Entertaining my whirlwind toddler - games and activities.

C is a whirlwind, there's no other way to describe him.  He's on the go from the minute he opens his eyes at 7am until he goes to bed at 7pm - hopefully with a nap thrown in for Mummy to recharge her batteries!  It can be very difficult to find things to keep him entertained, once he has figured something out it gets tossed to the side and we're on to the next thing.  I feel like I'm constantly having to think 5 steps ahead just to make sure I have enough 'activities' to last the day.

We've tried a variety of things from arts and crafts to lego & nothing really keeps his attention for any length of time and everything involves Mummy being dragged along for the ride *yay*.  Aside from copying me hoovering/dusting/putting the washing - which I don't want to do all day thanks - I've struggled to find anything that he wants to do for more than 5 minutes.  Thankfully in the past couple of months I've noticed a few little things that seem to be holding his interest and I thought I'd share because surely I can;t be the only one with a toddler like this, right?

So, here goes.

LeapFrog Scout's Discovery Tool Set

First up is this little tool box by Leap Frog.  This was a gift for C's second birthday a few weeks ago & so far so good.  The box can be dismantled until it's basically flat packed & the aim is to build it back up using the different tools that come inside it - hammer, spanner, screwdriver, ruler and saw.  Each tool is colour coded to the screw/bolt that it will tighten.  Also, if you press the door Scout will talk and give you little hints & tips along the way.  It's a great way to teach kids their colours and it also helps with their fine motor skills as some of the tools can be pretty footery for little hands.  So far Connor har learned the words saw, hammer and spanner which he probably wouldn't have come across if we didn't have this toy.  Like I said before some parts are harder to do than others and C prefers to saw rather than use the screwdriver, he will literally sit and saw for 10-15 minutes straight, I don't have to be there beside him and he's content playing with his 'tools, like Daddy'.  Win win.

Nova Rico Arca Illuminated Children's Globe

Next we have this globe that he also got for his birthday.  I got this brand new from a charity shop & it only cost me £4 so I'm not entirely sure where it's from but I've found this one on Amazon & it's pretty similar except ours doesn't light up.  Connor loves this as it shows you loads of animals & where they come from in the world.  For example - just under the word Botswana there is a picture of a rhino, Saudi Arabia there's a camel etc.  It also has pictures of boats, planes, rockets & animals like whales, sharks & octopuses in the oceans.  C loves turning the globe and looking for certain animals particularly 'yo-noos & ippys' (rhinos & hippos, fyi!), he gets so excited when he finds what he's been looking for.  Every time we look at it we find something we've not seen before & I've learned a few things too.  Not bad for £4!


Stickers, stickers, stickers!  We can't get enough stickers in our house.  C always wants to 'play' with them but that mostly involves taking them from the sheet & placing them in a book only to rip them out again 10 minutes later.  They just get bundled on top of each other, there's no placement of attempt to make a picture of them but the look of concentration on his face as he tries to get them off the sheet is priceless!

*Top Top - remove the backing sheet of the stickers, it makes it much easier for little fingers to the stickers off whole!

Orchard Toys Heads and Tails Farmyard Toy

Orchard toys are fantastic, we already have the Flashcards which get pulled out every now and again but for his birthday Connors Nana & Grampa got him this Heads & Tails game.  I was actually really surprised at how quickly he picked it up and was able to find the bottoms of the animals without any help from me.  It's basically a jigsaw but the pieces just sit side by side so not quite as tricky, the hard part lies in matching the heads & bottoms of the farm animals.  He loves this game but will only play it once right through, after that he gets itchy feet and has to move on to the next thing but it keeps him focused for 10+ minutes anyway.  Highly recommend this, it's been a great stepping stone from the wooden puzzles where the pieces lift out to actual jigsaws which we are on to now!



Last but not least, jigsaws.  We've moved on from the wooden puzzles & are now on to 2,3 and 4 piece jigsaws.  C got a couple for his birthday and it's a work in progress, I've finally found something that he didn't work out how to do first time & it's taking him a few tries to actually get the hang of it.  Hopefully that means they'll be around for a bit longer!  He's forever trying to put the pieces together in mid air and making the whole like 100 times harder because he knows better than everyone else; I can't imagine where he gets that from, ha!  We've turned a corner and this morning he managed to do the majority of a Winnie the Pooh numbers puzzle on his own, yay!

So those are the activities that are currently managing to hold the attention of my boy.  Am I missing anything?  What does your child love to do?  I'm always looking for new things to try so please send any ideas my way!

xx