what has occupied your toddler for at least 15 min?

[ks6]

With the cold weather, we are stuck inside most of the day, so I'd like to get some ideas from other people.  Most things will occupy ds for 5 seconds, but he likes to go from room to room and I'm getting tired of moving around the house.  I'm looking for some weird ideas that might last a little longer in one place.  For instance, Dave will do anything in the same room with me while I vacuum or dust, for long periods of time.    He played with craft loops for about 45 minutes today (with me) just throwing them around the room.  I can also read to him for a while.  Anything that was interesting to your toddler??

[Two mummies]

So far we've found a deck of cards keeps her going for a little while. You can get flashcard type decks with seaseme street characters or dora the explorer which are easier for them to put the card in and take them out. She can play by herself for long periods of time if we put the nursery rhyme CD on in her room. Her bedroom is a safe zone and she amuses herself with her toys while listening to the music so all that's required is for us to pop our heads in every now and again to keep tabs on her.

Other things she likes to play with for more than 10 seconds include belts (as in the things you wear to keep your pants up), she likes to drag them around the house, DVD cases (she can't really harm the DVD's), she will play for ages with pots and pans and measuring spoons as long as you are in the kitchen with her (good chance to have a cup of tea and read the paper on the breakfast bar), and then there's Maisy! She will sit infront of a Maisy DVD for hours if we let her  usually leave that as a last resort an hour before bedtime if she's really over tired.

[Mum to Ella Rose]

Play doh and sticker books. That's about it really, otherwise it's "Mummy? mummy? mummy? what mummy doing? mummy? watch me mummy! etc. etc. etc." 

[Mommy Moo]

Big empty boxes ALWAYS keep my kids interested for ages.  What has helped me sometimes too is to get a small box and fill it with items from around the house that they haven't played with before, like a washcloth, wooden spoons, key rings, anything that may be interesting.


Good luck!

[ks6]

Thank you for the ideas!  We'll definitely be trying some of them in the next month.   

[TDR'smom]

Ummm...I am scared to admit this....but many times I pop in a DVD of the Wiggles or Baby Einstein. 

Good for at least 30 minutes.   

Bad mommy...I know!!

[Wilsmon]

A box of plastic spoons...take them out, put them in, take them out, put them in!  Pretty cheap too!

[Samuel's mum]

We love Maisy in this house too.
Sam may be a little old for this thread but a lot of these have been good for months:
playdough
collection of Thomas the tank engine friends
box of 'real life' objects as mentioned
spinning/rolling things on our wooden floor
board books and flap books
a play tent (with a blanket)
cushion mountains
musical instruments esp xylophone
cardboard tubes
 

[Fiona (Leah & Kians Mom)]

Tupperware with wooden spoons and dry pasta and she can spend an hour cooking, this only really works though in the kitchen, but great first thing in the morning when tidying up and in afternoon getting dinner ready :-)

[shelliz]

I spent $12.00 on this pop up Elmo tent and it has provided soooo much fun for my lo! She also loves empty cardboard boxes.  I got her some refrigerator magnets (by V-tech). They are farm animals. They make all the noises and she will stay busy for quite a while putting them together to make different noises. 

She also loves this big set of cards with animal pictures on them. I think they are made by Baby Einstein.  She can look at those pictures for a good 15 minutes and then I will put them all back in the box. Then I can get a few more minutes out of her as she pulls them all out of the box again! 

[mari]

'stickies'  I hear this all day every day.  Alex is obsessed with stickers and I give her a load of them with a piece of paper and she loves it. 
A plastic tea set, she loves to make me a cup of tea.
Colouring, I find couloured pencils the best as she eats crayons!!
The baby I child mind for is the same age as Dave and he likes to colour and play with the tea set, anything with buttons (remote control, mobile phone but they are out of bounds!!) and lift the flap books.  They all love hide and seek, I hide and they come and find me, it's hysterical here and I lose interest before they do!
 

[ks6]

I've got to try that dry pasta thing.  I can just imagine the mess--Dave likes to throw.  I love playdoh myself.  Wonder what he'd do with it?

Dave loves to do laundry with me.  It keeps him happy for quite a while.

[MDHmommy]

A calculator keeps my DS busy for a while, it's just as interesting as the phone or the remote, but not off limits! I keep 2 of them in the living room, but I keep them on the coffee table so that DS does not think that they're toys...this way he feels like he's getting away with playing with an off limits object...even though it was planted there for his amusement! Ha!

He also loves his Latches board from Melissa and Doug. It's got all different latches on it and you can open and close all the little doors. It's really for a 4 year old, and the latches are made of metal, but he LOVES it. Very montessouri...

Happy entertaining!

[binxyboo]

A calculator keeps my DS busy for a while, it's just as interesting as the phone or the remote, but not off limits! I keep 2 of them in the living room, but I keep them on the coffee table so that DS does not think that they're toys...this way he feels like he's getting away with playing with an off limits object...even though it was planted there for his amusement.

Going to try that one....

We also had success with the box of cards, thank you Two Mummies!

I recently bought a watertable from Toys R Us, only $29.99. It has a cute waterwheel and this has passed some time for us. I put it in the kitchen and put some towels on the ground so he wouldn't slip.It is now acting as a sensory table, full of leaves, stones and pinecones. He loves it!

[sandraorion]

These have been popular for months now:

- playing with water in sink
- opening and closing doors, cupboards doors, play garage, microwave doors
- vacuming with hand vacum or kids vacum
- dusting - love to take a paper towel and clean tables and floors
- lately he got into matchbox cars and trains

Hope this helps.

[JennŠ]

Tossing toys under the baby gate, or between the banister rails.  Lego Quatro blocks.  She has a  cupboard filled with this, that, and whatever she puts in to it.    Chasing the kitty ca'.