Stay at home moms: I'm looking for at-home activities to do with my toddler to avoid boredom.?

Question

I think my toddler's fussiness is due to her boredom. She sees the same toys in her room daily, has the same play area every day, watches her favorite show every day, goes outside....
I try to mix things up by letting her watch her show at night before bed one day, then after lunch the next, etc. but she's getting bored.
I'm looking for good activities (or anything really) to set my daughter up with at home that don't need to be 100% supervised.
I tried re-arranging her room to make it different and put some toys in temporary storage so I can bring them out in a few weeks and they will seem new but I need more ideas!
What works for you and your toddler?

Answer 1

Somethings at home my daughters like to do are fingerpainting, coloring, playing with playdough, playing with stamps, play with aquadoodles, do puzzles, they like hidden picture books and like to look at books.

Answer 2

There are TONS of books on this topic. I'd give her more of a routine--you can't expect her to stay at home 7 days a week and not get bored. You would get bored, too, if you didn't have laundry, cleaning, etc.

I'd take her out for one activity each day- the park, the library (many have story hour for kids), find or organize a play group that rotates from house to house each week, a music class, grocery shopping (give her her own list with pictures of the items she needs to "buy"), swimming lessons, etc. If she can count on an activity for most days to look forward to. Maybe only spend one day a week at home so she can relax and recuperate. I'd also suggest maybe getting a babysitter once a week (local college student is always a good choice) so that you can run errands and your child will have an adult to play with.

I think that if you set up a consistent routine--tv time included, that your daughter will be much happier. Maybe get up and have some play time with mommy, then an activity, lunch, nap, and then some playtime with mommy again or an activity with mommy (an art project, a cooking project, read a book together), and then a pre set amount of time in a gated area alone with her toys.

That's her "alone" time. You can set the timer. Just like with nap time, she's going to have to learn to play by herself. She might scream the entire first week or two that you try it, but she'll get the hint eventually. It may not be boredom as much as it is wanting to play with someone else. Toddlers don't want to miss any action.

I think it's great for you to put some toys in storage and take them out again in a month or two so they seem "new."

Giving her paper and stickers and color wonder paper and markers/finger paint could be fun for her when she's on her own and it won't make a mess. Toddlers have really short attention spans (less than five minutes) so you won't be able to set her up with an activity and expect her to do it for more than a few minutes.

Answer 3

We've had quite a bit of really cold weather the past month or so here so we have not been able to take our daily 3 mile walk. My daughter is 20 months.

To prevent becoming stir crazy, we listen to alot music and have dance party. We also slow speed chase each other. We pretend that we don't see the cat and call his name really loud until it's not funny anymore. And I use blue painting tape to adhere paper to the floor and we draw pictures.

And the usual...read stories, play with Fisher Price peoples (she can name all of the zoo animals and farm animals as well as fill in several letters when I say the alphabet). Oh, and I break up my shopping into smaller trips so that every other day or so, we need to run out to the market. It's less than a mile away, so I dont' worry about gas money.

As far as unsupervised activities, when I shower, she watches Sesame Street. I also hung a shatterproof mirror in her room and she will dance in front of it and kiss herself in it for a good 20 minutes. And the Fisher Price Little People toys are really entertaining to her. It's funny becuase when I was a toddler I would get bored and my mom bought me Fisher Price Peoples and I was entertained for hours by then. Like mother, like daughter!

Oh, we also joined the local Children's Museum so we can drop by whenever we want for as long as or as short of a time as we want.

