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Old Style Toddler Fun?
uropachild
Posts: 522 Forumite
Maybe this isn't in the right place, but thought i'd ask anyhoo.
Our daughter is 19 months old and during the day i am struggling to keep her suitably occupied without going to places that give me cause to spend!
We do all the usual stuff at home - crayoning, dens, chasing, hiding, water play, books, toys etc. Our garden is inaccessible due to it still having bricks and other dangerous stuff laying around from our building work, but we do go for walks down the street to point at various things. We live in a town area.
I can't do anything too energetic because i'm 30 weeks pregnant and meant to be on rest.
Does anyone have any no-cost suggestions?
Our daughter is 19 months old and during the day i am struggling to keep her suitably occupied without going to places that give me cause to spend!
We do all the usual stuff at home - crayoning, dens, chasing, hiding, water play, books, toys etc. Our garden is inaccessible due to it still having bricks and other dangerous stuff laying around from our building work, but we do go for walks down the street to point at various things. We live in a town area.
I can't do anything too energetic because i'm 30 weeks pregnant and meant to be on rest.
Does anyone have any no-cost suggestions?
Sarah. 
DD is 8 years old DS1 is 6 years old
DS2 is 14 months old
DD is 8 years old DS1 is 6 years old
DS2 is 14 months old
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Comments
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dress up - catwalk - princess lunch - mini x factor/showLBM Total debt round up August 2010 £8.7k
current £8.4k
September Grocery Challenge £000/£200
September NSD Challenge 4/14
September Make £10 a day challenge £009/£150 --eek, not coping with this one! get too easily distracted...ooo shiny0 -
I got a fab book off amazon that had loads of things suitable to keep toddlers entertained now what was it called.................the preschooler's buzy book. Its a bit americanised but the ideas are there. I also got a book called entertaining and educating (maybe the other way round) babies and toddlers which has some good ideas
HTHEmma :dance:
Aug GC - £88.17/£130
NSD - target 18 days, so far 5!!0 -
i remember when my dd was 19m old and i was due to pop any day and it is a struggle, but one thing she loved doing was baking, mixing the cake's ( and then the eating) , also boxes. she would spend hours with a couple of large boxes and would sit in them, stack them, colour them, hide things in them.
having said that my children aged now 6, 5 and 2 all love boxes still and whenever i get one from fruit and veg shop they then spend the day playing with it. it will be a pirate boat, at stable , a car, fireengine. their immagination is fantastic.
boxes are still a firm favorite in our house.0 -
Oooh boxes!! I can get DH to bring home a massive cardboard box from work, i bet she'll love it!!Sarah.
DD is 8 years old DS1 is 6 years old
DS2 is 14 months old0 -
Feeding the ducks, watching diggers, looking at the trains at the station, playdough, the library do sing and story sessions for free and also find out about your local Children's centre ours do loads of free sessions that are really well run.0
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Making bread together? Bread dough is happier to be pushed and pulled around than pastry and she can get creative with making rolls.
Having a friend over to play with for a short while can break the day up.
Dolls/toys outings and tea parties. Although this takes place indoors, by the time they have got all their toys ready and sat them round the "picnic" rug an hour can pass. Then of course there is the "picnic" itself with everyone having something to eat. Trick is to have yourself sitting down with a cuppa, whilst the toddler does the running around fetching and carrying....you are just there to keep the theme going as long as possible:D Shops and post offices etc are all done similarly! Makes me sound like a right lazy mum but toddlers do like this sort of thing and they can burn off some energy whilst playing.
Make the most of a toddler's desire to imitate you and provide a duster or brush when you are doing any housework. Have her wash a tea towel out by hand and help you hang it out to dry. It all takes longer than doing it yourself but that is part of having a toddler around, they love to join in and be seen to be doing work.
If you enjoy drama and storytelling, you can even make puppets with wooden spoons or knotted socks to do little shows. Provided you are telling the story and doing the voices small children will accept the most rudimentary of puppets.0 -
ok, this might sound daft, but it kept me happy for HOURS as a child with my nan while she would cook dinner... you need:
old saucepan
small wooden or plastic spoon
tray to put things on
a selection of old dried lentils and pulses in a tupperware-like container
old metal-style tea strainer
and voila! child entertained for ages pretending to make dinner while mummy does it for real!
I used to mix things up in different amounts, seperate them out into colours, etc... damn, i miss being a child sometimes...
BC xnever play leapfrog with a unicorn...0 -
Google home-made playdough and get her to help you make it. My first attempt turned out like flubber but it's still hours of fun So, there are these boys,
They kinda stole my heart,
They call me Mummy
WW 37lb (2 STONE 9lbs! :j ) lost since July, 11tybillion to go...0 -
It sounds like you do loads with her and you have had some great suggestions already.
At the risk of sounding like a slack mother -
- if you are supposed to be resting then there is no harm in letting her watch a DVD while you put your feet up with a cuppa. You don`t have to provide 24/7 entertainment for her and you will soon have another little one to care for so encouraging her to learn to play by herself for a while would be good too. 0 -
Well, i found the leftovers from the last massive cardboard box DH brought home and i made a tunnel out of it. Oh my word did she love it?!!! She spent ages picking it up, crawling through it, playing peekaboo, me chasing her into it and waving my arm around at her legs to "get" them. What fun!!
I am loving the pans with lentils idea, but will probably use rice and dried pasta instead since that's what we already have in the house. I think she will like that a lot.
You're right Slinky, i do try to encourage her to play on her own too. She's just not that good at it! Ha ha! She has recently developed an interest in the TV, which i take advantage of by putting Cebeebies on, but i am sick to death of those chuffin Zingzillas!! My word but they're annoying!!
I don't want her to watch tooooo much TV though and playing with her is more fun anyway when i can think of something interesting to do. I've not tried her with a DVD yet... Might stick The Little Mermaid on tomorrow and see what she thinks... Then i can get on with some flylady stuff. Sarah.
DD is 8 years old DS1 is 6 years old
DS2 is 14 months old0
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