How To Entertain Your 18 Month Old at Home | AD

I have to pinch myself sometimes when I realise I have an 18 month old (again! I have done this twice before). I remember my little dude being born; squeaking away, loving being fed. Then I remember writing a post on how to entertain a 10 month old at home. At this point he was driving me a little crazy and I was struggling to get a lot done around the house. I needed some ideas of how to keep him busy. He just seemed so much more into everything compared to the girls!! I’ve always says boys are different and he proves me right everyday. So he’s hit 18 months old he’s still as busy so I thought it was time to write about how to entertain your 18 month old at home.

Lockdown has been tough with him at home so I’ve had to think about ways of keeping him busy. The girls are older and want to do different things. What with home-schooling and being at home for long periods of time, I needed some activities for the little dude.

Hope these tips help you out a little when you want to get a few jobs done around the house! I’m aware some of these things do make more mess but often quite easy to tidy. You will thank me I promise.

Entertain Your 18 Month Old at Home

– Use a Tuff tray – these can be great for little ones and again can avoid making mess! I asked my fellow bloggers for some ideas of what you may like to do with your little ones and you can check out these posts:

– A great selection here from Me, Him, The Dog and The Baby

– 10 Ideas for the Tuff Tray from Tantrums to Smiles

– Book corner – my little man can completely disappear sometimes and we find him either sat in the lounge or in front of his sister’s book shelf just looking at the books. He can be gone a good while too. A book corner is a great little set up. Cushions or bean bags and plenty of books! You can then join them for some stories, if you get your jobs done (or just give up!)

– Toys – of course their toys are a brilliant way to keep them entertained. You may want to try a little toy rotation. I’m not fantastic at doing this but I do find if we feed a toy that has been hidden away for a while in the toy drawer, he will play for a while. Have a good holding toys back and introducing them. You may want to consider something for the garden, like a Ride on Toy Great fun!

– Painting or drawing – yes it’s messy. Yes it can be a pain but at 18 months my baby boy can sit up in a toddler chair now and do some drawing (scribbling) with some crayons or pencils on some paper. Again he can be kept busy for a while. This is a good one if you have other kids who want to do something a little more complex and you need your 18 month old to not escape! If you dare, let them paint!

– An Aquadoodle – we have reviewed one of the blog before but I have to rave about these as they are so great for messy-free playing. Fill the pens with water and let them draw on the mat. Again they can sit for ages and there is less risk of paint going everywhere. They don’t need to be fully supervised as long as you don’t have the pots of water left on the sides! Good for adults too!

– Water play – my little man is obsessed with water and if the weather is good, he loves to play with pots of water, pouring or just walking in it! He spills water and walks through it or puts his hands in it. Great if you are hanging out some washing or want to do a bit of gardening.

– Box to empty – I think I mentioned this in my 10 month guide but my little dude loves to empty a box. Fill it with toys, balls…anything. He loves to rummage and go through it and this can take some time, if you want to put the vacuum round or have a quick tidy.

– Help with chores – my little boy loves to help! Even at 18 months he wants to get involved. He empties the tumble dryer for me. He likes to follow me around with a duster when I’m cleaning and he loves to pretend to sweep up too. This is pretty good if I want to do some chores.

– Screen-time – yes you may feel a little rubbish having to shove them in front of a screen but I have to do it sometimes to get somethings done, have some time with my older kids and just have a cuppa in peace! My little dude loves Hey Duggee or Peppa Pig and I think he learns a lot from them.

– Have a plastic drawer that’s safe for play – this has spilt over from my 10 month old guide too but my little man still likes his draw of plastic tubs to empty and look at in the kitchen. We’ve now had to secure all the kitchen doors however, as he likes to open the cupboards!!

I know they are only little once but sometimes you do just need to get some stuff done! Ways to entertain an 18 month old at home can be hard, it can be messy but hopefully some of these ideas with help when you want to get a task done quick!

Disclosure – this is a sponsored post.