long as they look vaguely forbidden (ie are grownup possessions not toys, but obviously grownup possessions that are safe for babies ).

Thank you woodstock - i will try the washing up idea esp. Have just discovered radio keeps him occupied for quite a while so have looked out an old one. And we are discovering crayons are quite a hit, though i need eyes in the back of my head to protect walls / cupboards etc!

My DS (18 months) likes to hand me the pegs when I'm putting the washing out.
He also likes to "brush up" using our HUGE brush. Would be better to get hi a toy one but then he probably wouldn't be interested!

My dd is like this. She's forever grabbing my hand, and dragging me away from whatever I'm doing. Drives me mad. Although I do understand that she just wants me to play with her, but sometimes, you've just got things to do! Will try all of the suggestions on this thread.

An allen key and a highchair or another piece of furniture that has obvious screws!! If you suddenly start 'tightening' all the screws with huge concentration until they come over and see what you're doing and then give them a second allen key to help and then after a minute or so, you just leave the scene and they'll be there for ages!!!

Another good different version to washing up is to have them standing at the sink with some plastic bowls and cups and a spoon / jug or whatever you want and some water in it and then while they're there, chuck some dried macaroni in to one of the bowls. They sort it from bowl to bowl and it starts to feel funny as it absorbs some of the water. You can also do it 'dry' with dry macaroni that's had food colouring added to change it's colour on the floor.

Or get one of those UV pop up tent things off eBay cheaply - they love running in and out of them - a pop up play house! They fold flat in a flash and can be stored under or behind the furniture.

Pushing a dolls buggy and toy handbags with things in are also a hit with boys and girls!

I'll shut up now

We do the peg thing too! Love the macaroni and allen key idea. We have a tent. Are thinking about the buggy...but a bit sceptical- as Gateau says unless it's the real size whatever he tends to scoff!