Ideas for a two and a half year old boy?

Question

My son is almost two and a half and I am running out of new ideas to keep him entertained during the day.
We paint, bake cakes, read stories, draw, play, feed the ducks, all of the usual stuff, but he looses interest very quickly, and by the afternoon we have got nothing new left to do.
I try to make each activity last longer and spread them out across the whole day, but after ten minutes he is bored and wants to do something else.
Has anyone got any new/different games and activity ideas that will get his attention for more than ten minutes please. Thankyou

Answer 1

Children like to experiment with different textures so how about making up some Jelly (or Jello if you are based in the U.S.) Give him it to play with but make sure he is not wearing his best clothes !! I also found this whilst browsing on here.....
My son is 20 months old today, his favorite activity is doing the dishes. I slowly fill up the sink with sudsy lukewarm water and I put his plastic dishes in the water. He plays for a long time doing the dishes and playing with the bubbles. I am then able to clean other areas in the kitchen. Yes he gets wet and the floor is wet too, but his smiles are memories i will cherish forever.
Sand is also a good idea although you will have to make sure you are sat with him at all times to avoid him getting any in his eyes , ears or even up his nose lol. Another idea is an ice balloon. This is simply a balloon filled with water and placed in the freezer,When frozen, place it in the bath and sit him in the bath too. (You can add water and bubbles to the bath if you want to keep him more entertained but try to make the focus on the balloon and its interior!!) As he plays with the balloon the water inside will eventually melt and the balloon will become more flexible. I am not ure why but this seems to fascinate youngsters!!! Have fun whatever you choose to do and Good Luck.
Michelle xxx.

Answer 2

I was a child development major in college, although I never finished, but I am also a mother of 3, now 14, 12, and 10 years old! You are doing some very good and fun things already, but some other activities you can do to keep your little one entertained are to try something that was a favorite of mine! Find a spot on the kitchen floor, don't panic, floors can always be cleaned! Take a large pile of flour and spread it on the ground, allow your child to create with it and make a mess! Parents freak about this kind of stuff, but I guarantee you that this will teach your child math by allowing them to take spoons and dump the flour into bowls, etc. also they will get to feel the texture, create,cook, draw pictures in it, give them cookie cutters to make shapes in it and just let them experiment! pretend you are in a restaurant and have them make you food and you make the food! Add water to some of it to show how textures change! Let them scatter it and have a good old time, believe me a mess is good for kids! Many girls struggle with math and science as they are not encouraged to play in the dirt, etc.! Also, you and your child could bake cookies together or eggs or even homemade bread! This also instills math, science and language skills as they are reading, measuring, and figuring! Also, take them to the grocery store and let them pick what will be that evening's dinner. Let them pick the ingredients and then go home and have him make palcemats for everyone eating dinner, set the table and even put together an inexpensive, yet pretty flower arrangement! There is so much to do and explore! Open their minds, oh, and another great one, go to the art museum! Let your son find a piece of artworl that strikes his fancy and then have him go home and you two create your own works of art! Also, let him try photography! Buy a disposable camera and let him go wild taking pictures and then get them developed and make a cool photo album! Good luck and have a blast!

Answer 3

HI

I have a little girl who is now four and a nephew who is coming up to one, it is hard to keep them entertained. You seem to be doing all the right things with him but as you say it can get monotonous doing the same things over and over, I found that although it is great to spend time with your children they also need to spend some time playing alone and learning to enjoy their own company otherwise it is harder for them to let go when it comes to school etc. It would be an idea to get yourself down to a local sure start or moms and toddlers group in your area many of them have different activities going on during the week such as swimming, days out and some even offer courses for moms while your child is looked after on site and will learn to interact with other children too. If you check your local sports centres and ask the health visitors at your local centre they should be able to tell you what is going on in your area, also there are websites such as the cbeebies site that you can download activities from and have simple games you can play together that only involve your son pressing one key to control the events on the screen which have all his favourite characters. There are also print outs there, lots of make and do's etc.

You could also try your local library, they normally have story times in the afternoons as well as other activities such as music time and puppet shows.

hope this helps

Answer 4

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Answer 5

Well, the two of you should make a schedual. Have the morning activities be light, and some lunch, breakfast and a snack in the course of 7-4 ish.

A few activities that you two might enjoy:
Making a snack like pudding in a bowl and some cookies crunched up in it[have him smush them in a baggy]; apples [you should cut them into small squares] and cinamon sugar-what you do is cut the apples into small pieces, pour that in a glad press and seal container, and add cinamon sugar, and then press seeled. Have him shake it up and get some tooth picks and push them into the snack and enjoy!

Go to the park, or a playground, or even the backyard.

Play a board game or puzzle-not too complicated, and for little ones.

Find arts and crafts.

*****

Good luck with the little one!

E-mail me for more advice if needed!

Answer 6

Don't feel that you have to keep him occupied every minute of his life. Let him sit and gaze around, perhaps just watching the clouds or the trees moving in the breeze. You seem to be doing a great job with all the reading and going to the park etc, but he needs to just BE sometimes, taking in information for himself without being actively entertained all the time.

A mother & toddler group for a couple of hours once or twice a week will help him and you to meet new people and to do new things. Also you can talk to other parents and get advice & information. Enjoy!

Answer 7

Stop. Think. Will your child be this busy when he goes to school? This is not a time for plotting and planning his day. I despair of parents that think you have to be "doing" all day. My girls were the same with their children til i opened their eyes. Each day should bring new excitement, not a list of things to be done. He is losing interest because he has no choice but to be busy. Chill out. Rent a DVD, buy some popcorn, and sit curled up together with on the sofa. Let him play with his own toys, amuse himself for a while. There will be plenty of time for planned activities when he gets older.
Sounds like you are doing all the right things, you just need to slow down, offer one or two things to do today (one in am one in pm), and don't despair if he says no.

Answer 8

To be honest, I think you need to encourage him to play a little more on his own.
My daughter was like this at that age - she's now 3 and a half, and I slowly got fed up of ALWAYS having to entertain her.
I started to get a whole selection of toys out for her, start her off playign with them, then sit back and read my book so I could see how she acted.
Really for their own happiness they need to be independent in this way too.
I always do a joint activity with my girl every daqy - we either paint, or bake a cake or something in the morning, but then in the afternoon she amuses herself if we're just indoors. I don't like her sitting in front of the TV the whole time so I have little scenarios set up round the living room. Such as behind me right now is a work station for a builder - hammers, pliers, play wood etc. Over the other side is a kitchen area with cookery stuff. She sets her dolls out and roleplays with them.
Good luck.

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Answer 10

Get sum old wallpaper rolls (my local charity shop has loads in a 5p a roll) it out get lots of glue glitter paint crayons sickers anything crafty (usually on a nice day) lay it out on the garden let him get on with it but join in make a complete mess but if you know any other kids his age get them round to join in (as long as there parents don't mind) then make cleaning up time a big game my twin boys(2 1/2) love it and so does my 1 year old its lots of fun and best thing is no cleaning the carpets after!!! yeah(or we used to have a gazboo up most the time so even if it rains we go outside and do)