ideas to keep toddler busy with a new baby in the house

[Honey693]

I'm due any day now and I'm trying to put together a bag of stuff 2 y/o DD can do on her own for the times I'm preoccupied with the baby. So far the only things I can think of are incredibly messy which defeats the purpose of having her play on her own. What things could I put in a bag/box that she could do on her own?

[CrunchyChristianMama]

I've found that I only needed things like that at the very beginning. Then, DD1 realized that she needed to do her own thing while I was taking care of DD2 and it became less of an issue. She already enjoyed independent play though, so I'm sure it would be different with a toddler who was more demanding of your time to play, etc.

My DD's favorite thing to do on her own is wash her play dishes. I put soapy water in the sink and leave the faucet on the slowest trickle possible. She will stand up on her stool and play in the sink and wash her dishes for a long time.

[cparkly]

Play clay with mold and cookie cutters.
Water color paints.
Stickers.
Crayons.
Looking through old photo albums.

[newbiemama09]

ditto on crayons. trains are great! DD has really gotten into puzzles lately, they're a nice quiet toy. how comfortable are you with your kiddo watching videos? i remember taking care of my 2 year old nephew when DD was still a babe and popping in a baby Einstein video really helped when i needed to nurse or keep him quiet. but of course, not all day videos-- just for a few minutes of peace. i think it'd be really helpful to give your oldest a new bag of toys each day. that way each day they'll have something different to play with than the day before.

[mamakaikai]

*books
*stickers
*felt boards (dollar store)
*photo albums of her as a baby (make a brag book she can play with)
*doing the dishes (yup, messy...but easy to clean up water)
*home made playdough + bowls +spoons+muffn tin to 'bake'
* cut outs from magazine for gluing collage (glue stick not too messy)
*her own baby doll, or pet, with accessories
*waterpainting (buddha board style, aquadoodle)
*set up a mini clothes line for to 'do laundry'
*window stickers (dollarstore holloween pumpkins?)
*colouring books
*ask her to 'make lists' for groceries and recipes (with crayon and paper)
* blocks, cars, trains...I find if you do a little set up and start the pretend play, you can buy yourself some time when dd takes over
* mine loves to transfer stuff, like from bowl to bowl, water or pompoms, or oatmeal whatever
*playkitchen


I find most things that are novel and set up first get my dd's attention the longest for independant play. She'll play with her playkitchen for hours.

Good luck!!

[mommariffic]

I've got a 3 month old and a 3 year old

I found that having story time during feeding time worked wonders. I could relax with the babe, and my DD and I would go through a stack of books.

Sticker books! They have huge ones that are part fairy tale and come with some really great gnome-fairy stickers you can put in. It may be a little young for a 2 year old, but still good fun.

Make a sensory box. For Autumn you could put leaves [fake or real] acorns (I used a mix of real and felted) mini pumpkins, and whatever else you'd like. Maybe some knit fairies?