If your toddler is like most other toddlers, she’s exploring, walking, climbing and getting into things — including things she’s probably not supposed to get into! She makes you laugh and smile, but all her energy can certainly test yours. And you only have so much time in a given day. Knowing some great activities for toddlers can keep your little explorer occupied, let you get some other things done, promote positive attachment between you and your child and enhance her growth and development.
Holly Homer, founder of Kids Activities Blog and author of “101 Kids Activities,” and Angela Thayer, founder of Teaching Mama and author of “The Preschool Journey,” share some amazing toddler activity ideas.
Here are 40 activities that are great for keeping toddlers occupied:
- Get Your Hands Into Sensory Bins
You can make many types of sensory bins, Homer points out. Pick a theme — gardening, play dough, texture exploration or anything else you can come up with — and fill a box with items related to that theme. Let your toddler have fun — and maybe make a mess!
- Squish Some Cloud Dough
Most toddlers love to play with cloud dough. Homer’s simple recipe for this project: Mix 1 part vegetable oil to 8 parts flour and add a tablespoon of nontoxic tempera paint powder.
- Have Fun With Colored Rice
Color rice by mixing some rice, a dash of rubbing alcohol and some food coloring in a big Ziploc bag. Let it sit for five minutes. Then, dump the rice out on a piece of wax paper on a cookie sheet and leave it to dry for a few hours. Make a few different batches with different colors. The rest is simple, according to Thayer: “Fill a bin with rice. Give the child funnels, cups, cars or anything else to play with the rice.”
- Press Metal Into Clay
While she plays with clay, let your toddler press different objects into it, such as a spoon, fork or Slinky, recommends Homer.
- Make DIY Bath Paint
Make bath paint with shaving cream and food coloring. Thayer says, “Toddlers love this activity!” Plain shaving cream is also a lot of fun for toddlers.
- Squish Paint
Put drops of paint on a piece of paper. Slide the paper inside a Ziploc bag and close it. Let your toddler press the paint around to make a beautiful mix of colors.
- Play With Slime
Slime is easy to make and fun to play with. Homer’s blog has several slime recipes, including Glowing Slime.
- Use Toddler-Safe Water Beads
You can use any kind of water beads, but to be on the safe side, you can also make your own toddler-safe water beads. Thayer prefers to dye tapioca pearls with food coloring.
- Play With Food
You know how messy toddlers can be when they eat, but playing with food is a good way to keep your toddler busy. Give her a few bowls, various types of silverware and some messy food to play with — applesauce, yogurt, mashed potatoes, cooled cooked spaghetti. This might not be the most fun activity to clean up after, but hey! Cleaning is another activity you can do with your toddler!
- Make Homemade Granola
Cooking with kids can be fun, and granola is especially easy to make with toddlers, Homer points out. Your toddler gets to dump several ingredients into a bowl and mix.
- Give Your Kid Some Chores
Hand your toddler a spray bottle with water and a clean rag. Assign her something to “clean” — cabinets, a wall, the floor or the fridge door. Your child will stay busy wiping down surfaces. Other good toddler jobs include cleaning up toys or putting dirty clothes in the hamper, says Homer.
- Leap into Clean Laundry
Let her play in the piles of clean laundry. Ask her to help you sort by handing you all the socks, for example, or wash cloths. You may not get much folding done, but your child will develop her sorting skills!
- Sing the Cleanup Song
Increase the chances of getting your toddler to help clean up by playing this game. Sing, “Clean up, clean up, everybody, everywhere,” and immediately provide lots of attention and excitement when she puts something where it belongs. Ask her to focus on one thing — for example, to pick up three yellow things or all the square things.
- Take Clothes Out of the Dryer
Another laundry activity! Do this activity together, of course. Involving your toddler in your everyday responsibilities ultimately teaches her to help out around the house.
- Be a Mirror
To play this “Mirror, Mirror,” copy your toddler’s facial expressions and movements. Encourage her to imitate you, too — and encourage funny faces. Sometimes, toddlers will only do this for brief periods of time — this is perfectly okay.
- Share Some Snacks
Feeding each other enhances bonding between you and your child. Also, offering food to others increases your toddler’s ability to share.
- Stretch Out With Mommy (or Daddy) and Baby Yoga
You can check out videos on YouTube and do this activity right in your living room. Or just practice some basic moves.
