Hello Ladies! I am in need of your always wonderful advice. I need ideas on how to keep my 21 month old busy when we have a stay at home day. Usually those days are days where I need to catch up on housework or our 5 month old needs some TLC because she doesn't feel well. I keep finding myself using the t.v. as a babysitter and I don't want to do that. She loves to color so we try to do that a lot but that only keeps us occupied for about 30 mins each day. She doesn't play with her toys much even when I make them available for her unless other kids are around. Thanks for your creative ideas!!!!!
I fixed a special cupboard in the kitchen and put some pots, pans, plastic bowls, a couple of big spoons, etc. and let them play all they wanted. They loved it. Stacking blocks was always a fun thing for us to do. There are so many things you can do. Use a couple of chairs and a blanket and make a fort. Take a cardboard box and pretend it's a train. My girls were not that interested in tv at that age.
They have cute activity idea books at barnes and noble in the parenting section. Maybe pick one up.
At 21 mo. you can probably include her in a lot of what you do.
I.e. Let her wipe one area of a window while you windex the room, have a step stool (away from any heat) that she can pretend to cook while you cook...give her a plastic bowl and spoon to "mix", give her a few pieces of clothes to "fold" while you do laundry (my son loves playing with the kids blankets and I'll fluff them on top of him like a parachute, have her push a toy next to you while you vacuum, have her help water the plants, etc.
Other ideas for while you're able to sit down:
-keep a bin or a drawer with art supplies (markers, papers, construction paper, stickers) and she can sit at a kids table while you cook/clean
-put on fun music and have a dance party
-play hide and seek
-let her sit on a sheet and pull her for a ride on carpet
-save Tupperware from things like yogurt, sour cream, etc. and let her play drums (or you can even put some pasta in there to make fun noises-just be sure to tape it shut)
-play dough
-paint
-have a circle time at the same time each day...sing some songs and read some books
At this age I found our DD (she is at home all day) getting bored so easily we had to really mix things up.
1) To keep existing toys interesting and engaging we needed to rotate toys. putting things out of site for a few days made them way more attractive (and played longer with)when they reappeared. We found access to too many toys meant she just looked at them and none of them were too exciting to play with. about once a week (after she goes to bed) I literally rearrange her play area so she spends a good day just exploring it to keep things exciting. I also found that setting things up in zones made her curious to go play in an area for longer rather than just having all her stuff in the center family room. This week I moved the coffee table behind the couch and she spent all day coloring at it because it was different. Go figure!
2) Some good outdoor or physical activity (even just a walk or ride-on toy down the block)in the morning seems to make for a much easier day (longer nap+more agreeable) and i get more done in the afternoon when i have to plow through chores.
Totally cliche but we love a good cardboard box (or laundry basket). DD would pile her stuffed animals, toys, books, treasures, push around the house, climb in, etc. I also got some bounce house balls in target and filled a larger box with those.
We also had fun with water. Sitting in a high chair I gave her a few cups of different sizes (measuring cup, plastic drinking cup, plastic utensils etc) put some water in a squeeze sports bottle and let her have at it.
Ride on toys are great (plenty of second hand ones out there) too. We got a toy baby stroller to push that keeps her busy for a few hours a week.
also filing and dumping activites seemed to be very fascinating at this age. a bucket of blocks can be fun to dump, fill, stack. We love her and my shoe boxes. You can use a few shoe boxes for things to fill and stack too. We have photos that we stuck on the front of shoe boxes for each family member and hunt around the house for something of theirs to put in the shoe box. For example As i move from room to room doing things she moves boxes around and helps find something to put in there (Daddy's sock, Mommy's barrette etc). great teaching, color, textures, who's box is heavier, who's is full or empty, what belongs in rooms of the house etc. It is silly but this sometimes is an all day activity (bonus for Mommy!).
Hope this helps!
Hi! I used to have one cabinet in my kitchen that was "my son's", which contained various plastic trays, bowls, wooden spoons, etc. While I was preparing a meal he would take everything out of his cabinet, play with stuff, just take it out and put it back in, etc. That was great because he was right there with me so I knew he was safe, and I was able to prepare a meal without a baby on my hip (who hasn't done that?!). Is she past putting stuff in her mouth? Play dough is an inexpensive item that can provide good hands on activity time (can be done in the high chair to save your carpeting). They have a ton of accesories too.
