DESPERATE: Housebound With A Toddler - Give Me Some Survival Strategies

[fionas]

Thanks to a dodgy pelvis, I can't walk very far and I don't drive so I'm effectively housebound in a house with no real backyard.

I've also had to give up work. I've put DD in childcare for two days a week but they only had vacancies on Monday and Friday which leaves three days in a row where we can't leave the house.

I've got about 2-3 months of this to go before we move house to a place with a huge backyard so although I still won't be able to walk very far, if at all, at least DD will be able to run her little socks off.

So - give me your best tips for keeping DD occupied. I'm going nuttso and I feel v sorry for DD.

I'm also thinking about getting a babysitter/nanny for a few hours a day from Tues - Thurs so she can take DD out to the park/for a walk/whatever.

[Netix]

Are you trying to think of some activities to do indoors?

[fionas]

Yep, that would be great.

[Netix]

Making and then playing with playdough. If you make salt dough (remember at the craft markets of the '80's?), then DD can help measure, pour and stir. You can knead (unless you don't mind DD getting sticky dough on her fingers!), and then DD can roll out the dough can use cookie cutters, etc or make sculptures (maybe little animals). The ones you want to keep (maybe to hang up at the new house???) you can bake in the oven and paint at a later date (look, an activity for another day!). Unused dough keeps in the fridge for a couple of weeks (covered). Steph and I made this just before Christmas and cut out a heap of shapes for CHristmas deco's, and some for a mobile or to hang up. When you make the hole in the dough with a skewer or toothpick, remember the hole shrinks when it is baked! ()

What else, reading, making cubby houses (chairs, and towels or wraps, etc), shop play, cafe play, colouring in, dress ups, baking (cookies, cupcakes, etc) and decorating.

I will try to think of some more!

ETA, I have a salt dough recipe if you need one!

[AnyDream]

Find a family day care lady for Wednesday!

Playdough, cutting out pictures & pasting them/collages, threading pasta for necklaces.

Put some dishwashing liquid in a tub of water and teach her to blow through a straw to make bubbles. Do this in a wet area like your kitchen/bathroom. Bring out the bath toys for more water play.

Fill a tub with rice and let her do pouring, etc with a variety of containers and cups etc.

Get some items out of the pantry and play shops. Extension: cut up pieces of paper and let her colour them in for "money".

Dress up box - op shop or solicit donations from family - get things like scarves that can be draped endlessly/used as capes, skirts, headdresses, etc etc. A few sparkly fairy dresses/hats & just add music.

Put all the lounge cushions down on the floor and let her jump on them.

Give her a large blanket and make a tent over some chairs/dining table.

Glove puppets with old socks and sticky googley eyes.

Make your own musical instruments - rice inside a plastic bottle, rubber bands wrapped arouned a lunch box, upside down icecream container, glasses with diff levels of water and a spoon!

[jackrose]

Oh, you poor thing! I know you are not looking for sympathy necessarily but dodgy pelvis and a toddler

The things I am doing with my DD at the moment are

• posting - I cut out images from mags and old boxes as well as use photos of family and snap cards. I have made a posting box with a 1cm x 6cm slit cut at the top and she just loves posting things into it again and again!
• Pasting - I have just rediscovered clag paste! (The smell takes me back to pre-school!) It is such a good glue for toddlers as it does not get everywhere. I cut images out of mags, wrapping paper and junk mail catalogues and she just pastes away on scrap paper!
• We have made some skittles from old toilet paper tubes (you could also use plastic bottles) and have decorated them with pasting (again!) She is using some beanbags I made recently to try to knock them over.
• The beanbags are excellent for a host of games too! Balance them on your head, shoulders or some other body part, line them up and walk on them, jump over them
• Obstacle courses with household furniture
• cubbies are a BIG hit at the moment
• I am about to make a discovery jar. Put a whole heap of rice in a jar and add all sorts of little things from around the house, a car, money, a key, hair clip, toy animals etc... the aim is to try to see all the things hidden in the rice. You could take a photo of everything there is hidden inside for your toddler to mark off as they find them
• I am also thinking of making a cubby/toy house out of an old big box, once again drawing and pasting all over it and cutting out doors and windows.
• We have a paper shredder and enjoy making rain with the shredded paper!
• Copy me! walking around the house in a particular style such as stomping, clapping, knees up high etc - may be difficult for you but you could instruct perhaps?
• Magnets- you can buy printable magnet paper at stationary stores such as O'works. I then print out pics of family members or even a paper doll (google paper doll wee wonderful) cut them out and get stuck on to the fridge!
• Last night I burnt some short videos of DD as a baby and young toddler onto DVD. We watched them this morning and she was mesmerised!
• Scissors! DD has just worked them out and is obsessed! Snip-rip-snip-rip. It can give me half an hour peace!
• I found another idea for a discovery bag - hair gel in a zip lock bag and filled with a little glitter and small beads. It creates a gel filled sensory delight! The kids love squishing around the objects inside

Hope some of them help, the thing is you really need a good couple of physical activities to get that toddler energy burnt up so as to not go stir crazy. This is where the beanbags come in to their own. (Round the bean bag, over the bean bag, balance the bean bag etc)

For the bean bag, I made mine triangle, but you could just as easily do square or rectangle -

• take a rectangle of fabric, about 10cmx20cm
• fold it in half to make a square, right sides together
• sew sides so that one side is completely open
• turn right side out
• 3/4 fill with rice, lentils any thing like that handy in the cupboard
• fold in a small seam allowance on the open edge, and sew together the open ends perpendicular to the bottom edge making a triangle - either by hand or on the machine.