- Drop into a Bottle
Give your toddler a water bottle with a small hole in the top and a pile of toothpicks. Let her put toothpicks through the hole in the tip, which — as Homer points out — lets her work on her fine motor skills. You’ll want to monitor this activity closely, to make sure your child doesn’t get hurt by the toothpicks.
- Paint with Tongs
Let your toddler use tongs to pick up a cotton ball, then dip it into paint and dab onto a piece of paper. Bonus — it helps develop her pincer grip.
- Practice Early Writing
Make a sensory bag made from tiny pieces of broken-up Styrofoam mixed with hair gel, sealed tightly in a Ziploc bag. Your toddler can use her finger to trace lines and shapes on the bag, or she can squish it around to develop hand strength.
- Create with Pipe Cleaners and Beads
Let your child play freely or have her try to thread the beads onto the pipe cleaners.
- Drop Pompoms Through a Tube
Tape a paper towel tube on a wall. Thayer recommends having your toddler drop pompoms through it into a bowl on the floor. Try different angles and multiple tubes.
- Make a Fabric Scrap Box
Put cutup pieces of fabric into an empty wipes container, suggests Thayer. Your toddler can pull the pieces of fabric out and put them back in. Have her sort scraps by color. For another activity, let her glue bits of fabric on paper in a collage.
- Use Big Picture Books
Let your toddler improve her fine motor skills by using her pointer finger to point to specific things (a lamp, a shoe) in a picture.
- Have Water Bottle Fun
Let your toddler practice putting the lid on a bottle and taking it off, putting a straw in the bottle and putting little items in the bottle, like water beads or Popsicle sticks. Make sure she doesn’t put the lid in her mouth.
- Play with Miniatures
Give your toddler a heaping pile of miniature toys, craft items or anything small. Provide containers for her to put things in (or take them out of). Keep an eye on her to make sure she doesn’t put any miniatures in her mouth — if she does, this activity may not be appropriate for her yet.
- Race Cars
Use tape to create roads on a floor in your house. Let your toddler drive toy cars around on your creation, suggests Thayer.
- Chase and Tickle
When your toddler’s being playful, chase her around and give tickles. Then give her a chance to chase you.
- Climb a Mountain
Climb up and down stairs with your toddler, holding hands if she needs to. Pretend you’re climbing a mountain and take turns describing what you pretend to see and feel along the way.
- Jump Like Frogs
Have your toddler burn energy by pretending to be a frog and jump up and down. Have her practice jumping side-to-side, forwards and back. Bonus if she wants to pretend to catch flies.
- Frame It
Make art fancier by gluing craft sticks — or sticks from the yard — around it to make a simple frame. Let your child decorate the frame with paint, glue and glitter.
- Build a Tower
Help your child build a series of towers with blocks. See how high you can build before they fall down!
- Create a Box House
Make your toddler’s dream house by cutting doors and windows into a large cardboard box. Try creative shapes for the openings — round, heart-shaped, or perfectly square. Grab some paints and help your little one decorate!
- Play With Nature
Play in leaves, the snow, sand — either at the beach or in a sandbox — or the grass. Let her touch it, smell it and — in the case of snow and sand — try to draw in it.
- Compare Things in Nature
Go outside and get down low. Look together at different bugs, sticks or leaves. Talk about how they’re the same and different.
- Trace a Leaf
Collect a few leaves. Place a leaf underneath a piece of paper. Color the piece of paper with crayons to reveal a leaf print.
- Pick Flowers
Talk about the colors, smell the flowers and gently touch the petals. Using so many of your toddler’s senses can enhance her learning.
- Point and Label
Improve your toddler’s speech skills by pointing to different things anywhere, any time, and telling her what you see. When she starts labeling things back, provide lots of excitement and encouragement. For more fun, do this with verbs only, acting out the word.
- Water Fill-and-Dump
When the weather is right, fill buckets with water. Provide several smaller containers and a funnel for an endless, wet session of fill-and-dump.
- Rock Around the Block
Take a trip around the block or explore in your back yard. Pick up pretty or interesting rocks together. Bring them back to paint with funny faces.
Want more ideas? Try these fun toddler activities.
Heather Gilmore, LLMSW, is a freelance writer, social worker, and BCBA (Board Certified Behavior Analyst) in training and founder of Hope Family Resources.
