Keeping Older Babies Busy

[honeymommy4]

I really need a strategy for my 15mo who is very curious during school time. Playpen time works for about 20 mins. What else can i have him do in a high chair that will keep his attention? He's too young to do things like lacing or beads or puzzles.

 

but he likes to do curious things. not so much play with toys. Like today he figured out how to slide a travel size shampoo bottle into the empty toilet paper roll. It fit exactly.

 

i need to think like him.. Any off-the-wall ideas would be great!!

[PeterPan]

When my ds was 15 minutes I had a small basket of toys and would just go through them one by one while ds sat in the high chair. I could funnel him the toys while I worked with dd. He liked:

 

-toddler pop beads like this http://www.amazon.com/Fisher-Price-71055-Snap-Lock-Beads/dp/B00000IZQQ Ours were trucks, but any will do. Walmart or Target will have them.

-fisher price peek-a-blocks http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=900002&e=storeproduct&pid=31393

-small board books with a single picture and word on each page (I got a set in a bargain bin somewhere.)

-anything Lauri like the tall stacker pegs http://www.amazon.com/Lauri-Toys-Tall-Stacker-Pegs-Pegboard/dp/B00000J4HK/ref=pd_sim_t2 and http://www.amazon.com/Lauri-Toys-Shape-Color-Sorter/dp/B00000IV8D/ref=pd_sim_t2

-Melissa & Doug stacking train http://www.melissaanddoug.com/wooden-stacking-train

 

I also like the books by Kuffner http://www.amazon.com/Toddlers-Busy-Book-Activities-3-Year-Old/dp/0671317741 They have lots of real things to do, like what you're talking about. The toddler book is good and the preschool one is super-duper good.

 

No matter what, I wouldn't say my ds at that age played *alone*. He merely busied himself with things as I funneled them to him. I had to be two-headed and in both worlds at once. ;)

[Tracy]

They did a couple of cheap things at the library that my ds liked at that age:

 

1. Save all your cardboard paper towel rolls and toilet paper rolls. Take a very large box and cut holes all over that are big enough to stick the rolls through.

 

2. Various dried beans in a container large enough for them to get into. (They used a kiddie pool, but any extra-large container would work, such as those that fit under the bed.) Put in all sorts of different cups and bowls for pouring.

 

3. Give them large boxes to build towers with. My kids do this all the time at home without any embellishment. But the folks at the library put things in them that would make different noises and covered the boxes with discarded dust jackets to make them colorful.

[3boysmama]

My almost 15 month old foster son, loves to play with empty containers (I save all my sour cream, ricotta cheese, cottage cheese type containers) and their lids. He loves my tupperware. He loves empty boxes. He loves my plastic pitchers. He likes to look at books, and has recently started to like little matchbox type cars.

 

I also have an art easel that he likes to stand at with chalk. He doesn't really color, but he sorta tries. He mostly just likes to hold and play with the chalk, and push them around in the tray.

 

He also really likes the TV remote. So we often take the batteries out and let him play with it. :D (typical male, I guess!!)

 

He also likes to push the little letters around on the fridge, or any magnets.

[lindsrae]

:bigear:

[mom31257]

Bump for a friend.

[MinivanMom]

I rotate baskets of toys for him to play with nearby. I also make sure to take breaks from the big kids to sit down and read him a story or help him get started with a new set of toys. We do bedroom time rather than playpen time. He and dd3 are put in the bedroom (with the door shut) to play independently for 20-30 min while I read aloud to the big kids. They can handle playing together for that length of time and that way they aren't crawling all over us making a racket as I'm trying to read. I don't know what it is about read-alouds but the two little ones go nuts and make it impossible if they are in the same room. When I'm done reading aloud to the big kids I always spend some time reading to the little ones and singing with them, so they know that their time is coming after they play alone in the bedroom.

[SilverMoon]

Containers from the kitchen are my 13mo's favorites. A tall coffee can with small objects put inside, for example. Plastic measuring cups and a handful of "Veggie Straws" work well, too.

[honeymommy4]

Thanks!

these are great ideas! I have to keep the littles with me, though since the baby will sometimes climb all over his 3yo sister and she hates that! ;)

 

read alouds are going "OK" - i keep them fairly short. We'll see... he's too young for beans but the containers ideas are great! He'll do busy toys in the playpen - those are good ideas to keep on hand. he goes in there when I have to do dishes.

[WeeBeaks]

We have a 15-month-old roaming the school room this year too. We have stacker cups, a ride-on/push train, Fisher Price Little People, board books and toy cars in use right now. Also a pound the peg thing from IKEA she is just starting to enjoy. Her absolute favorite though is a big blow-up globe that she chases around the floor like a ball.

[TKDmom]

When my oldest was about a year old, I made her a "sandbox" with a large box full of dry rolled oats. It was big enough that she could get in and play with it, and it was ok for her to put them in her mouth. I'd put a sheet under the box if you use it inside.