Does your child play independently ?

Or needs you to play with him/her?

I TRY to play with Jack but honestly he wants no part. He is a roamer. I try to clear out all the toys and focus on one at a time with him - but he just wants to go from one to the next.

Is he still young for one on one play (he is 14 months)?

Do I just bore him to tears?

Re: Does your child play independently ?

Ugh, I wish there was a happy medium. My daughter hardly ever plays on her own, she is glued to my side 90% of the day!

Re: Does your child play independently ?

Chris is very good at playing with the toys and keeping himself occupied.

I do find that when I try to engage in play (e..g rolling the ball) he does it for like 2 seconds and then crawls away.

He loves dancing with me and he loves when I act silly. Other than that he, like Jack, will roam around.

Re: Does your child play independently ?

We do both but I usually only play with him to spark interest when all he wants to do is whine.

He usually plays by himself.

Re: Does your child play independently ?

Re: Does your child play independently ?

Charlie is 1 and he can play on his own for at most 20 minutes in the playroom...but every other second of the day he is glued to my side, tugging at me, wanting to be held!!

Re: Does your child play independently ?

Depends. He prefers to play with DH then me.

He will sit and play with his own toys for a while.

With me, its things like I will give him a piece of paper and a crayon ...and lasts about 10 minutes ...

Re: Does your child play independently ?

Re: Does your child play independently ?

Chris does love Balls now---so all I have to say is "where is the ball?" and he collects them all and gives them to me

Re: Does your child play independently ?

Re: Does your child play independently ?

Re: Does your child play independently ?

The play that Cailen is into is so odd - he loves putting things in buckets, carrying them around, putting things into things (buckets, bowls, cups, the seats of his riding toys) and wearing his stacking rings on his wrists

He can do it by himself, but loves to include me into it - he likes me to join him, comment on what he is doing, or say "wow- look at that!"

If I tried structured play, he would want no part of it - he likes very concrete things - pushing cars, throwing balls, things like that, and if I'm to join him, its his rules only!

He rarely plays by himself - he can, but prefers an audience - when I shower, he plays in the PNP very happily....

Re: Does your child play independently ?

Yes and no depending on her mood. Some days she prefers to play alone but only if I'm around near her while she plays. Other times she only wants to play with me -so it really depends on her mood.

Re: Does your child play independently ?

DS will play with his toys by himself usually, but he loves when I play with him. He gets much more into it even if I just or lay on the floor with him. I also talk to him through everything...its so cute now when he opens his books he imitates me in babble talk and points to all the pictures.

Re: Does your child play independently ?

90% of the time Ben wants to play on his own when he is at home. I attribute it to the fact that he's in daycare from 9-2:30 every day and is playing with all the other kids so when he gets home, he likes to play with his own toys when he wants. The other 10% of the time he wants to play with DH when he gets home from work. I guess I'm the boring parent! Although the does like me to read to him every day so I consider that our special time together.

ETA: Ben prefers me or DH to be in the room while he's playing but won't always want to include us in what he's doing. I've tried structured play but he always ends up wanting to do something else. I just let him do what he wants, when he wants when it comes to his toys and play time.

Message edited 9/8/2008 9:53:58 AM.

Re: Does your child play independently ?

Thomas will sit there and play with me, but he likes to take all the toys out of the toy box and go from toy to toy constantly. At daycare, he gets to pick one or two toys and he does play, but he also likes to walk around and see what all the other kids are playing with and has no problem trying to play with something that another child is already playing with.

He plays by himself for only short periods. He likes to have me right there with him.

Re: Does your child play independently ?

My DD is really good at independent play. It's really a lifesaver around here.

Re: Does your child play independently ?

both of my kids will play independently...

Some days/times more than others...

Re: Does your child play independently ?

DD can play by herself all day long, but she likes there to have someone in the room. Iused to be able to leave her in a room for a long time without her fussing, now she starts whining after about 15 minutes.

Re: Does your child play independently ?

I am a HUUUUUGE fan of little people. Thats when I started seeing her playing more indepedently and she was so involved in what she was doing. We also have that block like you see in a drs office with 5 million activities on it. Have you tried either? VERY HELPFUL!

Re: Does your child play independently ?

DS is very good at both. He'll go in his room and play by himself for some time. If I come in to see what he's doing, he's more than happy to pick up a toy and come and sit on my lap and play with it. Then he'll get up and go get another toy and come back and sit on my lap and we'll play with it. Sometimes he picks a toy up and looks at me and makes a questioning noise like, "How about this one?" If I got up and left the room, he'll either continue to sit and play by himself or get up and follow me. If he follows me, he'll usually get bored quickly and wanders back off to his toys to play again. (DS is 17 months now, but has been doing this since before a year).

EAT If you're looking for ways to engage him in playing with you, throwing/rolling the ball back and forth is a good one. Also, DS loves it when I stack the blocks and then he knocks them down-we could do this together all day.

Message edited 9/8/2008 10:36:07 AM.

Re: Does your child play independently ?

Re: Does your child play independently ?

She definitely will play by herself but will play longer if you are sitting close by. If I got into the kitchen, even though she is right there and I can see her, she will follow.

Re: Does your child play independently ?

Bryan will play on his own and when I come near him to play, he will hand me whatever he's playing with.
He LOVES to play ball and can engage in that activity forever if he could. LOL.
Loves the Little People Farm as well.

Re: Does your child play independently ?

Andrew has always been able to play alone or with others.