Sunday 30 March 2008

what to do...

with a 21 month old on a day when there is nothing open or you don't want to go out??? Well we tried painting, that resulted in lots of screaming and lots of colors...ON THE FLOOR- luckily i bought washable paints so it wasn't such a terrible thing but painting only kept him busy for 15 minutes during an 8 hours day (my boy rarely sleeps during the day and if he does it's usually only for 20-30 minutes-if we're lucky)....on the suggestion of Karen's friend whom i ran into at the mall one day, we tried playdough. OY VEY is all i can say!! For some reason the squishing and rolling of blue playdough on my sons' high chair tray resulted in a huge fit and crying session...he just didn't like it and absolutely wouldn't TOUCH it...well that was a nice 5 minutes spent during a really really long day!!!

Any suggestion on what you would do with a bored 21 month old child ??? We really don't want him to watch more TV than he already watches (I am sad to say that he already has a grunt/word for Thomas the Tank Engine, Dora and Diego...no need to encourage more character admeration!!)
HELP!!!

3 comments:

  1. Anonymous10:43 am

    Um, 21 months is a bit hard for me to remember, but I'll try:

    I found turning on music and dancing was something Zoë liked (and still likes) but you may be too tired for that.

    I found Zoë got easier to occupy at home (though mostly with things I don't enjoy) around 3. From then to now she is really into drawing and colouring-I have a stash of novelty items (glitter glue, fancy markers that change colours, etc...) to give her when she gets bored of plain paper with markers and crayons. I am sure you have tried crayons already!

    Would stickers occupy him yet? I remember Zoë was really into them for a while, but I forget what age that started. Also bubbles (but that gets tired fast!)

    I do remember often when we got bored I would give Zoë a bath--let her play with bath crayons and go to town.

    For the most part though, I have always found it hard to occcupy Zoë at home, so I am a big fan of going to the mall whenever we get bored. Looking at animals, going on mall rides, having ice cream, walking (and dancing, we dance and sing in the mall) in the big open spaces...makes us both happy. Now that she is older, we also go to the library (we always did, but she enjoys it more), and she loves going to the coffee shop with me (she has hot milk!). As much as I sometimes did not feel like going out...when we got in a rut at home I was always glad we did. Just getting ready to get out the door ate lots of time!

    Since days that nothing is open are so rare, on those days I feel no guilt for letting her watch TV all day. (not that she does anymore...but at Elie's age she would have).

    At least spring is coming!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey Dina,

    Nathanial and Elie are the same age and he loves to do puzzels, finger paint and read books that have the touch and feel. We also do water play in the kitchen where I fill some basins or pots with water and we do sink and float or just play with his toy boats in it. I have just started baking with him, he loves to put the ingredients in the bowl and holding the mixer with me as they all get mixed together.
    I hope this helps a little.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hey D, sorry the playdough didn't work for your boy. G can play with that stuff for hours!
    Does he like blocks (those megablocks); stickers? I was lucky, Liam was totally into Thomas trains and he could play for hours too. Danielle's idea of water play is really good as well.

    It's tough, I know, they start getting so busy at this age.

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