I'm running out of play ideas

[~Emma~]

 DS is bored, bored, bored.

 Its tough for him because all if the old games he loved he cant really play for most of the day as DD just trashes it! Like his Brio, we set it up and she tears it apart. Cars, same thing. We play zoos which he loves but same thing. BTW we live in the smallest house in the world, there's no getting away from each other and he's not quite old enough/interested in playing his room.

 I've been trying with crafts and painting and he likes it but its very short lived. ALso with the craft stuff he doesn't seem to quite grasp it yet.


 He's getting into role playing now and I'd really like to encourage that. Thing is *I* have no imagination so when we play its really rubbish for him as I cant really do it, sounds silly I know.

 What on earth can we do together? Tabletop games would be best then D can walk about on the floor and I can dart between them playing.


 Forgive me for sounding daft, I am just pretty clueless when it comes to this sort of thing. We do walks every day, go to see the diggers and tractors and cows. We go to the park etc but when it comes to indoor play I am useless and Winter is fast approaching! 

[Lolly]

For table top games have a look here http://www.orchardtoys.com/. We have quite a few of these now and they are fab games and puzzles, they are also good learning games! You can get them on Amazon etc often a bit cheaper than the main site!

We have got some of the jigsaws - DS loved the rescue squad one as you can make the jigsaws and then match the people to their vehicle! We have also got Dotty Dinosaurs, Shopping List and Flower pot game, the dinosaur one he had before he was 3 and is good for colours and shapes. The Ladybird game is a good one, so is the Greedy Gorilla one! They are nice quality games, quite strong pieces and good sizes for little hands!

Laura

[We Three]

Candyland and Hi-ho Cherry-o are great games for his age...only involve counting...sweet and fun!! 

[Shiv52]

I second the orchard game.  we have the shopping list game and M would play it all day long.  Same with world animal lotto and farm dominos.  Really simple but fun. 

Thing is *I* have no imagination so when we play its really rubbish for him as I cant really do it, sounds silly I know.

This is totally me but I have to say as M's imagination has grown I've got better.  She spends hours pretending now and often only needs me to jump in and out.  A lady came up to me at soft play place today and told me she'd just been to space with my daughter and had some marshmallows and then they got the slide back to earth!!   What about simple things like a tea party or let him set up a shop with tins and stuff from your cupboards?  We make R be a customer and pretend she is a very unruly customer wrecking things and then the shop keeper has to fix the stock and then the sensible customer comes and buys things properly! 

Its tough with the baby though as R gets into everything and M cracks up but she is good at keeping things out of reach if she doesnt want R to touch them. 

Play dough?  Obstacle courses?  Hide and seek?  M has just caught on to dancing and then freezing when the music stops.  We get lots of mileage out of dancing too. 

I am dreading winter as although I can think of quite a lot of things to do my enthusiasm can often be shortlived day in day out.   But I'm getting better!

[*Becky*]

I feel exactly the same Emma, H is also bored, really bored but luckily his birthday is coming up so I am going to choose carefully! I love the orchard toys website Laura and will def have a look for xmas ideas. xx

[rach321]

Another vote for orchard games here - brilliant.  We do a lot of tabletop jigsaws (our kids are very similar ages and we also have the brio rage!!) and cooking works really well here - I got him to make his own lunch a few weeks ago which was good fun.  We have toys that only come out while the smaller monkey is sleeping, like the brio for example. Painting and drawing are also popular, even silly things like having him help me do the housework - takes twice as long but at least it keeps him entertained.  We struggle at the mo since D is still on 2 naps and will only sleep in his cot so we are a bit trapped at home (hopefully not for too much longer) but lots of outside time when D is awake works quite well, even if its only a trip to the shops.

[Buntybear]

Could you make him a 'den' that he could go into?? Blanket over 2 chairs type of thing?

[Mum-of-Two]

I don't know if a balloon is still a hazard at his age but I tried some paper mache over the weekend (kids weren't interested so it was a craft for me I guess LOL) and let me tell you, my 2 year old has been entertained for hours just trying to keep the balloon in the air.  Plus, its active which is great on a rainy day.

Playdough?  My son takes a toy knife (blunt, not sharp) and loves cutting up his playdough.

I 2nd the "fort" idea.  Makes everything more fun.  We've done picnic lunches in there and it seems to make old boring games or coloring fun again just because its in a fort.

Painting, the water seems to be the fun part about that right now... ah well.

Stickers, can be kept out of reach of the little one -- usually short lived though.

Cooking -- starting to get more fun for sure.

If I think of more I'll be back!

[We Three]

A tent is so much fun...dd had a little tent from Target....that and a flashlight...we'd have so much fun!   Also, i'd give dd a pail of water and a cheap paintbrush (a grown-up one, like you would use to paint a wall) and she would "paint" the porch, all the big stones in our yard, etc.   Then the water dries and you can paint again! 

 Finding rocks is fun too...we'd fine rocks and paint them red or green...turn them into turtles or whatever...glue on some "googly eyes" and we'd have silly critters to line up and play with!  Simple and fun....plus I kept a few as keepsakes!   

[Roseii]

I second things going on the table! DD1 knows now that unless she wants her puzzles/playdoh/drawings/dominoes wrecked/eaten/slobbered on, then they need to be played with at the table!! Something she LOVES is hide and seek, it's HILARIOUS playing with a 3yo, she counts with her eyes wide open watching where I'm hiding, she hides in the same spot EVERY time and laughs hysterically as I "look" for her And DD2 is cottoning on now too and covering her eyes to count etc, it's adorable. And I actually find it really fun!! xx