Osmosis Mom Posted January 18, 2009 Share Posted January 18, 2009 OK, talk to me. How do I best entertain this kid? He is a real trouble-maker and I am running low on inspiration. He is fully mobile and pretty smart and won't let anything hold him back. Couldn't care less for his baby-toys (of course) and is basically just wrecking the house as we speak. Help!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danestress Posted January 18, 2009 Share Posted January 18, 2009 How about a 3 pack of tennis balls? I remember once mine spent an entire afternoon entertaining himself with them. This is a HARD age if there is anything on your agenda other than entertaining the baby! As far as he is concerned, he is the universe and you are a captive audience. Do the other kid play with him? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osmosis Mom Posted January 18, 2009 Author Share Posted January 18, 2009 play balls, I mean! I even bought him a $4.50 ball which he held onto in the Disney Store. His older siblings taught him how to play soccer so he can do that as well. He is my number 7, but I swear, he is more active and curious than any one else of them (and even a bigger handful than my twins). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted January 18, 2009 Share Posted January 18, 2009 What we have found (via our OT) is that for dd2, she really needs heavy physical activity every day. I see your little one is 1yo, but here are some things that dd2 has liked. Pushing a shopping cart or stroller full of bean bags, playing with stuffed animals that are resewn to be heavy (fluff taken out and replaced with beans), jumping on a little kids trampoline (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=trampoline+with+handle), climbing up and down her jumbo blocks (http://www.target.com/Battat-Block-Parties-Geometry/dp/B000HCX5DU/sr=1-4/qid=1232305829/ref=sr_1_4/188-1333478-1028463?ie=UTF8&index=target&rh=k%3Aparents%20blocks&page=1), or playing on a plasma car/riding toy/trike. Using her large muscle groups are essential for dd2. Throwing suction cup balls at the sliding glass door, throwing large pom-poms (they are hard to throw and don't hurt anything), throwing bouncy balls. Melissa and Doug make cut cutting fruit(http://www.target.com/Melissa-Doug-Cutting-Fruit-Crate/dp/B000NV9G88/sr=1-1/qid=1232305916/ref=sr_1_1/188-1333478-1028463?ie=UTF8&index=target&rh=k%3Amelissa%20and%20doug%20fruit&page=1) that takes some muscle to get through. There are also play construction sets, that have nuts/bolts that require some hand muscles. For a 1yo, pegs or balls that need pounding with a hammer or similar toys may be beneficial. Good luck, it has been a hard year for us, but we find that the more muscles she can use each day....the better she is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osmosis Mom Posted January 18, 2009 Author Share Posted January 18, 2009 Good luck, it has been a hard year for us, but we find that the more muscles she can use each day....the better she is. Funny! I am in survival-mode!! Good luck and thanks for your suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaxMom Posted January 18, 2009 Share Posted January 18, 2009 even a bigger handful than my twins. Oh, dear. :svengo:I can't even imagine being more of a handful than my twins... they unionize against you! What does he like to do? I mean, besides wrecking the house? Does he like large movement type activities or would he be happy banging on stuff? I'm trying to remember how I kept mine occupied when they were that age... it's only been a few years, and I have no idea. I think I'm blocking the whole experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joannqn Posted January 18, 2009 Share Posted January 18, 2009 Hey...do you have my child visiting you? Mine gets cabin fever and must get time outside even if it is cold and rainy. He also needs direct one-on-one attention that we often get too busy and forget to give him. The worse he is, the more likely we've kind of forgotten him and left him to entertain himself. We entertain him by looking at books (or hold books for him to look through), drawing/writing on a Doodle Pro, and playing with rice in the kitchen. We give him a cake pan, cupcake pan, a few bowls, a few paper cups, some measuring cups and spoons, and about 1/2 of rice. He plays longer if someone is with him. When he's done, we just sweep up. If my floor is clean enough and I swept right before we got out the rice, I'll sweep the rice back up to be used again. We'll also help him navigate Sesame Street.com. There's an Elmo egg counting game that he loves; he practices using the touch pad and button to maneuver the pointer to the eggs and click on them (and is learning to count in the process). There's also a design a hat game for Elmo that he enjoys with help from an older sibling. When all else fails, we just got on the ground and rough house with him. He likes to run at us and knock us down. And remember, it's only for a short time. He'll grow up before you know it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osmosis Mom Posted January 18, 2009 Author Share Posted January 18, 2009 Thanks for the suggestions. I took him out in the snow today to tire him out a bit. Seems I got more tired than him! Today he threw away his father's mouse in the garbage can (probably same fate as his shoe which I cannot find anymoe after he discovered the can last week...), he pushed over our DVD-player very slowly and deliberately, dumped the contents of a drawer into the toilet, and skipped his nap today. He is getting plenty of attention from everyone, but just seems to be a high-energy kid. Dh is busy and I feel like I have been super-parenting non-stop for several days on end... