We are going to a brunch on Sunday to celebrate my sister-in-law's birthday. This is something we would normally never do with our toddler, but don't have a choice but to bring him along this time. He is very active and only wants to sit in a restaurant high chair for about 5 minutes. Can anyone suggest a table top toy that would hold his interest for a long time? He's 21 months old, so it can't be too babyish or he'll lose interest fast. Coloring only works for about 10 minutes and snacks only go so far. Thanks!
Does like any particular movies? I would bring an Ipod or portable dvd player and let him watch his show with earphones.
We used to trade off getting up and going outside about every 20 to 30 minutes with our daughter. She needed to walk around.
Keep in mind. a 21 month old has the attention span of 1 to 2 minutes. That means you will need to switch out activities a lot during a long brunch.
Is there anyway to get a babysitter? It just doe snot seem fair to your child to be expected to stay quiet and entertained at a table for that long.
A toy with lights and music would keep toddler busy but probably is too distracting for brunch. So I think a portable dvd player with a few movies might be the way to go. I'd try out different movies at home to see if there is any type of movie that your toddler pays attention to. My squirmy guy will stop and watch veggie tales and cars (the movie).
Got a portable dvd player? Bring this along plus his favorite movies. We use this everytime we go out to eat at a restaurant, otherwise most of the food we order ends up being "take home" as we don't seem to find a chance to eat it!
We have two boys that sound very similar to yours! What works best for us are the mind bender puzzles (also called tavern puzzles). We had some from a white elephant gift exchange, and they are a hit! You can see some examples here: http://www.frik-n-frak.com/SPECIALS-and-CLEARANCE_c_107.html.
I've also found that sewing cards are wonderful. I grew up with them, but I can't find them anywhere now, so we made our own. I cut up an old shoe box that had some neat designs, used a hole puncher, and took the shoelaces from my winter boots. The kids are occupied, quiet, and getting some good fine motor skill practice!
We've also discovered that they really like tanagrams. They have some cards with shapes on them, and they use different shapes to try and match the shape on the card. It takes a bit of room, but they could play with those forever!
We used to bring a lot of toys-Thomas Trains-that type of stuff..along with crayons, etc. We also used the sugar packets and creamers to create towers and train tracks, etc. That drove my dad nuts, but I was like-which do you think the manager prefers...screaming kid or a few misused sugar packets? A walk thru the restaurant always helped, lots of snacks, passing baby from person to person or have someone new come sit by them and entertain, let them eat on your lap, point out stuff in the restaurant and finally if they can't make it thru the entire meal have a game plan where one of you takes him out of the restuarant into lobby or outside while the adults finish up. Actually those are some of my favorite memories with my son-taking him for a walk outside the rest exploring while everyone else is talking. I guess I get bored easy too!
My children loved looking at catalogs at that age. Toy catalogs and Oriental Trading Post catalogs are the best! I would suggest bringing a backpack of toys, books, playdough, coloring books and crayons if you can. No one toy or book is going to hold his interest during the entire brunch. Best to come prepared with a variety of things that will keep his interest for a bit.
My boys usually played with a bunch of Matchbox cars or Thomas trains (without the tracks). But he may be a bit young for those toys. Does he have anything smallish at home that he likes to play with independently? That's what you want to bring along.
I can't suggest anything specific, I'm out of the loop on toddler toys right now. But I would suggest bringing a variety. That way if he gets bored with one you have something else to pull out.
Also, be sure to not arrive early. And bring a few snacks for him, he might not be happy with the food at the restaurant, or the wait for food.
My son is 2 and he loves stickers. When we are going to be some place for a while I always bring some along. It's great when you can find those teacher reward packs on sale, they have like 1,000 stickers in them. Nice and easy, no mess to worry about!
I've also put small toys in plastic Easter eggs to keep in busy. He likes the mini slinky, little koosh balls, and a small key chain that lights up when you hit the button (it's a duck shape). He plays with they toys but also just likes opening and closing the eggs.
have you considered duct tape? He wouldn't be able to get out of the high chair then and if he starts yelling you could use a piece on his mouth. See perfect. :)
Seriously I have nothing, we lived like hermits when my kids were younger. I don't think I could actually get five minutes out of them and no toy on earth couldn't be used on the floor, or someone else's table, or where ever horrified us, in their minds. :(
We have our kids go on our cell phone and look at the photos that are downloaded. That's actually worked pretty well a few times. The DVD idea is great, as long as it doesn't become too loud and interrupt the other guests. Bringing puzzles is fun because other guests could perhaps help him. Hama beads(spelling?) might be fun, although they might be a bit small for someone his age. I would also strongly suggest having him get up from the table and walk around every fifteen minutes or so. It just isn't fair to expect a not-yet-two year old to sit for too long at a brunch like that. If you bring a variety of games, let him get up and move around on a regular basis, and don't plan to stay too long, it should be okay and you should all enjoy yourselves.
