Too Much Independent Play Time?

yeah , I'd enjoy it. It means she's not dependent on others to entertain her. My kids both were happy to pay by themselves at that age. Take the time to do other things as long as she's not doing anything dangerous let her do her thing.

Not at all a concern. At this age, most children are engaging in parallel play, which means that they are perfectly happy doing their own thing and if you are there next to them (hence the parallel part)- cool. If not, that's fine too. If you were to ask her, I would guess that she would say that you were playing with her when you took out a puzzle while she was coloring.

No worries- the next stage is "rough-and-tumble" which is a lot of fun. My son is going through the "games with rules" phase and it's a pain in the butt. Everything is about following the rules and not necessarily those put forth by the publisher!

there is no such thing as too much independent play time.
kids today almost universally don't have enough.
she's not yet at the age when social play is the norm anyway.
pat yourself on the back for raising a secure, confident, independent little spirit and let her continue to develop that imagination.
:) khairete
S.

Don't undermine the independent play. It's a wonderful thing being able to entertain oneself. You can however, play along side her every so often. She will be watching you out of the corner of her eye, and may later imitate, or even one up the playing that you modeled.

My DS is very much the same way. He plays largely independently. At two and a quarter, he now pauses to show off his accomplishments. He's always had a knack though for watching out of the corner of his eye, and then copying down the line.

He seeks out the most rough and tumble kids at the playground, then tries their moves. He's very physical and an inherent risk seeker and adrenaline junkie. Socially though, he's reserved.

Enjoy your little girl.
Best to you and yours.
F. B.

Enjoy it. I had one who could play for hours independently and another who I always had to play with. My older, who played independently, is a very confident and independent 11 year old now. My younger, who I played with for hours every day, is much less independent in many ways. I think independent play is just a way how a child's personality shows, so really nothing to worry about.
I also think that you shouldn't feel bad about not playing with her. There are many other ways to bond with her. I always talked a lot with my children. When we went shopping together, when I was cooking, we read together at night, they "Helped" me around the house, etc. There are so many ways to spend time with her. Just enjoy your free time when she is engrossed in play.

Count yourself lucky for now! You never know how long this will last.......maybe she'll always be like this, maybe not, so just enjoy it!

She likes to play alone. Let her. Her playing isn't about you, and it's not her job to be your playmate.

It's normal, making imaginary little worlds and games and narrating her little games herself is a part of normal development. I was reading that if a child doesn't do that it can signal problems. I think she is doing great :)

It's completely normal. At around that age my daughters all decided that I didn't play "correctly" because I wasn't a child too. There were still activities we did/do together, just not the active on-the-floor playing with puzzles and learning toys. It's developmentally appropriate, especially since they're showing a new level of independence.

I've noticed that for my daughter, who is three, sometimes just being in the same room, and acknowledging her play is enough. She wants me to play with her, but not the same game all the time. She really prefers if my toys and her toys are on sometimes overlapping adventures - sort of like when characters from spin-off TV series guest star in each others' episodes. A common theme is that she might want my toys to be having a tea party, but hers to be on a rescue adventure (I never get to be the hero, sigh), but they might need the magic tea cake to save the princess from the evil spell, so the prince drops into the tea party and zooms off again. My toys are expected to continue their tea party.

I think it's wonderful for little kids to play well by themselves.
It fosters their independence and imaginations.

I've taken care of kids who cried if I had to go to the bathroom or take a load of laundry out of the dryer. They were very emotionally needy.

For now, I think you should let your daughter do her own thing. In time, you will be able to entice her to help you in the kitchen, do puzzles and crafts together. For now, she's just happy entertaining herself, and that's not a bad thing at all, in my opinion. My kids were very good at keeping themselves happy, although they did love structured activities from time to time. For the most part, they were just happy with creative play on their own.

Your little one is old enough to play Old Maid or Go Fish. My kids LOVED playing cards with me.