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovedtodeath Posted January 18, 2009 Share Posted January 18, 2009 This is a great thread. I am getting a lot of ideas. I would definitely make the kids take turns playing with him. When I have my nephews over (11-15) they each get a turn. Turn on music and dance. I have found that DS will not play with baby toys unless someone else plays with them first. Then he can copy you and know what to do with it. Give him a toy that sings. (DS loves barbies with buttons on the back.) Let him play with an old board game or chess set. Start cleaning up or organizing toys and he will start playing with them in no time. Instead of those cubes, you can take the couch cushions off and stack them to make your own playground. DD has even been known to knock a chair over so that they can climb on it. I allow it if I am absolutely desperate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacey in MA Posted January 18, 2009 Share Posted January 18, 2009 This is one of those playpens that has 6 panels and you open up sort of like a bottomless pack n play (which sets on the floor). We used ours quite a bit in the recent past! When baby DS is getting into everything and simply requires too much of me when I can't give it, he goes in the playpen. The nice thing about the Superyard is that b/c it is bottomless and reasonably big (sits on the regular floor), the older kids can go in there with him and play with him. So he is contained, I know the toys in there are safe, and he is being entertained by an older sibling. I absolutely HATE the way it looks, but it has been such a valuable tool that the tradeoff has been worth it! He is just starting to learn to pull up on the edges of it, and may be crawling out on his own soon (he'll be 2 in a couple of weeks). So this may not work for me for too much longer. When all else fails, if I need a 10 or 15 minute chunk, and babyDS is crying/fussing, or crawling out of playpen, I then put him in the crib (we have a crib tent on the crib, so he is safe from climbing out of there and falling...) to finish whatever lesson I was working on with the other kids. FWIW, I found with my DD4 when she went through this stage, that consistency in our schedule was key. She learned what to expect from the morning and adjusted herself and her expectations. She would sit in her high chair for about 1 hour in the morning, coloring, doing stickers, praticing cutting with kid scissors, etc. Sometimes she didnt' like it, but she got used to the fact that I would let her get down in an hour, then she'd be set down on the floor with the Legos, puzzles and dinosaurs toys (or something of the like), then I'd have a break from the other kids and read library books to her, then it was lunch time. So while she was playing, she would know her "turn" with me was coming soon. Sometimes she'd say "Is it my turn yet?"...."No, we're almost done with this, then it will be your turn". And she was OK with that (I would say from about 2.5yo until 3.5yo) Now days she prefers "her turn" to be doing workbooks with me (instead of books), and I usually let her pick which activity she wants my help and attention with. I have a DD7 who's 2nd grade, and a great reader, so I have taken to assigning her to go off with DD4 and read to her at certain times. This works pretty well, as long as they are getting along on that day! ;-p Other times they simply go off and play together once DD7 gets done with her morning work. Hang in there - I know it is a hard age, and a very serious balancing act! Good luck and take care - Stacey in MA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovedtodeath Posted January 18, 2009 Share Posted January 18, 2009 DD has this bouncing pony. DS gets on his and chases her around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 A ride-on car or something that he can drive round and round. You can sit and say, "Here he comes again!" every time he goes by. It doesn't tend to work unless you have a house that loops and someone to notice each loop, though. Trucks and blackbeans for dirt. I am still finding beans from when my 14yo was little LOL. A large box to play in. If you are lucky, you can find one big enough that he can't get out. You put him and a roll of masking tape inside and let him tear off bits and stick them to the walls. For some reason, mine found this entertaining. Under supervision, nails, a hammar, and a cardboard box or piece of dock styrophoam. A sheet over the sofa for a tent. If you are lucky, you can persuade him to stay in it hiding for a while. Homemade playdo in the high chair with toothpicks or straws to stick in and a plastic knife to cut it up with. I don't know why mine found this entertaining, but they did. I put a sheet underneath to catch the crumbs. Fill the sink with an inch of water and pull up a stool with a towel under it and let them play with the measuring spoons in it. They can't throw much out with a measuring spoon. Or if it is a big sink, sit them in it while you cook supper. We made a bouncy chair out of bungy attached to a curtain pole installed across a doorway. This worked really well for one of mine, who spun and bounced for a long time, especially if I put on a story tape. Show him how to put long pieces of string through the handles of your kitchen cabinets and make a web all over the kitchen. Again, I have no idea why mine found this entertaining, but they spent hours doing it. Show him how to run a small ball down the vacuum cleaner hose (detatched from the vacuum) or a wrapping paper tube. Make a paper airplane for him to fly from up on the sofa (lots of climbing up and down). Big cardboard boxes, wrapping paper tubes, masking tape, and string were my children's favourite toys at that age. They made boats, cars, houses, forts, animal dens, ... A mini trampoline was good, too. We had an adult one that was sort of stiff, so I didn't worry about them bouncing themselves off. Hope something in all this helps. I agree with the post about routine. I found that mine got out of control when they couldn't predict what their day was going to be like. They didn't care where the routine took place (fortunately, since we went away a lot) but they wanted to do the same things in the same order every day. -Nan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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