If Mikey is begging me to play and the dishes are piling up, I put him to work. Including him in everyday chores is easy and he loves it. In this picture, I am just to his left washing dishes. I made a tub of soapy water and pass him dishes. When he starts getting bored of a dish I say, "Thanks, that one looks done; here's another one. " Sometimes it morphs into water play with two objects. Often, I finish the dishes and he still wants to play with his tub of water.
I always put a towel under him because water never stays in the tub.