I just wondered if anyone had any ideas of what to do with an 18 month old. I was thinking about the 6 week holiday and if I needed to get anything. Jamie will have one week where his in creche in the mornings as I'm running a church holiday club but other than that will be with me (well Mum's said she'll have him a couple of days). Obviously his used to be at nursery and having things to do all day. We've got his toys and a water and sand table and we can go to the park and the beach. I just wondered if people had anything that they did with their toddlers that they enjoyed

Nothing particularly special but Sophs liked painting, and chalk drawing outside. We also made pizzas a couple of times which she loved (well, me make and she spread sauce, pour on/eat different ingredients). Getting the ball tent and tunnel out and the paddling pool were also strong contenders. And trips to the farm/soft plays etc.

Mandy xx

I was thinking painting because he loves doing creative stuff at nursery but I hate the idea of it. I think I might buy some cheap shower curtains and put them down on the decking so we can at least contain the mess outside

Good idea about the cheap shower curtains!

Farm and soft play are always good contenders, but at that age I had to go everywhere with Imogen at soft play and it was exhausing!

Specific missions like "how many different types of leaves can I collect" then siticking them in a scrap book, or saving cardboard to make a robot/fishtank/scenery (tree bodies from painted loo-roll middles, cotton wool clouds etc) - it's amazing what comes back from nursery made out of cut-out handprints too! Start pinching ideas - he won't mind repeating something he did before.

get some beanbags from ELC and have him running from one to another - fetch the red one, now put the yellow one by the washing line... wear him out!

Cooking / baking always good for a rainy day. My boss reckons making of bread is great because you do a bit, which is about the duration of their attention span, then you leave it to proove, then you go back "ooh look it's got bigger" then you make the shapes (attention span again) then it gets baked then you eat it. I've not tried it yet but it's one to consider.

Cool thanks. Yeah I know what you mean about soft play. Jamie thinks he can go off by himself but always tries to go in the bigger bit and climb on things he shouldn't

If you're worried about mess, just take a pot of water and a paintbrush ou tto the decking and 'paint' it with water. Sophia used to love doing this, no mess as the sun dries it all up!

MAndy xx