What do you do at weekends- with a toddler ?

NoreenOMS

mincepiemonster wrote: »

I agree with this. FWIW I think a bit of time just spent being bored at home doesn't do any harm - DD is already playing well on her own and "reading" without us there as we give her time without stimulation. This is especially important IMO if kids are at nursery or go to a lot of classes / clubs in the week, they need a weekend too!

Yeah, I think your right. Myself and my husband work full time; I think I am just putting pressure on myself to make every weekend fun filled; when he is probably more than happy to enjoy a couple of hours with his toys!! We don't go anywhere in the week; just straight home for dinner; and the usual evening stuff- toys, cartoons, bath, story, bed. So I think come the weekend we need to do lots if stuff!!

He still needs a minimum of one nap a day; and he is having to have early nights lately; as is not quite over needing 2 naps :-(

sweaty_betty

Just to add - I work 4 days a week and on our day off, my LO is often worn out from nursery, so don't worry about you all having down time

borderlakland

helping to cook at his age could be things like decorating homemade pizzas, filling jam tarts, rolling cheese straws. squidging pastry with currents to cook.

maybe enjoy a film afternoon at home, hire a film from libary, make popcorn (never known a child not to enjoy watching pop corn pop) snuggle up on the sofa. then maybe enjoy a home cooked happy meal type tea.

find somewhere to feed ducks, collect flowers/leaves etc then next day stick flowers and leaves onto card.

have you a wall/patio that you could use for chalk drawings.
he's prob big enough to enjoy starting to make a den using sofa/chairs /clothes horse etc. then have lunch with toys and teddies in newly made den, let him help make sandwiches and drinks for the lunch. then washing up can be great fun. chair against the sink, loads of fairy, sponge and a brush will last for ages (sadly the novelty wears off as they get older)
sounds daft but at that age a duster and brush can often be great fun.....

double_mummy

run around and around and around and around

maman

Definitely get him interested in going to the library. Encouraging a love of books and stories is one of the best things you can do for him. They often have storytelling groups for toddlers but probably just mid-week.

NoreenOMS

maman wrote: »

Definitely get him interested in going to the library. Encouraging a love of books and stories is one of the best things you can do for him. They often have storytelling groups for toddlers but probably just mid-week.

Thanks maman. I took him to the story time at the library a couple of weeks ago for the first time- was not a great success as only two other kids, one of which talked all the way through which was cute at first! Hoping as the weather declines it might be more popular; so will try again.

Thanks double mummy- I plan to keep some clothes to one side for lots of park time still during winter !

LannieDuck

I have a 22mo too. We normally do something with her in the afternoon, but the morning she spends playing with her toys at home. As someone else said, it's good to give toddlers a bit of time to learn how to occupy themselves and play with toys in the way they want to (e.g. making a train run up and down the chair arms rather than along the track, or putting her lego bricks into the back of her tricycle and giving them a ride :P).

Wrt to afternoon outings, we tend to go out to the park a lot, and DD loves coming to the supermarket with us. As it gets rainier, it's going to be harder to think of activities out of the house, so maybe we'll try to find some soft play areas or similar.

Oh, and in the hot weather DD discovered our garden sprinkler - hours of fun!

couponqueen123

NoreenOMS wrote: »

Hope people don't mind me posting this.. Following on from the other thread, which I really enjoyed reading.. What do people with young children do? We have a 22 month old boy, and sometimes I struggle for ideas of things to do at the weekend...

This weekend had consisted of food shopping, movies, play time at home, a family fun day event at a local golf club, the park, mini train ride at a funfair and swimming.

Especially with autumn on the way.. Looking for ideas? We can't do any messy things at home as we live in a rented apartment..
Thanks in advance for ideas!!

buy a sheet of taupauling https://www.google.co.uk/#fp=5a2359cf96dc5f79&q=tarpaulin

and do messy play on that also if its nice day take it out side or down park to do messyplay, take few bits in a bag and fun fun fun will happen

also what about geo catching http://www.geocaching.com/

you can make your own style if you cant do this one ,

also treasure hunts

pinkshoes

DS does whatever we need to do, and just helps! This weekend he helped tile the kitchen, passing tile spacers up, and holding things. He also "supervised" the tile cutting in his Bob the Builder helmet.

It's amazing how you can make any dull job into something exciting for a toddler.

fluffysox

My little boy is 2 years 3 months. He loves going for a walk/ ride on trike or scooter. We live near a level crossing and he asks daily to go and see the trains. If its wet, put wellies on and lets go find some puddles to jump in. We play a basic version of "Eye Spy" "I spy with my little eye.... a red car... can you see the red car" etc. He loves it.
Kicking a football goes down well. Feeding ducks. Going on a bus or train- I leave this for when Nanny has him tho - bus pass
Plant some seeds in yogurt pots etc- decorate first if you like- cress grows fast.
I've made the kiddies cake mix sets with him- I'm no baker, but it's mostly just mixing and they come with cases and cartoon "stickers" for the top. I put it all in the bowl and give it a quick stir, then DS "mixes it". I spoon it into cases. Bake for 15 minutes. Cool. DS mixes icing. Then he puts stickers on- his fave bit.
Mega Blocks- lets make a big dinosaur/ monster.
Hide and Seek.
He's always been to baby and toddler classes at Surestart centres and libraries. Our local library has little tents, jigsaws etc in the childrens area so he loves it there. Now we go to church on a sunday morning too as they have a 0-3 group.
Garden centres are fab to go to on a Winter morning. Big ones have pets to admire as well as christmas lights to entertain.