Structure and Play for Toddler Boys

Yes! We go through this every night. I work and want to spend time "doing things" with my son when we're home- my husband thinks I'm crazy and runs around with him all afternoon. What we started doing was putting out just a few books, the large crayons with the Crayola "floor pad" paper and a couple of interactive toys. Everything else is put away until after dinner. When there are fewer things "out" he's more likely to play with us. We also use stickers and "paint" with water. I see you live in GA, so depending on whether you could paint the driveway (my son loves this in the summer) or use colored water and "paint" the snow- we are doing this now and it's a huge hit!

Just keep in mind that at this age, he should guide your activities. Play is his natural language and he's just exploring. Follow his lead and you're more likely to keep his attention. Table-top activities (coloring, reading, puzzles, etc) won't be a preference until about age 3 and should last 10-15 minutes at the most when your son is ready!

I'd really recommend finding out from him what some of his most beloved activities are.

For our 3 year-old, it's usually anything to do with his matchbox cars or the movie Cars. He likes building garages for them, racing them, etc. Those are not things I would personally be interested in, but they engage him and keep him happily occupied in the activity.

Have you considered enrolling him in a Mommy's Day Out program or Day Care 1 day/week. I am a working Mom but have several friends who are Stay at Home Moms and still send their kids so they can develop social skills, be part of a structured environment, get their own things done.

It can also serve as an exposure to other things you might not think of on your own and learn some of his interests from someone else's perspective.

Good luck. Like Krista, I try to maximize the time with my kids since I'm working all day. Sometimes, we just have to let them self-play to learn how to do it on their own (even when we want to do it with them)

I had (and sometimes still have) the same question. And I used to think that I did not know how to relate to him. It made me feel bad until one day I realized that what I see is fun, may not be fun for my son. He is all boy and loves doing things like playing with his Matchbox cars and playing sports.

I used to try so many times trying to do these things with him, until one day I realized that boys are different than girls, so they are going to see different things as fun. So now what I do is ask him what he would like to do. A lot of times he likes playing "racing cars", "parking lot", basketball, or tag.

All the things that you said were "fun things", are fun to us girls and may not be fun for boys: especially active ones. My daughter would love all the things that you said are fun. She loves tearing and cutting paper, reading books, and coloring, but my son would never sit still for long doing these activities.

I recommend reading at bedtime or no more than 10-15 minute increments. I also recommend keeping the coloring and arts and craft activities to no more than 15-20 munutes.

I hope this helps,
L.
Little-Safe-One.com

My son was the same way. The way we solved the problem of not sitting still while being read to was that I brought books into the bathroom and read to him while he was taking his bath. Even though he was playing with his tub toys, he also was "contained" enough to listen to the story.

Hope this helps!

K. in GA