we've got a game that keeps 3/4 year olds entertained for ages, any more ideas?....

[dreamylady]

a friend bought our dd a little bag with four chicks in at easter and she loves me to hide them round the house then go and find them - i have to give her quite obvious clues (btw the credit for thinking up the game goes to my lovely friend not me!) like 'the chick needed to brush her teeth' or 'the chick wanted to read a book'. The great thing is when there are two of them they seem able to play this for ages, hiding the chicks for each other (often in the same places!)

another version on sunny days is to 'hide' a load of those plastic balls you buy by the bagfull around the garden then give them a bag each and get them to gather them up. requires some parent participation but its fairly minimal (no clues required here).

bet those of you with more than one dc have got LOADS like this, fancy sharing? (OK I'll come clean - have dd's friend coming over for a couple of hours this am and its too rainy to go out!!)

oo-err just wondered is this one a bit netmums-y?

Ds is a bit younger, but I get a lot of mileage out of getting him to serve me tea (stacking cups and some duplo..). He's got to bake the cakes, set the table, pour the tea and then we can go for ages with stuff like "Oh more tea please ds..oh we've run out of cakes you'll need to bake some more.." etc etc etc while I mumsnet.

When I was about 4 my gran whiled away a rainy day with me and my cousin by making us draw food which she then cut out for us to play cafes with (and then see above). You could use pictures in magazines as well. Last time I was visiting her we hauled the old toy tea set out and the paper food was still there!

Tell them go and find me something 'green'. They bring you something back, then off they go again for something 'round', 'bumpy', 'straight', 'scratchy', and on and on forever. Then collect all things together and make a picture out of them. I've got through entire lunches with friends and downed a bottle of wine with that one. Good game for adults who aren't too kid friendly too, as it's interactive, but not too interactive iyswim..

my ds (almost 4) loves playing restaurant. he'll grab a book and a pen and ask everyone what they want and then tell them what we dont have and what they can have instead then he'll go away and "cook" all the food.

like the idea of getting him to draw the food beforehand smallchange

CBeebies?

Sorry someone had to say it

this an outside one-but give them a pot of water and a paint brush and as him to 'paint' the fence and the floor- he keeps coming back 'cos it drys so quickly mummy'

DD and her friends like to have "quizzes" set for them, that they have to find the answer to around the house (or whatever location we are in). I will write the a list of questions to work out, such as:

How many windows are there in the house?
Find 5 red items in the house.
Who is the oldest person here?
What is the name of the newspaper in the living room?
What page is daddy up to in his book on the shelf?
How many trees are there in the garden?

etc.

requires parent to start them off, but they can also then write ones for one another.

We play the alphabet game too, or "Tell me". It is a good one for ont he train or int he car, and esp for children learning initial letter sounds. Although older children seem to enjoy it as much.

So, alphabet game:

Chose a topic, ege a girl's name
Then go through alphabet
Think of a girl's name begiining with A, B, C....

Or "Tell Me"

One perspn says Tell me a (insert a topic, ie. fruit) beginning with the sound l.

Others have to be first to guess.
If they get it right. it is their turn to say the sentence.