Maybe change your tactics a bit. Get yourself involved in something that seems enticing, and just go about it without inviting her. She'll likely want to get involved in what you're doing.

I wouldn't worry about anything for now. I really wouldn't.
She's happy doing her own thing and that's not a bad thing at all.

Best wishes.

This doesn't sound like a problem to me. There is no magical amount of one-on-one engagement. I have one kid on each extreme. My daughter had to have an audience or engaged companion from day 1, and getting her to play on her own when she was a toddler was nearly impossible. She was the type of little one who would have long conversations about her ponies through the bathroom door. The idea that I needed to focus on other things sometimes did not compute for that child. My son, on the other hand, loved to play alone from early on, and while he does value the company of others, at age 8 he is still happy playing alone. As a toddler, he would play with blocks or his stuffies for hours - he already had his own inner imaginary world. By the time he was 4, he was a superhero, and we all know that if you're around other people, you have to preserve your secret identity, so he was only involved in heroics when he was by himself. :-)

My son who is an only child, at that age, was very capable of playing on his own. He was then and still is very creative, imaginative, and never bored. I think it is a blessing that they are independent , as well as when they get old enough-sociable and can play on their own, and with others.

Individual space and time is a good thing. If you want to engage with her during her play ask her what she is doing and if you can play too. This will help her build social cues and skills, and have a good time with you, too.

I don't think it's anything to worry about. It is great that she can occupy herself, truly it is!!

If you are feeling left out and like you want to 'play' with her more, why don't you start asking her to help you with your stuff, like when your cooking in the kitchen or doing laundry or heck anything like that...she can stir and poor, she can play in the sink, she can help fold, she can help move clothes in and out of the washer, she can help dust....any of that!

~ I know that my daughter loves helping with all of that stuff, she is such a lil' Mommy already!

My 8 month old granddaughter can keep herself occupied for long periods. She has an incredible attention span. It amazes me! It is great that your daughter can play independently. Many kids today cannot!

Let her take the lead. She is aware of your presence and that gives her security to play on her own.

I have the complete opposite problem!

Enjoy. Who knows, you may be "invited" in soon!

At 2.5 'parallel play' is completely normal. If she was in a room with other kids that age, many of them would play next to, but not with, each other. Unless she refuses to respond when you engage her (you join her, not wait for her to join you) she is behaving normally.

COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS MAMA! I tried to achieve this and my DH totally sabotaged it. Now my son wants someone to play with all the time.

Waldorf education - check it out - play is absolutely important for her right now until she is 7. So awesome you have this - don't change it!

Good luck!
M.

Hi Maria

Independent play is great. its wonderful that your daughter is so independent. However, if you are worried that she does not engage when you try to play with her, you should reach out to your pediatrician. That is a legitimate concern, but it might turn out to be nothing to worry about. Seek professional help, if there is a problem and its caught early, the outcome can be better than if you let it go.

It depends, like most things.

As an example, most kids are described as "active, high energy, wish I could bottle that".

Then you run into a parent with an (really) ACTIVE kid. Who only stops moving for maybe 15 minutes a day. Who is RUNNING easily 5mi a day (no strollers in that family), climbing doorframes, swimming, handstands, etc.

"I don't think that 10mi hike is toddler friendly."
"Are you kidding? He's going to out pace us and be hurrying is along."

__________

So .... That playing independently?
Could be normal.
Could be a sign of a disorder.
Because WITHOUT SEEING, our comparisons won't line up.

I had a friend who talked about her "active" kids that she wanted tested for ADHD because they were so hyperactive.
These kids were super mellow. I mean.... Reeeeeeally mellow.
But she described them as active.
I had another friend whose son would run his feet bloody
My ADHD son is like that (hyperfocus ing and not noticing he's wrecking his body, parents have to lay those boundaries).
Turns out, nope. Aspie.

There are always points of similarity
And point of difference
An eval will tell you