What Do You Do with Your Toddlers?

Sounds like you are doing enough. He is still very young. Even my little one at 2 we don't go overboard. Lots and Lots of walks. He should also be able to entertain himself for short periods of time. Have you taken him swimming yet? Take him to the Zoo also :)

My first thought was "tie them to the roof of the car."

Kidding of course. ;o)

It sounds like you're doing plenty.

I am wondering the same thing!! My little boy is 18 mo and we go to the library and to mommy/me classes at the YMCA. The difference between you and me is I live in WI - so in the winter, playing outdoors is really "weather permitting"!

One thing I do is have his toys kinda spread around the house...some in his bedroom, some in the living room, some in the basement (usually bigger toys like a bb hoop and balls, ride ons). We kinda travel around the house. We will play and do things in the living room, then I will put him in his high chair with some crayons while I make lunch, then quiet play in his room (books, puzzles, blocks) til nap, then after nap we go to the basement and run around (or go outside), etc. My son "helps" me a lot - which yours might be a little young yet, but Ben will hand me dishes from the dishwasher, push laundry baskets from room to room as I put clothes away, play with tupperware when I am cooking. If he isn't interested in the activity I am doing (folding laundry, etc.) he will entertain himself with something else nearby.

One thing I found that he absolutely LOVES is window crayons (crayola). We have a patio door and he LOVES drawing on the window with his crayons! They come off easy too.

I have also taken him to the pet stores to look at fish, birds, rodent pets...

Are there any "Mommy/Me" type classes? We do Gym at the Y and they have ideas that I bring home (soda bottle bowling, "hunting" like an easter egg hunt/gather but with seasonal items - put them out all over house and hunt, put in bucket, bean bag toss, etc.)
Good luck!!!!

paint, playdough, water play in the sink with cups, bowls, etc., push toys like shopping cart or stroller, in/out activites of any kind, different textures (silk, wool, crunchy- wrapping paper, foil, bumpy, rough) to explore, play tents for peek-a-boo...kids this age are easily engaged. have fun!

At that age, we'd go to Target and hang out in the toy aisle for an hour or two. So simple!
They're too little to understand that the toys work better OUT of the box, and it's an hour of fun for him that costs you nothing. Seroiusly, Target at 8am on a Saturday around here is nothing but parents in sweats with coffee and toddlers! LOL!

We'd also do the Great Indoors and Home Depot. You can let them stumble aorund and they're just happy to be mobile. Doens't have to be a structured activity for that age. Just a new place to explore!

coloring, painting, play doh, and puzzles. Fun things to do!

You should also look at your local parks and rec programs. Here they have TONS of stuff to do for free or cheap through the county. See if the mall has any kid programs. What about nature centers? Museums? Just letting him run? One of the best days DD and I had was just letting her sit in a leaf pile while I raked around her.

Sometimes I get out play dough or paint or whatever, put her in play clothes and let her make a huge mess in the kitchen.

And when in doubt, get a big box.

I did similar activities to what you described....after that I bought a big, flat, green rug in the mark down section at Home Depot, then went to a nice consignment store and bought lots of cars (not Hot Wheels yet), put a LIttle Tykes play slide at one end of the rug, and he would play for hours.

We had no living room furniture, on purpose, at the time. It was much easier to have a kid's room than an adult room. Later came trains, etc. The slide was great for either him or for letting the cars roll down and across the rug. The rug is fantastic for both of us as he could lay on his tummy and push the cars, and I could stretch. We were both very happy on that green rug. I miss it.

I also took him to the local airport to watch airplanes, local train parks to ride an watch trains and the car wash was interesting too, and construction sites were fascinating.

I just started using "pintrest" great little website! There are great little crafts and neat ideas to try. Also, we visit lot's of parks and role play while there...she is usually the princess and I am usually the dragon but my favorite is when we play superheros!

For things around town we go to toddler music time at the library, toddler craft time at the environmental center, the toddler story time, etc. We go to a friend's house one day a week. We go to our local Family Strengths Network (a family meeting place with lots of free classes and parent chat times). They have toddler crafts and toddler/mom yoga and toddler music. We have enjoyed mommy and me gymnastics in the past. We LOVE to go to our local aquatic center and swim during open swim time in the little therapy pool which is nice and warm. We go for a hike on trails at least once a week. We hiked in the snow this morning. My 2 yr old loved it - she found bird and dog tracks and was excited by climbing a log and dug in some mud. We fingerpaint, make forts, read books, and invite other moms with toddlers over to play. My 2 year old loves it when I give her a big bowl and a whisk and wooden spoon and she can pretend to cook. I have a big jar of raw beans I pour in her bowl. I give her a second bowl and she loves to scoop them and put them in it. Your son is probably a bit too little for this - but he will be ready soon enough. On a similar line she also likes to cook with me. Sometimes when I make muffins I give her a bowl and whisk. Every ingredient I mix in, she gets a teeny tiny amount in her bowl. She mixes and tastes and just loves it! When your son is 2.5 or 3 it is really fun to make rolled up newspaper structures. You can google how to do this. You take one piece of newspaper and start at the corner and roll it up as tight as you can and put on a piece of tape to hold it. It now looks like a long straight stick. If you tape together 3 of these in a triangle and then tape 3 triangles together to form a 3D triangle it is pretty strong! Then put these together to make any shapes you want. When my son was 3 and 4 we spent so much time doing this and each time he was SO delighted. We made all kinds of structures all over our livingroom and he would make up all these pretend games.

When mine were that age they were playing at home by themselves.
It's important they learn to play by themselves and that they don't have to be entertained all the time.

We read ALOT when my son was that age.

Throw all the cushions and pillows in the house in a pile and let him climb on it.

Line up all the dining room chairs and let him crawl through it like a tunnel.

Turn off all the lights and give him a flashlight.

Give him a jumprope and let him drag it around.

On really bored days, I gave my kid a box of kleenex and let him play w/it by pulling all the tissues out. Sometimes I'd even give him a roll of toilet paper (a roll of Scott toilet paper was .89 cents back then) to unroll. Just make sure your son doesn't try to eat the paper.

I loved taking my son to the store when I didn't have any shopping to do and just let him walk around. When he was that age, we would hit CVS, Walgreens or Eckerds. As he got older, we'd go to Kohls, Dillards, Macys, etc or any grocery store. When he was about 3, we lived at home improvement stores, espcially on rainy or cold days.

As "boring" as it may seem, I loved taking my boys to the grocery store when they were little. We spent at least 1 1/2 hours on a typical trip. We'd sample the produce, talk about the colors, the smells, why some things were hot and some were cold, the pictures on the boxes EVERYTHING!! They loved it and I did too cause they were captive, learning and POOPED when they got back in the car! :) Cherish your time with him, that time is so short....