Entertaining my toddler

DS is 16 months old and lately I'm struggling to entertain him!

He only seems to want to watch tv and I don't want him to watch tv so much. He plays with his toys but fleetingly. I've tried drawing & finger painting, but that only holds his interest for 15 min max.

I also read to him and try to play with him with his toys (blocks etc) but he doesn't seem that interested at times. Something else is always better, mostly he wants the tv on.

Help! I feel like a bad mother because it's easier to give in to the tv than try and entertain him.

DO you have a park nearby, or just take a walk outside. My 20 month old loves picking up sticks or rocks, smelling flowers, jumping in puddles, throwing pegs/sticks/whatever in the chook water...

Inside ideas- A bag of pegs can be fun, 'help' to fold the washing, play in the tupperware cupboard, play drums with a wooden spoon and a stainless steel bowl, play dough, wash the windows (cloth and a spray bottle of water), put some music on & dance, pretend to be lions, make a tent with a blanket over the couch or table and have a picnic.

Outside- paintbrush and a jar of water- paint the house or deck or footpath. have a picnic outside, bubbles!

While my DH is really a stay at home person when it is my days with DS I much prefer to go out. Anywhere is good - the park, the pool, the library, the shops. I like to keep busy and I get stuck for ideas at home. Also playgroups are great and give you good ideas as well. Try to arrange some play dates. Otherwise some home ideas that tend to occupy them for a while are things like wading pools and sandpits. Look for ideas where he can't actually see the tv as out of sight out of mind is so true.

does he watch the TV, or is it the noise?

we almost never have the TV on at our place, but we have music on a lot of the time - a mix of it ... pop, classical, Christian, rock, alternative ... a bit of everything, and DS responds well to it.

also, it's not strange at all for your 16 month old to only stay interested in an activity for 15 minutes - that's ok! and that's part of the hard work ... having lots of different things to do.

I second getting outside with him - whether it's the yard (even just him playing with leaves while you hang up some washing), or drawing with chalk on the driveway or going to the park, or walking the dogs with DS in the pusher, or a trip out - the library or a cafe or the shops or the pool - just for a change of scene.

I know I personally feel a lot better if I've got out of the house at least once a day!

And as your DS plays, watch how he's progressing from one activity to the next - which might help you to plan some activities for the next session .... eg: I might put out a tub of blocks, a dump truck, some books and then some cuddly toys. Because no matter where he starts, he can go from playing with the blocks (stacking and unstacking etc) to putting things into the truck and taking them out of the truck, to moving the truck around, and playing with the toys and books intermittently ... so those items could well keep him occupied for an hour or more, and even longer the more I interact with him while he's playing.

There's some really good ideas in here.

My 2yr old was really only ever interested in tv - but thank goodness has just started to get into building blocks/mega blocks/lego etc
We have the tv on here cause there's always someone home with him, and he used to only watch tv. But now he sits there and 'watches' it while building, and I honestly don't think it'd bother him if the tv was off while he has other things to entertain himself.
Good luck! I definitely recommend that link Kim posted :)