How long will your 3 year old entertain themselves?

[Snowflake777]

DD just turned 3, and she'll play by herself for maybe 5, 10 minutes absolutely max. If I tell her I can't play right now, instead of simply finding herself something to do, she whines at me non-stop until I'm free to play with her again. It drives me up the wall!

I do play with her fair amount, or set up activities that she can do while I'm busy, but I need to get other things done too (or just take some time for myself!).

I know there's a very wide range of normal, but what is roughly typical for kids around this age? Am I being totally unrealistic in wishing DD would entertain herself for more than 5 minutes?

I guess I'm asking this out of curiousity more than anything else.

[AllisonR]

Yep, wide range of normal. At just 3, mine still liked to be with me, so if I needed to get stuff done, I would invite them to join me. Meaning computer time was NOT possible, due to the interruptions, but cooking, cleaning... was possible because they were free to help. Yes, a lot of the "help" actually added time to what was needed to be done, but over the long run this "help" turns into true help. My DS was self-entertaining, so I think more than 5 minutes, but not necessarily when I wanted it. And DD was totally self-entertaining, plus she had a big brother to entertain her. 

[Snowflake777]

Oh, don't get me wrong, I involve DD with a lot of the housework, etc. Sometimes it works, sometimes she doesn't want to. Then of course there other other things I can't involve her in.

[kittykat2481]

This is our 4th snow day in a row. I've run out of imagination, and the will to play hotwheels/marble run/chalk/playdoh/whatever. I'd say DS has been entertaining himself for about the past hour. I'll probably involve him in helping me prepare dinner soon, then it will be bath time, story time, and getting ready for bed, so he'll get plenty more attention then.

On days like today though, I do wish he had a sibling to play with. I actually almost feel bad that he plays alone so well, because as an only child he doesn't have anyone else at home to play with. Then again, he goes to preschool M-F, so he probably enjoys the quiet.

[mommariffic]

DD is really starting to play by herself, and we stay home a lot lately (both my kids aren't fans of the bitter cold) 

Throughout the day DD plays by herself (pretend play that she starts) and it can range from 10 minutes to like an hour? It's cool : ) 

[pianojazzgirl]

It depends on the time of day/mood/tiredness/etc.  At the "best" point of the day (morning) my 3yo can entertain himself for up to a couple of hours at a time.  BUT then there's the majority of the day when he's constantly asking me to play with him.

[Cujobunny]

Yeah, it's different each day but my dd can play by herself for quite a while. Yesterday she played by herself in her room for 3 hours. No joke. I made granola bars, prepped supper, did the dishes & took a nap LOL. She's never done it for that long before but it's not uncommon for her to play for an hour or more.

I got her a CD of Go Diego Go Live from the library and she LOVES that. She loves to dance to it while she's playing dolls or whatever. She does come out periodically to ask me for help with something (changing doll clothes or reaching something). But otherwise she's getting quite independent. She went into the washroom to get a stool to climb up & reach her dress up costumes & changed her clothes. Her room was a total mess but that was ok, after dinner she (and ds!) helped me clean it up. Wait a minute, who are these kids?????

I had to laugh, when cleaning up I found a stuffed fish wearing a Barbie size dress. The fish was really big, the dress fit over its tail & up its body a tiny bit. I laughed my butt off for like 5 minutes.

She'll be 4 in August. Maybe a CD with songs she likes or stories on it would buy you some time?

[Snowflake777]

Thanks for all the replies! I'm somewhat relieved to see that other 3 year olds can play independently for longer stretches, and that I'm not a terrible impatient mother for not entertaining my daughter 24/7.

Good suggestion about the CDs. I'm going to see if I can get some stories or something like that. We rely on TV way more heavily than I'd like to (it's the only way to buy some time), so that might be a better alternative :)

[Artichokie]

Two hours.  DD#1 is 37 mo old.  We have quiet time for two hours every day after lunch and DD honestly does read/craft/play by herself during that time.  I am in the same or an adjacent room and totally accessible, but my daughter gets completely lost in her activity and rarely needs me during that time.

[GardenStream]

My son is 34mo. He can entertain himself for about an hour and a half to two hours. He generally glances over at me, says "Mommy, see?" and holds up or point to whatever he is doing wanting me comment on it every half hour or so. If I tried to go to another floor of the house he would instantly stop whatever he is doing and come find me. I try to sneak upstairs to use the bathroom by myself and most of the time I get about 2 minutes before he comes to find me.

[mnj77]

I second the CD suggestion.  DD loves Magic Treehouse audiobooks.  They're about an hour long and she'll listen to that and play around in her room for a while.