Working from Home: Keep Your Toddlers Entertained
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It is difficult to work from home when your kids are there. It never fails that as soon as you have a conference call or a pressing deadline, your kids require your undivided attention. One of my work from home with kids strategies is to have some special toys and activities that you only pull out when you absolutely need to keep your kids entertained. They are my work from home secret weapons! I’ve rounded up some of the toys and activities that keep my toddlers entertained the most when I need to get some things accomplished.
Peg Board Set
Our board set has provided hours of entertainment for my kids. My son loves to build towers and knock them down while my daughter likes to build different patterns. This set not only promotes creativity but it is also great for fine motor skills. There are so many different ways that you can play with this toy both with your kids or them on their own. For under $20, you can’t lose!
Magnetic Tiles
I honestly can’t say enough about these tiles. If you don’t have a set yet, you MUST get some asap. I didn’t really know what the fuss was all about and I thought they were a little pricey. I’m here to tell you that they are worth every single penny. My kids will play with these all day long if I let them. They can build houses, castles, trains, whatever they put their little minds to. My heart melts seeing their imaginations run wild and seeing all the awesome stuff that they come up with. A definite must when working from home with kids.
Train Set
My son is obsessed with trains. In fact, we are on a two-year run in which my son is basically only interested in trains (is that normal, by the way? Kidding, kinda). Although I didn’t put this set on the list for him. Every single kid that has come over to my house has loved playing with this wooden train set. Putting the tracks together requires creativity and problem-solving skills, which is awesome. The set is also great for imaginative play with all of the little props. It has something for everyone. It is also durable and will last for a long time. My son still plays with wooden tracks and trains that belonged to my husband when he was a boy. Sounds like a winner to me!
Little People House
My favorite toys growing up were Little People so I absolutely love that my kids are into them too. I get all kinds of warm fuzzy nostalgia. But seriously, both of my kids love playing with this Little People House. Both my boy and girl do a lot of pretend play with this set. It will definitely keep them entertained for a while.
Lego Duplos
Regardless of what your kid is into, I’m sure they like Legos. I haven’t met a kid yet that won’t play with some legos thrown their way. Your kids may or may not be at the age where you trust them with the regular size so these are a nice safe alternative. I like to give them different themes or ideas when they are playing to keep it fresh. For example, I will tell my son that we are going to play pirate ships and he then creates a whole scene with a pirate ship, island, etc. The opportunities are endless! Also, I just love toys that are versatile and last forever. These definitely fit the bill!
Alphabet Magnets
Kids love magnets. If it were up to my kid, my entire fridge would be filled with these things. That is a no-go as I can only handle so much clutter. It works in my favor because when I bring these bad boys out, the kids go nuts! They can play so many ways with these. You can have them practice their sight words, spelling, or just become more familiar with the alphabet. My three year old pretty much knows how to read because he had a brief stent of obsessing over the alphabet because of these magnets. That and watching weird YouTube videos but I digress. Another thing I love about this particular set is that it includes a magnetic tray. This is perfect if they are hanging out in your office and you need a magnetic surface. Educational and fun!
Fire 7 Kids Edition
I try to limit my kid’s screen time. Now before you go thinking that I’m “that mom“, the only reason I limit screen time is so when I do give it to them they zone out like little zombie babies. Need to hop on a conference call? Here kiddos, check out some YouTube Kids. Want to actually enjoy a warm cup of coffee in the morning? Watch some weird video of a grown man cracking open toy eggs. No judgment here. Anyways, I absolutely LOVE my Fire 7 Kids Edition. The case is awesome and I don’t have to worry about the littles dropping it or throwing it. Even if they do destroy it, you are good because It comes with a two-year worry-free guarantee meaning if it is broken they replace it with no questions asked. What I love most about this tablet is that it comes with one-year of FreeTime Unlimited. FreeTime Unlimited gives your kids free access to 5,000 popular apps and games, videos, books, and educational content from PBS Kids, Nickelodeon, Disney, and more. Any app you can think of is included. Such a huge help when you are work from home and need to keep your kids entertained!
What are your work from home secret weapons? What strategies do you use to keep your kids entertained when you work from home? What struggles are you facing? I would love to hear from you, drop a comment below!
What are your work from home secret weapons? What strategies do you use to keep your kids entertained when you work from home? What struggles are you facing? I would love to hear from you, drop a comment below!I would love to chat! Make sure to follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest.
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This is such a great post for anyone in your position, or even how to keep your child busy when you have stuff you need to do.
Sophia xo // sophiaaaxo.com
Absolutely! Perfect for housework and things as well.
this is perfect!! thank you so much for this!
My pleasure , thanks for reading!
My daughter loves Play-Doh and pretending to write lists with her own pencil (pens leave marks all over their clothes) and paper pad. I do a lot of work during nap time…..
Yes my son loves play doh too. I was going to include it on this list but I considered the mess factor! It’s hit or miss whether mommy loves that activity :). Thanks so much for reading!
Those tiles look so fun! I need to order some for my son!!
I’m always amazed by the women that work at home with young children. That’s so incredible to me.
It is not easy that is for sure. I don’t do it regularly so it isn’t that bad. I do feel for women that work from home every day. I’m sure they are pulled in so many directions. Thank you so much for reading!
My kids are obsessed with ABC Mouse on their Kindles, so that is my go to for blog writing time.
I do love ABC Mouse! I get more into it than my son. I love earning the tickets! lol
Lots of great ideas! I’ve been thinking about getting a tablet for my daughter. She would love it as sometimes I let her watch YouTube on my phone, and I lock every thing else on my phone. But it gets tiring so I’m thinking a tablet would be a good idea!
