Hellobee Boards

Do you have a backyard? We usually leave the house in the morning and do something like what you listed, but we stay home after lunch and he usually has time in the backyard after his quiet time. We pull out most of his outdoor toys and just let him do whatever he wants. I gave him a bucket of water and shovel a couple weeks ago and sent him to a dirt patch we have...he made mud and dug for 30+ minutes! It is rare when something keeps his attention for that long.

Another suggestion (for quieter indoor play) is board games. My 3 yo has recently become really interested in board games and will want to play them over and over. We can usually get a good 20 minutes of quality time playing together and then he is more willing to go off on his own and play with other things.

Also, I don't think boredom is a bad thing for kids...my son will start to play on his own/get creative if I just leave him to play on his own. I can't entertain him all the time and tell him he needs to play on his own for a while. If he throws a fit, I usually ignore it and he will go find something more interesting to do on his own.

What about new building toys? Not sure what you have. Wooden blocks, magformers and legos get used a ton here. He might be able to do small legos which have a certain appeal since they're for "big kids only" - either free play or building from the book with your help (if you get some of the classic legos the books have multiple ideas in them vs just one for theme sets)

Also just a hug because it gets so much easier as baby gets older and they play together! This summer mine are 2 and 5 and it has its ups and downs but I love how much they play together.

@charlotte: my son's favorites are Pop the Pig and Yeti in my Spaghetti. The Yeti one is pretty annoying to play because he likes when it falls so we are constantly setting it up, but Pop the Pig is great. One game will take 10-15 minutes. It works on counting and colors as well!

We also found an old school Disney Yahtzee game st the consignment store that he loves, but it is pretty old/would be difficult to find.

@charlotte: our sand box gets hours of use. Or I fill up a bin with oatmeal and he uses his trucks in there.

DS is 4 and we just got him snakes and ladders, he loves it. Puzzles and his art easel keep him pretty busy too.

If you don't have a ton of outdoor space how about setting him up with a stool at the kitchen sink for some water play for a while? My kids love that. I usually put some towels down, but it does get messy. Cups and toys in there and they love it.