Simple play goes hand in hand another favorite activity these days - work. Toddler work is very very important stuff ;)
Cooking and yard work are probably the favorites, but he enjoys cleaning too, and really just carrying things around for me is super fun apparently ;)
I must admit I am really not good at letting the little boy "help" as it usually results in a big mess and there are enough messes around here to begin with. But when I do manage to let him, I swear I can see the gears in his brain working and his entire demeanor changes as he approaches these tasks with such a sense of purpose and satisfaction. As with most parenting challenges I am having to reassess my priorities. Messes can (almost) always be cleaned up. There's important stuff going on :)