Question

Good morning!  I'm hoping you can help me with some ideas.Good morning! I'm hoping you can help me with some ideas. My husband and I are both working from home full-time. My 2. 5 year old is not a fan of playing by himself, so he constantly wants us to play with him, which we can't do at the moment. I don't want him watching YouTube or playing game apps all day, even though they keep him entertained and are semi-educational. Any ideas on how to get him to play alone (obviously in the same room as us, just while we are working)? I'm starting to feel guilty about screen time but my husband and I both need to get work done during the day. Thanks!  

Answer 1

Also, any links to toys that you've had luck with are greatly appreciated!  

Answer 2

Magnatiles! Our 3 year old can spend hours with those. They have knock off picasso tiles on amazon which are much cheaper. Also, I know the screen time is tough but ABC MOUSE has been fantastic. Very educational and also keeps him entertained. Lastly there are these reasons aloud books that our son does on his own, he has a paw patrol set but I will see if I can get a link!  

Comments

@oenone thank you!  

Answer 3

I'm in the same boat for my 4. 5 year old.  

Answer 4

Our daughter is 3. It's very difficult at that age. We rotate her coloring and set up her "going to work" and try to keep her preschool schedule of when to eat/snack as much as possible. You do the best you can right now. She also really likes those books that you color with water

Answer 5

This kept my 2. 5 year old entertained for 45 minutes this morning

Comments

One more trick: give him a popsicle when he starts to get bored of the eggs. Will buy you another 15 minutes mess free!  

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Boon Building Bath Toy Bundle. .  
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RN2CC7J

Answer 6

I heard something on the radio about a virtual babysitter! I know NOTHING about it just something maybe to research!  

Answer 7

Hire a mothers helper in the neighborhood

Comments

@demetriusdemeyer Bautista Buch we are trying to avoid contact with anyone outside of our home, but thanks for the idea!  

Answer 8

Play dough lasts nearly an hour for us too. Also sensory bins. Easy and inexpensive to make your own or you can buy these. My daughters favorite is a big bin filled with rice, bowls, kitchen tools, etc. I put it on a table cloth/mat for easier clean up.  
https://www.youngwildandfriedman.com/

Comments

@strontian thank you !  

Answer 9

Kiddie swimming pool with. Balls in it

Comments

@joejoeann yes we did this and then threw in some kinetic sand  

Answer 10

We’ve been doing lots of sensory activities and they keep my two year old entertained for a long time. We have a birdseed sensory bin, water beads, play foam, kinetic sand, and play dough.  

Answer 11

I used to put my kids in their room with music and rotating toys. I would leave the door open with a gate in front of it. Start with 15 min and build up to an hour. He will probably cry at first but will come to love it.  

Comments

If he’s still in a crib, you can put toys in his crib.  

Answer 12

I know this is going to sound bad but have you tried just ignoring him? Eventually they play by themselves

Comments

@gilolo we have. He is a very stubborn little boy!  

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@phototube Darn, we do books, and he loved getting into the Tupperware containers and spoons

Answer 13

I am an Early Childhood Special Ed teacher and here are some things I would try. First limit access to toys, put them out of sight. This is because often if kids have lots of options they just move aimlessly from one thing to another and never really play with it this way everything you pull out feels exciting. Second, spend a little time in the morning making a plan of what your child will do during the day. If your child is used to being at daycare they are used to having the day’s schedule laid out so this may help. Start with breakfast then break things up like breakfast, dressing, puzzles, screen time, magnitudes, lunch, coloring, dance party with mom or dad, nap, screen time, play dough. Draw it out in list form and cross each activity off as you do it. Use a timer and keep your time expectations realistic. Of course screen time will be longer because of the way it holds interest and transitions will take a few minutes as you get your child settled. Most kids are having too much screen time now. We are in survival mode, no mommy guilt. I hope that makes sense and helps a little. If you have any questions reach out I would love to help.  

Answer 14

Here’s some ideas I provided before to another mother that was also working from home and need to keep their toddler busy. Since you’ll be working I know you’ll need things to keep him busy that you don’t have to watch her like a hawk with. Here’s some ideas that worked for us. -You could buy a small ball pit. That would probably entertain her for a bit. Here’s a pic of the kind I have for my son and I bought lots of balls. It’s nice because it folds up. -A play kitchen of some sort could keep him occupied too. We bought a small one and it doesn’t take up too much room. -A water doodle mat. I’ll post a pic in the reply. Just take away any small pieces just in case. -Books, puzzles, coloring books/crayons, magnetic drawing board, magnetic board with safe magnets -Activity Center of some sort. I’ll post a pic of the one we have in the comments. -The cloth ABCs are nice. My son still like playing with them. Pic is in the reply. Good luck  

Comments

@phototube you’re welcome! I hope he likes some of those activities too!  

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@phototube if your son is I to cars the Vtech Go Go Smart Wheels sets are a lot of fun. They have a ton of different tracks. I went overboard and my son has 3 now but loves them. We have the fire station, parking garage, and car shop repair track. And it’s an activity they can play on their own.  

