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Forum
-> Parenting our children
-> Preschoolers
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amother
OP
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 Sun, Dec 01 2019, 1:47 pm
I'm bh pregnant and soooo tired. I'd love to rest on the couch while my 3.5 yo plays alone. But with what?
Play doh gets messy/eaten.
Paint/markers/ crayons get on the walls.
Arw there any such magic games?
Magnatiles and lego don't do it for him.
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amother
Cerulean
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Sun, Dec 01 2019, 1:50 pm
Dream on mama!!
A three year old cannot and should not entertain himself for a whole hour.
Sorry
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anonymrs
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Sun, Dec 01 2019, 1:53 pm
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I don't believe that the average 3.5 yr old can self-entertain for an hour. Yes, some do it some of the time but it seems a bit of an unreasonable expectation.
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amother
Cerulean
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Sun, Dec 01 2019, 1:54 pm
What I did find helpful was bath time.
There isn’t much mess, not too much involvement on my end and he could play for half hour with different toys.
Make yourself comfortable with a pillow on the floor, don’t put in too much water, turn on the music.
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amother
Burlywood
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Sun, Dec 01 2019, 1:55 pm
My teens do mothers' helper jobs all the time, for exactly this sort of situation. You'll rest better knowing someone's keeping an eye on your little one.
That said, when my kids were little and I was resting on the couch drowsy but still awake, I would let them make a huge zoo out of all the pillows in the house and every stuffed animal we owned. That kept them busy for a good while. Then they'd start jumping on the pillows doing "gymnastics" so that was good for another little while. I think an hour is ambitious, but you could probably get 30-40 minutes out of the pillow zoo.
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amother
Burlywood
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Sun, Dec 01 2019, 1:56 pm
| Quote: | What I did find helpful was bath time.
There isn’t much mess, not too much involvement on my end and he could play for half hour with different toys.
Make yourself comfortable with a pillow on the floor, don’t put in too much water, turn on the music.
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Too dangerous in case she really dozes off.
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amother
Powderblue
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Sun, Dec 01 2019, 1:58 pm
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Controversial opinion, but screen time worked wonders for me. Maybe not a full hour, like 30 mins of Elmo or something. My smartphone allows me to lock the screen so dd can watch her show without getting into any other apps.
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amother
Copper
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Sun, Dec 01 2019, 2:00 pm
An hour is too much to expect. Sorry mama. If there were more siblings then maybe. Can you get chesed girls? Or switch off play dates with neighbors?
I get maybe 20 minutes from my 5 year old if I give him crayons and a story cd. He doesn't go for toys either.
After that he already needs me. Bathroom, drinks, what not. He can do everything independently but he needs me to be involved anyway.
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lauful
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Sun, Dec 01 2019, 2:02 pm
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Curious George video. They sell them for like five bucks
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amother
Crimson
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Sun, Dec 01 2019, 2:02 pm
Stickers
Blocks
Play date?
Those sketch things that are magnetic and come with a "pen" and shapes
Puzzles
Books
Last resort- watching on youtube
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amother
Cobalt
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Sun, Dec 01 2019, 2:06 pm
Omg don’t leave your 3 year old in a bath unattended for an hour!!!
Screen time is the way to go is want him in a trance and not to need anything for however long
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amother
Coral
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Sun, Dec 01 2019, 2:14 pm
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My 5 year old entertains my 3 year old for a long time. I give them papers they color glue gut paste and entertain each other. With siblings it is so much easier.
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amother
Ecru
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Sun, Dec 01 2019, 2:17 pm
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there is something called aqua doodle, it‘s a mat and you can draw on it with a pen with water in it. It doesn‘t get messy nor wet, look it up on amazon!
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bnm
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Sun, Dec 01 2019, 2:18 pm
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magnadoodle. aquqamat- kid colors with water.
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flowerpower
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Sun, Dec 01 2019, 3:09 pm
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Check out Crayola.com. They have a sale now.
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FranticFrummie
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Sun, Dec 01 2019, 3:17 pm
3 is so little! I wouldn't take my eyes off him for a minute, especially if he's a clever little monkey.
Please, get a mother's helper. It will be the best gift you can give yourself. It's way cheaper than cleaning help, and you'll be able to nap in peace.
I love looking after my client's 3 year old. It's a great job, and the mom gets to put her feet up for a while.
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amother
Sienna
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Sun, Dec 01 2019, 11:16 pm
And this is why people allow their toddlers to watch.
Another idea- switch off play dates with a neighbor
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lucky14
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Mon, Dec 02 2019, 12:16 am
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my 3.5 year old can play for an hour by himself. He just likes to have my attention. So I can sit on the sofa and watch him play and comment and that's sometimes OK with him. Of course not all the time but he is capable (and of course he'd MUCH rather someone be playing with him). He likes cars and trucks. And boxes. He likes big empty cardboard boxes that he can crawl into. Or drag around the room. He made a line of boxes down the room a few weeks ago- said that one side was for the men, one side was for the women, and that it was a parade. He likes pretend food. Making meals and setting up meals and stuff. He likes tools. He pretends to do construction. He has a firefighter costume and pretends to be a firefighter and puts out fires. The sofa (or bed, depending on which room we are in) is his firetruck. You said your son doesn't like magnatiles or lego- are there any toys he does like? Do you have the money to invest in a few new toys- give them to him one at a time over the course of a few weeks or so? I just had a baby a few months ago. It is really hard to be so tired and have to be so attentive to another person. I read him a lot of books.
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baby12x
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Mon, Dec 02 2019, 2:31 am
My 3 year old can play by himself for an hour. Not totally unsupervised but if I'm on the couch resting.
We have a craft box filled with papers, magazines, safety scissors, crayons, markers, tape, glue sticks and he will sit and make "projects" by himself if no one disturbs him. It needs to have lots of different stuff in it and I buy new stuff or put it new materials- cardboard, paper towel rolls etc a lot so there is a lot to work with
It makes a mess but its worth it
Maybe try something like that.
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rowo
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Mon, Dec 02 2019, 4:49 am
Not guaranteed, but I find messy, sensory play keeps them happy the longest.
Washing toy dishes and dolls in soapy bubbly water.
A big tray or container filled with raw rice (you can colour it for more fun, but not necessary) with different sized containers, scoops and spoons.
A tub full of pom-poms with little containers, scoops and tongs.
Kinetic sand
But like many other moms, when I was pregnant my kids probably watched more videos than I’d usually like. But you do what you need to to get through each day, and if you physically can’t get up and you know they’ll sit still safely for a bit, you do what you gotta do.
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