Keeping a Three Year Old Busy is Exhausting

Niki Howlett - 3 Jan 19

That stage between toddler and preschooler isn’t as independent as I had hoped. My daughter is three and has a lot of energy. She just wants to play. But just when I expected her to become more independent, she gets more social. And since we’re home all day, she wants ME to play with her.

“Play toys with me!”

I can handle playing toys with her for a short period of time. But after a while, it’s just exhausting. And she gets burnt out on the same toys.

We do have a few favorites that she hasn’t lost interest in. These STEM toys for toddlers are a few of her favorites. And she still hasn’t gotten tired of her Daniel Tiger Toys or her Peppa Pig Toys. But most of her other toys lose her interest within 15 or 20 minutes.

Playing toys is probably my favorite way to play with her because she does have some pretty cool toys. But I’m still tired at the end of the day because I have to spend my energy keeping all of the pieces of the sets together and picking up the mess she makes with them.

“Let’s make crafts!”

Oh, Pinterest. I’m so glad there’s a never ending supply of crafts for kids on Pinterest. She likes making things. We try to spend a little time making crafts every week especially around certain holidays or themes.

In October, she was interested in spiders so we made lots of spider crafts for Halloween.

Over the summer, we made some cool toilet paper race cars and paper plate hot air balloon crafts.

Crafting is fun but man does it take planning. You need to have the supplies. The supplies need to be all together. (This is harder than it sounds. I spent a good 20 minutes looking for green paint the other day.) You need to have cleaning supplies on hand because it’s GOING TO BE A MESS. And you better prepare the area where your three year old will be crafting.

“But I want to go outside!”

I’ve heard this phrase alllllllllll winter long. It’s too cold or it’s too rainy or it’s 4:30 and it’s dark outside. No.

Keeping my three-year-old busy inside all day is exhausting. We do have some easy indoor activities she can do but it’s only a matter of time before she gets tired of them.

My daughter loves being outside. I hate that I have to keep her inside, but we live in an area that gets cold and dark quickly. I think coming up with ideas on how to keep her busy without resorting to watching Wreck It Ralph twice in one day is exhausting.

“Can I watch videos?”

Speaking of screen time, yes, I do resort to it. I need that time to recharge. I don’t like to let her watch videos all day, but there are some educational tv shows for toddlers that are fine here and there.

I have a love hate relationship with my daughter’s tablet. I love that it allows me a little quiet time and break (especially during meal times. Yes we eat in front of the tv. Don’t judge.)

But I also hate that I have to resort to throwing a tablet at her and I feel like I do it too much. Thanks to parental controls, I can set a timer on each app so she doesn’t over use it.

“Play pretend with me!”

I think playing pretend is the most exhausting activity you can do with a three year old. I’m an introvert so social interaction drains my energy very quickly. I loooooooooove my daughter, but pretending to be PJ Masks villains is definitely not my jam.

There are a few pretend play games that I like to play, but I get socially exhausted after about 20 minutes.

If you’re a stay at home mom, you’ve probably been asked what you do all day. Other than cleaning and making food, it’s mostly keeping your kid busy! It’s all so exhausting but completely rewarding. I love spending time with my daughter even if that means I’m ready for bed 10 minutes after I put her down for the night.

For more about toddlers and preschoolers visit me at Toot’s Mom is Tired.

Niki Howlett

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