3 year old will **never** play independently

My boy is nearly 4 and very similar. We have a 10 month old as well so it can be a bit of a challenge. I've just accepted that my eldest will always prefer someone to play with him rather than on his own. I think children either like playing by themselves or not. He occasionally has very short bursts of independent play but it's a rarity!

All I can say is .. sammmeeee. Although I have noticed if we have some music on in the background or one of her Tonies on she will sometimes play better by herself. Maybe worth a try!

Same we have a 9 month old as well I’m with her and Dad is with him playing. Very occasionally he will play alone at home. He is with his Nan one day a week and will play independently for long periods of time while she cooks etc but never with us around it’s weird!

Same with my 3 yo and I did post similar question few months back.

agree! Background music or stories really helps with my little boys play.

I’ve sometimes told him in not able to play and he needs to play. He’s gone from no independent play to now starting to do a little each day!

Absolutely same here. My 3 year old wants to role play allllllll daaayyyyyyy. We have a 8month old as well and it's not feasible to play with her all day. She cannot just play by herself no matter what tasks I set up 😭🤣🫠

Thank you so much ladies 🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻

Same!! I think it must be a boy thing! Also have a 6 month old, she plays better independently 😂

Same.

https://www.instagram.com/smallstepstoddlers?igsh=MjNkYnlicXZkcmNm

I've started using little play tasks like the ones from this IG account, takes my lo a couple of minutes (or sometimes longer! 🤞) to do and she can do it independently now! We built it up over a few weeks of me joining in for a few mins then leaving her to finish and now she just gets on with a wee activity if I leave it out.