Working mom's of toddler's

What do you do with your toddler for fun when you get home?

Now that it's dark and cold outside, we are staying indoors more. Alex's playtime with me is usually 5pm-7:30pm - we have a rule of no TV after school, so I'm really struggling to find things for us to do. We're both getting bored

Any ideas?

Re: Working mom's of toddler's

I wish I had some. I'm in the same boat with DS. We have a slide and basketball hoop in the basement, his playroom, so we just hang out down there most nights. I hate this time of year! I always have, and now having a kid that LOVES the outdoors I hate it even more. I'm curious to see other's ideas too...

Re: Working mom's of toddler's

I get home about 4:30 or so.

If it's too dark to go outside, we play inside. She has an easel so we might color or paint. She also loves to "do the dishes" when I'm cooking - she basically just plays in the sink with water. We play with Play Doh, read, play in her dollhouse. She also loves to look at all the downloaded pictures on the computer so we do that. Also, one night a week, we have "Family Gym" which is a structured playgym then dinner.

Re: Working mom's of toddler's

Well, believe it or not Cailen's favorite activity is bath time. He loves his cups, boats, and toys. We let him watch one show while we make dinner and then no TV. He is At an age where toys and books are still exciting so I may not be helpful....

Re: Working mom's of toddler's

DH just put up a basketball hoop in the LR- that keeps them entertained for a little while. We put the radio and dance, play with toys, and take longer baths.

Re: Working mom's of toddler's

- read a lot of books and sometimes she wants to read them by herself in her book nook.
- do puzzles
- help me cook and put away the dishes in the dishwasher. (She puts the silverware and tupperware away.)
- sing and dance. We dance to nursery rhymes or to regular music.
- drawing (aka coloring)

I've got some winter crafts lined up. Color & glitter snowflakes, stick cotton balls on snowmen, etc..

Do you have games like Cooties and Hi Ho Cherry-o? I think my DD is too young for that (almost 2) but Alex could probably do that.

Re: Working mom's of toddler's

DS is 18 months
We read, he loves crayons now, basically have tickle fights, bathtime ---I only have 6 pm- 7:30 pm with him so it goes fast

Re: Working mom's of toddler's

There's really no time for play.

We get home at 5:45pm-6pmish and it's rush to the bath, rush to get dinner ready, eat, and then around 7:30 or so we snuggle in bed together and read books.

When we first get home, Jake needs some time to unwind from his day. He prefers to play alone for a few minutes at first. It's like he misses his toys When I interrupt him he whines "I just wanna play with my toys for a few minutes!"

When we do have time to play because it's friday night or DH got home early or we actually made some effort to plan dinner ahead - it's usually just silly pretend play, or chasing him around the house, or tickle marathons, or bed wrestling - nothing structured or planned.

Re: Working mom's of toddler's

I don't work outside the home but that time of the day is always difficult.
Lately, we have been playing games like "duck, duck, goose" - we incorporate the dogs and her dolls , "ring around the rosey", "london bridge", and "hide and seek". Needless to say I am exhausted at the end of all this.

We also build things with her blocks, read books, and march around the house with instruments.

Whew, I am already exhausted!

Re: Working mom's of toddler's

ugh, it is so hard...it is pitch black when we get home so going outside is out of the question. We usually have dinner, read books, watch yo gabba gabba then it is bath and bed time

Re: Working mom's of toddler's

Ben is almost 17 mos and we get home usually around 3:30 or 4PM every day. We have the same rule of no TV until after dinner which is usually around 7:30PM when DH gets home from work.

One day per week, we go to a Music Together class which we have a lot of fun with.

He's also discovered crayons so we also color or draw pictures.

Other days, we make up games to play with his toys. I'll create a little town for him in his playroom and we'll play there.

It's not easy coming up with new things to do but we try.

Re: Working mom's of toddler's

Unfortunately, we're a tv family so most of the time DD will want to watch a video when we get home. But sometimes we color, play with play dough, or listen to music so she can play with the instruments. Sometimes she helps me cook too.

Re: Working mom's of toddler's

Dance party?
Hullaballoo?

Usually after school is winddown time so I try for mellow things - puzzles are great. We also play board games after dinner (obviously mine are older). Trouble is good because it helps with counting.

Re: Working mom's of toddler's

He helps me cook dinner and then I let him play with his cars in the living room (usually not allowed in there!). He'll help me clean up dinner and then we go and build Sodor (trains), play music and he gets to watch one episode of Thomas before bath time. Then it's bath, book and bed.

ETA - bath time takes a while. He loves his bubble baths and he'll play in there for a while.

Message edited 11/13/2008 10:28:19 AM.

Re: Working mom's of toddler's

-coloring
-reading
-dance party (I put on music and we dance around for 15-30 minutes)
-Play with her play kitchen and feed her dolls the "food" we made
-blocks
-or we watch a Disney movie on the couch (not often, but this is a treat as we have a no TV rule too)

Re: Working mom's of toddler's

We don't really have that much time for play when we get home. So we may do a puzzle, play memory, or let them color. Nate loves to help us make dinner. They do watch 20min of TV while I clean up after dinner.