What does your toddler just love or love to do

[ZacsMumme]

Today it is wet,and icky and Z was so bored and cranky (tooth cutting)
SO I thought to myself what does he love? - diggers
And so we went out, on a digger hunt in the car.

Found.  1 large orange digger working 5 mins drive from home, and all rugged up Z watched this digger from the side of the road for 20 mins.....he was grinning ear to ear the entire time. it made his day, and mine so much more bearable when we got home.

So what does your toddler love, and how do you keep him happy during A time when it's too tough to do what you would usually do?

[~Lori~]

Oh I LOVE that idea of looking for diggers

DS1's (age 3) favorite thing to do is to make "forts".  Putting a sheet over a few chairs is his idea of the best fun ever!  He will hang out in his fort with books for a long time

[creations]

Sara, that's so lovely you went on a digger hunt!

My DS also loves diggers and when he is hard to entertain out comes the boogie beebies DVD, the first track covers just about all his loves, diggers, dancing and the TV    If I throw in a banana or a tub of sultanas he is made up

We also play chase and wrestling which he totally loves.  it's good for rainy days when we can't go to the play park to work off some energy and it stops him trying to climb every single item in the house.  I set out a big soft bean bag and we race from the kitchen right through to the living room, first one there throws themselves down onto the bean bag.  We also make lots and lots of noise shouting whilst running which makes him very happy.
Today I included a balloon which he kicked on each circuit.

[We Three]

 Water play....I could set her up at the sink...some suds and some cups...she was in heaven! She actually still loves water play!  Also she discovered stickers at almost age 2...she'd put stickers onto paper for like 30 minutes!  And paint with water books...you know the ones where you just dip a brush in water and then the colors appear on the page? So fun!
 Lastly...a bucket and a big paintbrush...(dollar store!) and she'd paint the big boulders in our yard...the porch, my car...anything! Even the playset! Then the water dries so fast and she could do it again! If you have a stone patio or walkway he will love it! 

[Edesanja]

Lovely idea Sara! (and not hard to find in Chch! It's one of the perks of living in earthquake city - there are literally 1000s of them EVERYWHERE! But J loves diggers too and says "Look, Mama! Dig! Every. Single. Time we see one!)

[ZacsMumme]

Lol jenny, yes actually I didn't think about that. Zac would love chch ATM (btw hoping your all ok down there at the moment!)

DH and Z play forts...he won't play with me I think I do it wrong.

I love the bean bag idea...we have some big ones somewhere too and Z loves jumping on pillows. ANd I love the painting the fence idea too - he is obsessed with rocks and stones, water and mud. I'll go on a paintbrush hunt. Actually what I like about that is I can do it once #2 comes along, outside but at home KWIM?

[squeakersmum]

When DS was smaller (actually still now but he's easier to entertain now) we would often make the 10 minute trip to the service road by the side of Southampton airport to watch the planes take off and land. One happy boy :-)

DD is in heaven with a sheet of stickers and these days, although he's definitely not a toddler anymore, DS gets a lot of 'legs' out of a tray with popcorn kernels, rice, dried cous cous and if I'm feeling brave some flour and his toy diggers. Which is actually a variation on what I used to do for him when he was 2ish- bowls of the above, plus some water and a big mixing bowl :-D

[Buntybear]

My parents live near the air port Steph. We often go to that little train track near it with the miniature train!

Olly is not really 'into' anything. I guess jigsaws and stickers are his big things but he does need me to do everything with him. And he loves walking. We can walk miles!

[cuckoochick]

At the moment for C it's playing tea parties with her dolls. She's very particular about how to set it up and remembers which doll/teddy needs which colour plate. She chose them the first time we played two weeks ago and it stuck and now it's set in stone. She also loves this Melissa and Doug bead string set I just bought her. they are gorgeous chunky beads and she can manage really well. She is very dexterous though.

She still loves drawing and stickers. She amazes us with her attempts at a sheep. I'm gonna take a picture of it and post it!

Dolls, feeding and pushing them and playing with small figures on her bus and in the toy shop are other fave. She's always loved them!

Thanks Anne for mentioning those magic painting books. I'd love to get some for C. She's been asking to paint recently but often I just haven't the time to get it all set up so this could be a good alternative!

Sara you need to come over: we're living on a building site and there are diggers everywhere. C loves it!

[skatty]

Nicola believe it or not Leorah still loves tea parties for her teddies, they are much more fancy now but I cannot see her getting bored of it any time soon 

Leorah used to have a lot of baths as a toddler! If she was whingy and  we were not outside it was into the bath, worked everytime! Another thing we used to do and L still does is go down to the woods or beach with a bucket collecting endless stones, pine cones, feathers and shells! She also loved the painting with water, in fact she was always happy outside in the garden whatever the weather.

Oh I just remembered something she loved! We have a underpass under the train track and I would take her there and she would run under squealing and shouting listening to her echo, we had a lot of fun with that 

[ZacsMumme]

Ohh Z loves planes too! We visit the local (its relatively small) airport and park close it it regularly

And he loves walking. We can walk miles!

How do I get me one of those I am working on Z walking more (so I can manage with 2 )

Sara you need to come over: we're living on a building site and there are diggers everywhere. C loves it!

Oh Z would love that! Though I would need to turn the white noise up!

she was always happy outside in the garden whatever the weather.

Same here, playing in the rain is not a problem for Z....though its a PITA for me sometimes

[Buntybear]

On the back of the water play comments, and mine saying Olly has the attention span of a goldfish  Olly nicked my sponge as I was cleaning his sand/ water table, found a bit of soap from his bubbles tub and washed everything in sight! I turned round and there were bubbles on his slide, bikes, table, chairs. He hasn't been that occupied with something on his own for months  He lioved it, will def be doing that again 

[koe2moe]

Sara, i have done a fair bit of standing next to xx (be it digger, cranes, even the truck from the water company to do a scope through the sewage) for a significant period of time to let DS watch.  Usually the guys are very friendly and wave to us.  DS is still very into it!

Reading, doing puzzles, rolling cars when he is almost flat on the floor watching how the wheels turn, DS also loves launching onto the bean bag!  It is still in a box after we moved as we dont have space to put it out anymore...  

DS also likes to set out our picnic set and the colours have to match, cup, plate, bowl, and cutlery. 

[roseola]

Diggers, forts, puzzles and Dance Parties! We blast the music, run around the house and boogie! We also do parades and get our doggie to join in.

[ZacsMumme]

I wish Z liked puzzles, hes not really into them much. Book though are becoming more interesting to him z:)
Ohhh dancing! I must do that more with zac. He loves to boogie!