Two year old is bored with all his toys

[Anonymous]

I stay at home with my almost 2.5 year old, but he will be starting preschool this fall 3 days per week. We are out of the house all morning every day of the week, and home around 2 pm, but he is just incredibly bored in the house when he is home. (He also no longer naps so the day seems really long). He has two playrooms filled with toys, including puzzles, sticker books, coloring books, trucks, a train set, magnet board, blocks, etc. and seems bored with all of it. Even after a fun morning out going to the playground, indoor gym, playgroup, Mommy and Me preschool class, etc. he comes home and is whiny and bored until dinner time.

He doesn't like any kind of arts and crafts or sensory play. Doesn't like Play Doh, or cooking-related activities either.

There are no kids his age in the neighborhood so unfortunately we can't do afternoon playdates on a consistent basis. I also don't know many other SAHMs.

How can I help him be less bored in the afternoons? Even playing outside doesn't hold his interest, because our back yard doesn't have the great play equipment that the playground does. He'll go outside, run around for 10 minutes and then want to come back in.

[Anonymous]

You need some parent training, OP.

[Anonymous]

Cardboard box?

[Anonymous]

He probably needs quiet time/down time after morning activity and lunch. Rotate toys out and look at Pinterest for activities. You don't need playground equipment outside - you need a water table, bubbles, sidewalk chalk

[Anonymous]

What does a bored 2 year old look like? What does he do? LOL

[Anonymous]

Rotate toys. Pack up all but a handful of toys and switch them out every 2 weeks or so. For the outside, get a water table or turn your sprinkler on, gather some containers and let him splash around. Also, since he's not napping, now would be a good time to introduce "quiet time".

[Anonymous]

Get rid of the screens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Rotate toys. Pack up all but a handful of toys and switch them out every 2 weeks or so. For the outside, get a water table or turn your sprinkler on, gather some containers and let him splash around. Also, since he's not napping, now would be a good time to introduce "quiet time".

All of this. Though I would suggest making your water table a sensory table and you can put different things in there every month, water, sand, dried pasta, mud etc.

Another thought if you don't mind it give him a shovel and let him dig in the yard and look for bugs and worms.

Bubbles and chalk are great too.

[Anonymous]

You're projecting. He's not bored. He needs some direction or interaction.

[Anonymous]

I'm a sahm and my kid is pretty much never bored and usually happy even though she has almost no toys. My best advice is to spend much time outdoors, especially in nature where he can get messy, climb challenging trees and big rocks, etc.

Take him to your neighborhood woods or stream. My 2 yo likes to ride on my back as we search for bugs on the forest floor. She loves to take watering can or whatever and play in the stream. We look and listen for birds and squirrels. We imitate sounds of birds, passing metro, etc.

Not a dull moment, even without Playmate's

[Anonymous]

Wait, there are no rocks or sticks or bugs or worms in your back yard?

[Anonymous]

As far as I know, two year olds are naturally curious little busy-bodies. If your boy is so bored and whiny all day, then IMO his natural curiosity has been stunted for some reason and I would hurry up and learn about how to re-awaken his sense of wonder. Advice from PPs would keep most kids his age plenty happy, so that's definitely a good place to start.

My DD's favorite "toys" are our pets. They make her giddy with delight. Would you consider getting your boy a furry buddy to keep him company and play with in the back yard?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I stay at home with my almost 2.5 year old, but he will be starting preschool this fall 3 days per week. We are out of the house all morning every day of the week, and home around 2 pm, but he is just incredibly bored in the house when he is home. (He also no longer naps so the day seems really long). He has two playrooms filled with toys, including puzzles, sticker books, coloring books, trucks, a train set, magnet board, blocks, etc. and seems bored with all of it. Even after a fun morning out going to the playground, indoor gym, playgroup, Mommy and Me preschool class, etc. he comes home and is whiny and bored until dinner time.

He doesn't like any kind of arts and crafts or sensory play. Doesn't like Play Doh, or cooking-related activities either.

There are no kids his age in the neighborhood so unfortunately we can't do afternoon playdates on a consistent basis. I also don't know many other SAHMs.

How can I help him be less bored in the afternoons? Even playing outside doesn't hold his interest, because our back yard doesn't have the great play equipment that the playground does. He'll go outside, run around for 10 minutes and then want to come back in.

Let him play in a big box. Give him blankets to make a sofa fort.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I stay at home with my almost 2.5 year old, but he will be starting preschool this fall 3 days per week. We are out of the house all morning every day of the week, and home around 2 pm, but he is just incredibly bored in the house when he is home. (He also no longer naps so the day seems really long). He has two playrooms filled with toys, including puzzles, sticker books, coloring books, trucks, a train set, magnet board, blocks, etc. and seems bored with all of it. Even after a fun morning out going to the playground, indoor gym, playgroup, Mommy and Me preschool class, etc. he comes home and is whiny and bored until dinner time.

He doesn't like any kind of arts and crafts or sensory play. Doesn't like Play Doh, or cooking-related activities either.

There are no kids his age in the neighborhood so unfortunately we can't do afternoon playdates on a consistent basis. I also don't know many other SAHMs.

How can I help him be less bored in the afternoons? Even playing outside doesn't hold his interest, because our back yard doesn't have the great play equipment that the playground does. He'll go outside, run around for 10 minutes and then want to come back in.

Let him play in a big box. Give him blankets to make a sofa fort.

Have pots, pans and safe large utensils in your accessible kitchen drawers. Let him come in, pull everything out , bang the wooden spoons on the pots and clang the lids together and let him have fun.

Does he like scissors or is he too young? If he can use safety scissors let him cut pictures out of magazines. Watch him or he'll cut his hair off though...

[Anonymous]

1-get rid of half or more of the toys. Kids with too many toys are overwhelmed and cannot play as deeply. Strange them nicely on the shelves. Shelves should not be crowded. When they are crowded, it's too many toys.
2-rotate the toys