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Please! Tell me every indoor activity you can think of. . .
To entertain a 16-month-old boy.
DH is going to be out of town for 4 days/ 3 nights. I was going to take the kids to my moms, but now she's going to be out of town, so we're on our own.
Usually, on the weekends, we try to do an out-of-the-house activity every day (in addition to running errands, etc.) to let DS get some energy out!! - the playground, the indoor bounce place, the pool, etc. One of us is in charge of keeping up with and playing with DS; the other of us tags along to watch, but is in charge of DD.
I don't think I trust myself to do any of those activities without DH. Even if I put DD in the ergo instead of the stroller, I just don't trust that I can keep up with DS the way I would need to. (That said, if any other moms of 2u2 have any suggestions on how to make this work, I'm open to them.)
So. We'll run errands, I'm sure, and go for walks. But I want to have things on hand for every kind of indoor activity imaginable! He's young enough that he's not great at sitting still/ following directions, but we're working on it 
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Re: Please! Tell me every indoor activity you can think of. . .
i bet he would like it if you built a small fort with blankets and he could have some small toys in it.
also here is a list https://fun.familyeducation.com/hobbies-and-interests/games/33380.html
your sand and water table hauled in, and filled with beans and/or rice. (but not if you have a dog that will eat it, lol)
GL !
We color, chase each other, they cook for me at their kitchen, rody's, we have a dance party, sing, read books, mickey mouse clubhouse I love because they engage the girls and I love when they answer mickey.
I also have a chalk/magnet wall I painted and they could spend hours at that.
Savannah
Callista
Baby Trail Blog
"Someday we will look at our babies and know it will be worth it. If it was easy, we would not have had our babies, the babies we were meant to have." From Amy052006
If you have a table that can be easily cleaned off you can take some shaving cream and put it on the table and just let him rub it all over and if you are daring add some washable paint colors. We used to do this at the daycare and the kids LOVED it.
Savannah
Callista
Baby Trail Blog
"Someday we will look at our babies and know it will be worth it. If it was easy, we would not have had our babies, the babies we were meant to have." From Amy052006
Elizabeth still loves to "cook" -- I put rice krispies, dry rice and/or dry beans in big bowls and give her all the measuring cups and spoons, big stirring spoons, whisk, etc.
It makes a big mess, but I do it on our hardwood kitchen floor so it's easy to just sweep/vacuum it all up when she's done.
Play dough and cookie cutters; set up a tent/fort; play hide and seek; roll balls through a tunnel/crawl through, etc.; dance; make avocado cheerio mash by giving DS a baggie of cheerios to mash up or beat with a little rolling pin then put cut up avocado in the baggie and let DS mash it up - eat it as a snack; play restaurant/kitchen with metal or plastic bowls and whisks and wooden spoons (I eat a lot of pretend soup); finger painting with washable paints in the bathtub (or you could use markers; I put down the non-skid mat, strip to diaper, tape paper to the side of the shower wall and let him either draw or paint) afterward I move the paper and do a bath and wash the tub walls off' if needed.
Thanks for the fabulous ideas, ladies - keep 'em coming!
I don't have many other indoor ideas, but I can tell you my tricks for taking the 2 under 2 out
Last summer, after DD was born, DS still wasn't walking very well, so I had to be near him all of the time. I kept DD in her baby bjorn. We would go to the playground for an hour or so - not much longer because it would get HOT for both of them. (We did go to some splash parks though, and that was better) I just made sure that DD had eaten before we left, and we were good to go for 2+ hours. You can do a lot with the baby in the carrier - I would bring DS to the top of the slide, get him ready to slide down, then quickly lower myself to the ground with the help of the fireman pole (trying not to jostle the baby too much!) to meet him at the bottom.
We would take DS to Little Gym once a week. DD would sit in her car seat in the snap and go stroller in the corner. If she got upset, I would go and get her and wear her in the Baby Bjorn again, while helping DS use the balance beam, bars, etc.
If you want indoor distractions, I would bring them both down to the playroom (carpeted and VERY small), and tell DS to run. He would "run" back and forth across the room forever, laughing away and constantly falling. It certainly got him tired! We also used to take the cushions off of the couch and create obstacle courses for him to climb on.
We also would take early trips to the mall - bring the double stroller in the car. Early in the day, not as many people are there.
Honestly, it seems so overwhelming to deal with the 2 of them outside of the house. But for me, I found that when I did get them out, the day went so much better for all of us. DS got tired, I got a change of scenery, and DD didn't care so much about any of it...
Good luck! I am sure you will do a great job!
-This. R loves to cook with us. We have one of these.
https://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=536981&cmSource=Search
We give her a bowl, measuring spoons, cups and a handful of ingredients and she makes her own thing. We also let her do the dishes. Basically, I pull that stool thing up to our farm sink and let her play in the water and bubbles from the dish soap while I rinse the dishes and load the dish washer.
-She really likes to play in her play kitchen as well.
-She will only color for a few minutes before getting bored. She did not like the Aguadoodle that gets a ton of raves.
-She likes to water the plants in the backyard. I let her play with the hose and spray nozzle. (outside activity)
-R loves this little bike. I let her play with it inside. We have stone floors on the first floor of our home.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002KKC6C8/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&m=A2L8K9TU0GJLVM
-She is just starting to get interested in puzzles (specifically the Melissa and Doug wood ones that make noise)
-She likes it when we sit and read books with her.
-She will watc Dora and Signing Time. For some reason, signing time holds her interest for longer than any other tv show.
Keeping them entertained at home is tough. I am kind of scared of how hard it is going to be with a 2 y/o and a new baby...
I've heard to put down saran wrap, then shaving cream, then saran wrap on top and tape it down to cut down on the mess.
I need to do this with DD sometime!