Answer 15

Puffy sticker books from melissa and doug keeps my 2. 5 year old busy for about 30 minutes

Answer 16

Is there any way you and hubs can alternate work schedules? One in day and one in evening. workplaces MUST be flexible during this time. And if not, if you have comcast, on demand has an educational section all free for the kids. I would rather the kiddo watch TV than play with a tablet at 2. 5 yo to be honest. Don’t give that device in hand as it create more problems later. Good luck mama!  

Comments

This is what we have had to do with our 5 year old twins. They can play independently and do but they need attention and direction. I start work at 6am, work for a couple hours, take 2 ish hours to focus on them. Have some play and food. Then hubs takes over in the afternoon.  

Answer 17

Ask him to color picture to decorate your office walls. a basket of socks to sort by color (or anything to sort by color and “be mom’s helper”), teach me toddler is an awesome learning app, play dough, puzzles, make a road on the floor with painters tape to drive cars in, mr potato head, basically his attention span will be about 15 min. so i would have a bag or a whole basket or activities sitting next to me and every 15 min get out a new activity. Activities can be used again but make sure you do several things in between repeating an activity.  

Comments

You can also order circle chart stickers and then they have pictures online to print with little circles on them. the kid has to put a sticker in every circle! kept my 2 year old very busy while driving to FL. also youTube has great read aloud books

Answer 18

@phototube - I just thought of something else, if he is interested in “helping” around the house yet. See if he will sweep, give Him some kitchen towels to fold. Etc. such a hard age to keep entertained. ‍♀️

Answer 19

Thank you everyone!  

Answer 20

Try magnatiles

Answer 21

My four-year-old loves these. Put them in bottles and he can shake them. Just be careful and make sure he doesn’t put them in his mouth. Or maybe you could do this at night and save others toys during the day. My daughter loves building towers with solo cups too!  

Comments

Make sure it is a plastic bottle and maybe seal it shut with a hot glue gun or something that will seal the plastic. or water beads by themselves the kid would probably need to be supervised, so not necessarily the best if you are busy working.  

Answer 22

Try duct tape! Make squares in the room and he first has to put all the toys in, then you sort by color, by shape etc! Bring containers so he can organize toys in them! And if you are ok . chalk!  

Answer 23

My LO (almost 3) loves water play. We recently had to wash hangers and she was sooooooo into it. I put a bin on the ground and filled it with some soapy water and gave her hangers. The next time we did it we used plastic tupperware and rewashed a few hangers. Other sensory bin type activities may help too.  

Answer 24

If you have a big plastic bin and fill it with beans or dry oatmeal. Throw in a couple of different cups. My kids are entertained for a while.  

Comments

@heterochromatin yeah, but she said while they work. probably need some supervision for a 2 year old with those materials.  

Answer 25

Child Magnets on cookie sheets-

Answer 26

I colored dry pasta for toddler daughter to play with, gave her a Tupperware measuring cups, huge hit. Eventually she got into sorting the different colors and shapes

Answer 27

No advice but a ton of solidarity.  

Comments

@atencio thank you!  

Answer 28

Give him "buckets" of time. Start a game or color a picture or build blocks with him for a bit. But be sure it is something he can finish on his own. Fill his bucket >without distraction< for 10-20 minutes. Set a timer. Tell him that you are going to play with him until the timer goes off and then he will finish on his own so you can work for 45 minutes. Set a timer for those 45 minutes. Tell him you can't wait to see what he builds/colors/etc when your time is up! Stick to the times you set. Following your own rules is important. Do small, timed bucket filling mixed in with timed work time. It takes a couple of days but they see that you will give them devoted time and they give you work time. As he gets more confident that you are going to give him real connection when you are spending time with him, you'll start to be able to have longer work times. You and your husband can even switch off so you get more time between bucket filling  Sit down with your husband to make sure that you each get work times that can include scheduled work meetings etc. Make sure you always have meals together as family too, without phones and email etc.  

Answer 29

I second the toy rotating and agree on the sensory play. I won’t repeat what others have said, but I have one more thought: Maybe model how to play new games with his toys. I’ve noticed when I model a pretend game with my son, sometimes he will recreate it on his own alone. ‍♀️ Good luck!  

Answer 30

We work in shifts. I watch our 3yo kiddo in the morning, he takes the afternoon. We both work at night and on weekends to get our stuff done. It fucking sucks.  

Answer 31

If you can work in the kitchen my daughter will wash for over an hour. Fill the sink, pull a chair up for her and give her some toys or dishes to wash. Just put some towels underneath the chair.  

Answer 32

Look at busy toddler on Instagram (she might have a website too! ) tons of sensory bins and other ideas!  

Answer 33

Magnatiles, Lego duplex, leap builder blocks, little people toy figures, tinker toys if you take out the smaller pieces, toddler puzzles.  

Answer 34

Nicole Ward maybe some ideas

Answer 35

Water wow books. My almost 2. 5 year old will sit and do those for 20 minutes.  

Answer 36

Put a plastic table cloth on the floor and pull out the play dough and some accessories to play with. It can give you 30 minutes to an hour.  

Answer 37

A roll of painters tape. My 3 year old has been making “traps” with it. You have to relinquish your desire to not have a mess but he is busy forever