Does she like dress up? You can just giver her some of your old clothes; but if she is into costumes now is a great time to take advantage of the after-halloween sales! I got my son several great costumes (that he wore all year) that way. I agree with the mom who suggested books and puzzles; the company Melissa and Doug (in my opinion) make the best quality wooden puzzles but they are expensive. Look at thrift stores or on Craig's list, or even a child's consignment shop. There are a few board games available for very young kids; I would suggest that you try to borrow from a friend to try it out to see if she likes it enough to spend money on it yourself - they often run $20 or so, which can add up quickly (especially if she's not into it yet). Does she like to play in the water? A surprise bath in the middle of the day, or a chance to play in the sprinklers or with a hose (its definitely still hot enough during the day!) can be a special treat. I always had toys for my son that were only for the bathtub, which made him very willing to take a bath. Body crayons can be a lot of fun. Since she likes to color, what about sidewalk chalk? Is she ready for finger painting (in high chair, on tile, or in the tub to minimize mess)? If she likes to be read to, a nice thing to try (available for free at the library) are books on tape that come with the book - that way she can look at the pictures while listening to the story. They have them for a variety of age/reading levels. Hope this helps - good luck!
Play doh is a good activity. I would expect at this age that any one activity will only keep their attention for no more than 30 minutes so you should plan several activities for her to do (kind of like centers). You could also incorporate snack time inbetween activities. We have blunt ended scissors that my kids use to cut up different colored construction paper. Not sure if a 21 month old can handle scissors though. If you have work to do in several different rooms and your daughter likes to be with you in the same room you could set up a center in each room and she could follow you around and play in her center. Kitchen toys in the kitchen, washclothes to fold in the laundry room, etc.
Best of luck!
Jen M.
Mom to 3 boys - ages 5.5, 3, and 1.5
My son is 20 mos and I also needed something to keep him busy without TV. I found the "Young at art" sketch board by Parents at Target and it's his new favorite toy. I can leave him alone with it and not worry about crayons on the wall :)
I also see they have something called "water works travel drawing board" which looks cool too.
I have the same problem, my son is 3 and has played by himself most of his life. Now that I am a SAHM with a 6 mth old girl I spend most of my day cleaning, and tending to the little one. While my son plays in and out of his playroom or watches TV. I really began to feel bad about it, but then I talked to his doctor who told me as long as 1)I am taking several periods of time a day to do structured activitys with him a day (making some of them just him and I) and 2) what he was watching was educational, he is fine. She said kids need to learn to occupy themselves and learn to use their imagination.
My son watches Noggin/NikJr and loves things like Wonder Pets (which teaches him team work and sharing) Dora, (math, alpabet, and spanish-he can count to 6!) and Ni-How Kilan (chinese-he actually said hi to me in it the other day!) There are also memory/puzzle games they play in-between shows that he loves.
I usually try to do a craft thing (finger paint, color etc) do a little numbers/letters or flash cards, read books, free play (like playing cars or trains w/him and then sometimes I just take a break and spend time with him watching his cartoons. In the evening we go outside for an hour or so to let him play ball or anything else he wants to do.
The only thing I do feel that lacks for him is the social part..even spending time with us isn't the same as interacting with other children. I take him to the library on Weds for this free reading/dance-song/craft session they do, and have joined the areas MOPS to join any playdates they may hold but he's lucky to get to play or converse with other kids maybe once a week. So, that is something I continually try to work on.
I'm not sure if this helps..but I tried!
C.
Hi P., I find myself with the sa$e problem even with my 34 month old and my 17 month old. What I do is use the TV to my advantage and put on educational DVDS. I bought preschool prep DVD that are awesome! Recommended for children 18-36 months, it taught my son 32 months old to identify all his number all his letters upper and lower and learn sight words! He can read simple sentences! I would get your 22 month old on education during those times-Preschool Prep is awesome!
21 months can be a tough age as I remember this stage a couple of months back and my daughter at that age did not initiate or play many games on her own... Here are a few activities I found would buy me small amounts of time:
1) Play dough ... this she really likes, but you still need to keep an eye out.
2) A Sand box
3) A sprinkler and hosepipe - I found a really cute Elmo sprinkler mat at Walmart.
4)A little music player - I found an MP3 player called Sweetpea3. It was not inexpensive but it got Toy of the Year award in Canada and will be a toy to last a few years. My daughter plays with this alot.
Its not easy - I'm sure you'll get several great ideas from Mamasource. Good luck!
Wooden puzzles with pegs (start checking thrift shops and yard sales). My mom used to put my son in his high chair with a puzzle and it would keep him both contained and busy for a little while so she could get things done when she babysat-- I always thought that was genious! You can walk by and assist every now and then and you don't have to sit on the floor-- because you know once you sit with them, you are stuck for a while!
Every child is different. My daughter could sit for a long time looking through books-- my youngest son can play forever with toy animals. Take her to a toy store (or even just the toy area at Target) and let her roam around and see what she really stops to play with. My first born was loaded with toys he never played with because we kept buying him stuff trying to figure out what he would actually play with!