Answer 4

One of my daughter's favorite games was Easter Egg hunt. I'd get a bunch of those plastics eggs in all the colors and hide them all in the same room. Of course, you have to make it somewhat easy for them at this age, and a little more challenging as they get older. My daughter also loved flash cards. Even though many of the card packs said "3 and up," she learned a lot from them and really enjoyed them. Her favorite all time toy has to be blocks. You can get them started and then leave them alone to create. Try to have her use them in a contained area so clean up will be a snap. It's also a good way to teach the concept of "one at a time"; they have to clean up the old toy before they can move on to the next toy. KayBee toy store also has a 10 pack of wooden puzzles that my daughter adores. I'll put 4 of them on the floor at once and give her all the pieces together to make it a little more challenging after she's figured them out. Lastly, try using your local Freecycle.org to give away some toys and get some new ones. Good luck - I feel your pain! :)

Answer 5

I keep everything that i would normally throw in the recycling. The shoe boxes get taped with special treats inside and she tries to rip them open. She loves to sort the tupperware. We clean her toys in the bathtub when I clean the bathroom . Those markers that only write on the special paper. Take out all the toys and just put a billion baloons one day. We play hide and seek. I put this little alarm clock and hide it in the living room when it is ringing. She looks for it for a good 5 minutes now before I have to rehide it. When I really need some time to my self I just put her in the highchair with a couple bowls of jello or yogurt and let her make a mess. It gives me 15-20 minutes and then I just hose it off and put her in the tub which is another 20 minutes of her playing. I save water bottles and fill them with different things or just string them together. At that age is something is wierd they will usually figure out something to do with it. I really try to put on music most of the day and encourage her to dance or sing or play instruments. I switch the music throughout the day. She has just started grabbing material and swaying around to classical. I also try to get her to be more creative on her own. Playing with her dolls to eat, bathe, play, etc. I also get her out of the house at least once a day no matter what. We sometimes just eat lunch outside. I try to do one hour independant play, one hour mommy play. I am at home all day and study for school all day so I know how hard it is to keep them occuppied without just throwing them in front of tv.

Answer 6

I have a todder and a preschooler and I plan one special activity for most of the days each week. One day, we will paint on a large piece of paper taped to the living room wall, the next we build a fort in the living room, or a universe of boxes to climb through. It is about 1-3 hours of me playing with them and they have something else to do later. Tape some wax paper to your table and let her play with play dough, or "cook" with flour and water in a big bowl with a wooden spoon. Spring is coming and moms and kids alike get a little stir crazy this time of year, I try to open the windows for a little bit to get some very cold fresh air in everyday. Put on some fast and fun music and have her dance while you dance around and do your housework etc. Every once in awhile, let her play games on the computer with you (Fisher Price has some good baby games for free online, and you can buy some good games at Sam's Club for prett cheap). Leave the unsupervised time for her toys, when you play with her, make it new and exciting, then you get to have the fun too.

Answer 7

i have an old computer screen, keyboard, and mouse that sits next to me so she can type while i'm working on the computer. Some days we lay trash bags on the floor and i let her help me plant flowers into little pots for this summer. she really enjoys getting to play in the dirt.
we also try to bake healthy things. when she wakes up from her nap we do what ever prep work we need to do for dinner that night.
her fussiness is showing you she is not getting as much of your attention as she thinks she needs. I would definately try to keep her as active as possible as possible. alot of times i just drag my daughters toys in the room where i'm working.
Get your daughter to "help" you with all of the household chores. My daughter has specific duties to do when we do laundry, dishes, cleaning, etc. make housework fun for her too!
P.S. My daughter is 2 1/2 years old

Answer 8

I have an activity that was taught to me the best place to play it is in a room with alot of space. First get two hard paper plates, then grab the wooden paint stirrers and tape them on to the back of the plates. Then get a big baloon and blow it up. Then just hit it back and forth your kid will love it. Good thing about it the baloon will not hurt anything. Plus it is good for the toddlers eye and hand cordination. Plus she can even play with this by herself. My daughter runs around trying to hit it and laughs alot with this game. Hope this helps you out. God Bless

Answer 9

Depending on how old your toddler is, I suggest puzzles. My three year old will occupy herself for hours with all sorts of puzzles - jigsaw, woodboard, peg-board. And off the top of the wall, she invented an imaginary Spongebob School as an offset to her older siblings getting to go to school. We usually read a book or play with her ABC blocks... anything that will hold her attention. Also, building blocks are great and usually no supervision is required.

Answer 10

Playdoh is fun for toddlers, reading books is no good because of their tension span and winter is quite boring for children play hide and seek they love that.