Hope that makes sense, if not I will send you the link to the webpage I got the inspiration from!

GL!

Oh and check out the "frugal family fun blog". It has heaps of crafty ideas for kids.

[sangie]

A craft box? DD loves hers. She got it for Christmas from her grandparents and I think it was from Big W but you could easily make up your own.

It has pipe cleaners, glitter glue, buttons, wool, paper plates, butcher paper, crayons and she will spend ages making things. I also add things to it like cotton balls, bits of material, toilet rolls, dried pasta, colourful paper, shredded paper etc the list is endless.

[Mak]

Great ideas so far!
We have different tubs of stuff so that things can be put away and appear 'new' rather than all sitting around, seems to make it more exciting???
Craft - make some felt shapes/animals etc to make stories with
made people out of paper cups, decorated them and use for puppet shows
envelopes also a big hit - loves to draw and decorate and make letters to send to people
Pasting with cotton balls, patty pans - lots of household stuff
Playdough - cookie cutters etc
Pegs - Make a washing line inside at DD height and hang stuff on it with pegs (then folded etc) , we have played with pegs for hours (thanks to yiayia - who gave both girls a basket full of pegs)
Could you also make a small box of sand outside so she can dig etc in the space you have?
Perhaps a small planter of seeds - we planted some seeds recently and DD loves watering and watching it grow.
Grow potato people/alfalfa on the window ledge.
Baking - gotta be careful here as I eat it all!!!!
I think to you should be really realistic and use stuff like Playschool/DVD's to your advantage.
Can you get DH or DSD to take DD to the library or park in the pm or early am - this is so tricky when trying to manage work/school etc.
Whatever works!!!!!

[Mother Goose]

beading/threading - use buttons or over sized beads from Spotlight

puzzles

finger/hand puppets and get her to make up a story

painting/chalk drawing

basic cooking - scrambled eggs for lunch, cutting soft fruit with a blunt knife, pikelets or pancakes

you could play doctor/nurse and get her to fetch things for you when you're really sore. Or encourage her to play this with her dolls. My DD can play this for hours!

Fi - I don't work Tuesdays (I do have a longstanding appt 1130-1230) so I could probably come pick your DD up and walk to a local park with her and my DD some Tuesday afternoons. That would give you a bit of a break and burn some energy for both girls! I am not that far from you (about 30min). Unfortunately I'm booked for the next two weeks though.

MG

[AnyDream]

I think to you should be really realistic and use stuff like Playschool/DVD's to your advantage.
Can you get DH or DSD to take DD to the library or park in the pm or early am - this is so tricky when trying to manage work/school etc.
Whatever works!!!!!

Yeah, I agree...I mean there are lots of suggestions here but realistically, just moving around at home takes it toll.

[Kazbah]

go to your local toy library, and see if they have any larger toys like cubby houses, indoor slides etc to borrow. Best thing is, as you return them after a couple of weeks, it keeps it fresh for the kids!

See if you can clear out a room or a bit of space - even a neighbour's garage - and set it up with the big borrowed toys. We have a climbing frame thingy ($180 from myer) that's blow-up and it keeps Pip amused for hours - and physically tires him out. Also stuff like ball pits - buy a couple of hundred balls (usually heaps in second hand kids shops) and fill a porta-cot with them, give tasks like finding 5 blue balls etc.

*hug* good luck

[fionas]

Thanks for all those great suggestions ladies. I've made a list of our first lot and what I'll need so now just waiting for DP to get home this arvo so we can go shopping.

And thanks so much for your lovely offer MG - I can't make you drive for 30 mins just to take DD for a walk. So I'll explore other options and see what I come up with but I really do appreciate your lovely offer.

Marydean - family day care is a great idea but as I don't drive, I can't get her there. DP works odd hours - today for example he started at 5am so he couldn't take her either. I've got a special arrangement with the childcare centre I've enrolled her in that, if necessary, one of the carers will collect her/bring her back for cash, otherwise I wouldn't be able to get her there. But obviously most places won't do that.

Roll on moving to the country where at least we'll have a backyard and I can get used to driving with barely any traffic around.

Thanks again ladies.

[fionas]

I just wanted to say thank you again for all the great inspiration. We've had the best week we've had in ages. DD got up this morning and instead of running straight to the TV (she's been watching far too much lately) she headed to the kitchen to find her paints. Bit of a meltdown when I insisted that she get dressed before we could start painting (I was expecting someone to collect her soon) but hey, I was chuffed.

Now feeling like a half-decent mum again.

[jackrose]

So glad to hear it, may the joy continue!

[AnyDream]

Fiona, some FDC ladies will pick kids up/drop them off...or there may be one just around the corner who could walk around. If you explain your needs to the office I"m sure they will take particular care to find someone who can help you.

[fionas]

thanks Marydean, the last time I enquired about FDC there were only two carers in the whole of our council area and I was told the chances of getting a place were very slim. I think it's unlikely we'd get a place given that we move in June, I'd only want one day a week AND want someone to collect/drop her off.

I do have the option though of getting in-home care for Kitty though which doesn't HAVE to be in-home, they could take her to the park for instance. The only problem with that, however, is that there's a four hour minimum and I can't expect someone to be out with her for four hours straight. But if I start feeling myself going potty, then that will be my emergency measure.

As I said, this week was a lot better so it now seems doable. Though DP was meant to have tomorrow off and is now working Saturday as well as Sunday which was planned. Slight grrrrr.

[Netix]

Glad you've had a great week! You'll come up with lots of things to do! When you move, we'll only be half hour apart, so I'm sure the kids and I could occupy DD for a while for you!

[fionas]

Oh that's such a lovely offer Netix, thank you!