Toys to keep (boy) 3yd old occupied?

[Rachel89]

Hi ladies!


Been thinking about toys which are not too loud, to keep a toddler 3 year old in this case, occupied while sometimes you are feeding baby etc. or for while baby is asleep.

I got him a sticker pad frommelkssa and doug, thought we could do it together. But I can't think of much else 'more quiet' toys/games.

Do you have any ideas to share with me?

 

[Misskitty10]

Play dough
Kinetic Sand
Simple Water paints

My 3yr old girl loves sitting at her little table and will play for ages with any of these and none of them make much mess! Just the odd bits of play dough on the floor but we have wooden floor so it's fine...if u have carpet u can just buy a messy play mat to put on the floor which is about £2/3 on eBay

 

[BethMaassen]

Mega Blocks
Markers and paper
Wooden blacks

I do not have a 3yr old. Mine is only 19 months old. But I know she can sit there for hours playing with her Mega blocks and wooden blocks. And I am planning on getting her those "color wonder" markers and paper when she is a bit older to let her get creative and not messy! LOL ( THESE )

 

[LilianA]

I got my 3 yr old a set of tools and he loved them though he does tend to bang the hammer sometimes but still not as loud as the noise maker toys, coloring books if he likes to color, magnetic drawing board, car set..

 

[lewood88]

I'm going to sound like a bad parent but I've brought dd1 and dd2 iPads for Xmas, they love playing with mine and OH phone and draining our batteries so we both thought why not get them iPads this sit and play games quietly for ages and its heaven especially when you want to get the house work done lol

 

[happynewmom1]

If we could afford to buy the kids their own ipads or something similar, we maybe would do that because like lewood, our kids love it. But also play dough is great as well as color wonder markers and paper. My kids love them already. My 3 yo daughter is obsessed with stickers and will play with them for a long time as well. Recently, they've really gotten into deplos which they do tend to make a mess on the floor with but they play really well with them and I have them help clean them up.

An idea I was given is to have a box of "special" toys to the kids that only gets taken down when baby needs to eat or taken care of so it becomes special to them and they get excited for baby to eat so I figure it's worth a shot. I might have to change the toys out in that box every so often so they stay excited and interested but thought it's an interesting idea!

 

[winterbabies3]

I agree with play dough, definitely not my favorite thing (along with paints but it works!) but my two year old will sit there and squeeze it and use cookie cutters to make shapes. He is still too little for a tablet as he is always pressing the wrong buttons but that works with my older son! I have a stand that has a chalk board on one side and a marker side, this seems to be a hit as well. I find anything messy they love! Pinterest has a bunch of stuff. How to make play dough and paints. They also have some crafty things that make the kids think. Good luck!

 

[Qmama79]

Play dough never worked fr my active 3 year old. He can play well with playmobil men, farm animals, ... His imaginary play is kicking in & he's able to play unassisted fr quite some time. I like the idea of the special toy box. Once a day my boy is allowed 30 mins of TV - you tube fireman Sam, postman Pat, ... Timing that with a feed would work too. Not every time though. I don't have super noisy toys & he knows the difference between noisy & quiet play. Teach him while playing which is which, so he'll know to go to quiet toys when you ask. Or, hide the loud toys in a box, leaving quiet toys & activities out. The noisy box can come out when daddy gets home!

 

[Iren_iren]

I have a 3y boy and he just wont draw, pain or play with play dough neatly by himself
He can play independently for some time in the morning, but thats it
I bought him See inside book about transport, sticker book with space and rockets (he is into it at the moment) and some lego duplo as gifts from baby and hope it will keep him busy for some time
Otherwise i am planning to rely on cartoons (we actually thinking of getting tv package after living 3 years without tv)