This is a great tablet for kids. It is all safe and kid-friendly tablet. You can set time limits, for example, 1 hour per day. When the time is up, they can’t access it. It is perfectly designed for littles!
Lately I’ve been having to bribe my kiddo with the kindle. I don’t like doing that too often, but hey, whatever works lol.
Those are great resources to have a kid entertained for a long time 🙂
Thanks so much for reading!
lovely artcile
Thank you!
Always good to have the quiet toys on hand–although I’ve been amazed at the ways my daughter can make noise with just about anything. LOL
Quiet toys are the best toys! I love their imagination but sometimes it would be awesome if they could tone it down just a tad, LOL. Thank you so much for reading!
Absolutely normal for toddler boys to be obsessed with trains. Ours is too 🙂 I also bribe my child with phone, tablet etc. What can you do, hey.
No shame in my game. “Mommy wants a cup of coffee, play with this tablet”. A mama has to do what a mama has to do! lol. How long has your little guy been hooked on trains?
I love that it’s mostly selection of pretty basic and imaginative toys and that they are ageless I completely forgot about magnetic tiles
I seriously love the magnetic tiles. I buy them for every birthday that we go to now. My son’s dexterity wasn’t the greatest so Legos were tough for him at first and these worked like a charm. Thank you so much for reading!
These all sound like great toys! I don’t have children, but I do have 3 dogs (1 being a puppy), so I know the struggle of trying to keep them entertained while I work!
Fur babies can be tough! I had one pup that was impossible to keep entertained and we ended up paying for it with chewed up walls. Yikes! Thank you so much for reading!
There are some grea toys there for entertainment. I know my eldest son would love to do puzzles and colour in all day
That is awesome. My oldest is not really into coloring, but I wish. I think I will have better luck with my daughter on that one. Thank you so much for reading!
These are some awesome toy suggestions!! My toddler loves just sitting next to me with his own “work” (aka paper and pen/crayons or his little “laptop” that does letters and animal sounds)
Not a mom yet, but these looks fun… great post 🙂
Thanks so much for reading! 🙂
I needed some toddler toy suggestions because my son’s birthday is coming up. He already has the magnets, and I can honestly say he loves them. I’m thinking about the All-new Fire 7. We limit TV time too, but I can’t imagine not having some because otherwise my son would be sitting my lap all the time. And I’m tempted my the play house.
Both are awesome. I love the fire because it comes with the Free-Time, which is seriously amazing. There are so many books, apps, videos that come free with it. I also like it because you can set up a parent profile and still use it as a regular fire as well.
These are great ideas. My son is also obsessed with trains so I’m sure he’d love that train set. He goes to bed with all of his Thomas the Train wooden trains… It’s like sleeping in a bed of rocks!
Ha, my son does the same thing! My son has a new wooden train and train car and they haven’t left his side for days. So sweet but I wish he would switch his obsession up because Mama is getting bored 🙂 Thanks so much for reading!
I love the hands-on toy options you gave. It’s always nice to see some non-digital toys for variety!
I’ve found the more buttons and batteries a toy has, the less my kids play with it over time. I try to avoid them at all cost!
I’m a gramma who works from home and I have grandkids with me more often than not. They would love these toys!! They would keep them busy for hours!
I love all of these toys. Don’t know what I would do without them! Thanks so much for reading!
I totally agree with you that working from home with kids can be a nightmare at times. But these tips you shared about how to keep them busy while you get the job done is spot on.
What a very informative post.
Definitely we need some toys to keep our boy busy especially when I’m busy. Thanks for suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
These are awesome! I work from home too so I am saving all of these ideas!for my kiddo!
Thanks so I much! I hope it helps!
Duh! What a SUPER hack! I used to do this with toys (the Going-to-Church bag), road trips (new-to-them books for every long trip to visit grandparents – actually I still do this), but I’ve never thought to do this with work calls. You rock – thanks for the awesome suggestion! 🙂
Thanks so much , the same to you! I never thought of a going to church bag, so cool! Thanks for reading!
Great ideas in there. Well done.
Thanks for reading!
I work at home and working with my toddlers is a balancing act. Thankfully, I have a lot of support. So I have chunks of time that I get some stuff done.
That is awesome, it is so tough. I’m so glad you have support , that is such a big help!
There are some really great ideas here for keeping little ones entertained. I also like the idea of these only been used when you have work to do.
I think that is key. It’s a novelty and actually looking forward to me working which makes the #momguilt much better!
I have this problem on a daily basis. Going tot ry some of these tips.
The struggle is real! Let me know how it goes!
I work from home and I feel so guilty sometimes about it all. You can’t really do both at once and while the toys are great, I would love to be the one spending time with them.
It is so hard, I hate working from home sometimes because of the guilt. I try to remind myself that if I were working at the office, the kids wouldn’t see me at all so any time I am able to spend with them during the day is just icing on the cake. That is my little trick to make myself feel less guilty. Thank you so much for reading and keep up the great work Mama!
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Kids would definitely be occupied with these toys!
😱😱😱 You’re a genius! I have never thought about secret weapon toys! My girls would love all of these toys, but the alphabet magnets would keep them occupied for HOURS!
I don’t have any secret weapons other than an iPad, and they only use it when I work. But they still come to me and ask for everything while on it! 😂💕💕 Great post!
Haha, what did moms do before the iPad?! My kids still want me to watch the iPad with them… totally don’t want to watch some strange men opening surprise eggs with toys in them but oh well 🙂 Thanks for reading!