Looking for fun things to do with your toddler at home? Here are 37 ideas to keep them entertained, whether you’re indoors or outdoors. These activities include arts and crafts, educational games, and indoor adventures for rainy days.
Rainy Day Activities
When it’s rainy and your toddler is cooped up indoors, these activities can be a game-changer:
1. Snowdrifting
Set up your toddler at a table or use a large bin/tray on the floor. Sprinkle flour on the surface and let them drive toy cars through it, making tracks. Build flour mounds for extra excitement. It’s perfect to do while baking since you’ll already have flour out.
2. Edible sand
Make edible sand by mixing one part coconut oil with eight parts graham cracker or cookie crumbs. Put them in a bowl or bucket for your toddler to play with, squish, and even taste.
Using a small scoop or spoon adds to the fun and minimizes any worries about eating sand.
3. Push broom curling
For active toddlers, try indoor curling. Get a push broom or regular broom, a large basket (like a laundry basket) on its side as a goal, and small plastic plates.
Your child can sweep the plates across the floor toward the goal for a fun and active game.
4. Recycled fortress
Raid your recycling bin for clean plastic or cardboard items like milk jugs, cereal boxes, and paper canisters.
Let your toddler stack these items to build a big fort around themselves, then enjoy the thrill of knocking it down.
5. DIY drum set
Get creative with household items to make a drum set for your toddler. Turn pots, pans, bowls, or buckets upside down to create drums.
Give them a couple of wooden spoons as drumsticks, but beware if noise is a concern in your living situation!
6. Bubble wrap popping
Grab some bubble wrap from around the house or pick some up at a store. Tape it to the floor using masking or painter’s tape, preferably on tile or hardwood.
Then watch your little one have a blast jumping around and popping bubbles with their feet. Perfect for letting them burn off some energy.
Educational Activities
Here are some engaging educational activities tailored for toddlers:
7. Magical magnetism
For older toddlers who are past the stage of putting everything in their mouths, this activity is a great way to explore magnetism. Gather a variety of safe household objects, including some that are attracted to magnets and some that aren’t.
Ensure none are small enough to pose a choking hazard. Provide a strong refrigerator magnet and an empty box. Encourage your toddler to sort through the objects, placing the magnetic items into the empty box. Supervise closely for safety.
8. Bean bank
Raid your pantry for a bag of dried beans and grab an empty water bottle or container with a small opening. Invite your toddler to fill the “bank” bean by bean.
To add complexity, use a mix of dried beans and ask your toddler to sort them before depositing them in the bank. You can introduce the concept of different values for each type of bean, offering an opportunity to teach numbers in a fun way.
9. Alphabet fishing
Create a “pond” by filling a large bucket with water and adding plastic alphabet letters. You can make it more realistic by adding a few drops of blue food coloring.
Give your toddler a mini sieve, colander, or slotted spoon and ask them to fish out the letters into a bowl. As they do, they can name the letters or spell out simple words like “dad” or “cat.”
10. Sink or swim experiments
Fill a large tub with water, adding a touch of blue food coloring for fun. Gather various household objects of different weights, such as toy cars and foam balls.
Before placing each item in the water, ask your toddler to guess whether it will sink or float. This interactive game is both entertaining and educational, and it might get a little splashy!
11. Shape matching
Cut out shapes from felt, using cookie cutters for easy tracing or creating your own shapes. Cut each shape in half and mix them up.
Encourage your toddler to match the halves together. Using different colored felt can make the activity even more colorful and engaging.
Keeping Toddlers Busy
Here are some simple activities to keep your toddler entertained, especially handy when you’re working from home:
12. Sticker art
Provide your toddler with construction paper and a sheet of stickers or colored labels. Let them unleash their creativity by creating sticker art to their heart’s content.
13. DIY marble maze
Make a fun maze by gluing paper straws onto a piece of cardboard, creating a labyrinth. Place the maze inside a large resealable plastic bag and add a marble.
Seal the bag and watch as your toddler tries to navigate the marble through the maze.
14. Excavation site
Fill a large tub with sand and mix in your toddler’s favorite small toys, like mini plastic dinosaurs or treasures. Let them dig around and uncover the hidden items, creating their own excavation adventure.
15. Card dealer
Create a simple card slot by cutting a hole into a large canister, such as an oatmeal canister. Let your toddler insert playing cards one by one into the slot, practicing their fine motor skills and having fun with cards.
16. Building block bath
Add plastic building blocks to your toddler’s bath for a creative bath time activity. Watch as they build interesting structures while getting clean. Just remember to always supervise your child during bath time.
17. Bubble jar
Fill a jar with water, liquid soap, and a few drops of food coloring. Secure the lid tightly and let your toddler shake the jar to create colorful bubbles inside. It’s a simple and entertaining sensory experience.
18. Color sorting
Pour colorful pompoms into a bowl and give your toddler a pair of tongs. Encourage them to sort the pompoms by color into an empty egg carton or muffin tin, enhancing their fine motor skills and color recognition.
19. Stackable cups
Provide your toddler with paper or plastic cups, preferably colorful ones, and challenge them to build a tall tower.
If the cups come in different colors, they can also sort and stack multiple towers by color, fostering spatial awareness and organization skills.
20. Gelatin aquarium
Prepare gelatin the night before by pouring it into a glass baking tray or loaf pan and adding your toddler’s favorite small toys, such as plastic fish or toy cars. Sterilize the toys beforehand.
After refrigerating overnight, your toddler can explore their “aquarium,” digging out toys and even enjoying some gelatin as a sensory experience.
Arts and Crafts Activities
Here are some fun arts and crafts activities to spark your toddler’s creativity:
21. Button art
Utilize a box of random buttons by giving your toddler construction paper, kid-safe glue, and the buttons. Supervise closely to ensure safety as small items like buttons can pose a choking hazard.
Watch as your toddler creates unique artwork that you can proudly display. After crafting, remember to store the supplies out of reach.
22. DIY snow globe
Clean an empty jam jar and remove labels. Let your toddler choose a small plastic figure to hot glue inside the jar lid. Add glitter and fill the jar three-quarters full with mineral oil or glycerin.
Apply glue to the inside of the lid and screw it onto the jar. Your toddler will have a homemade snow globe to play with, fostering a sense of pride in their creation.
23. Tracing objects
Get black or dark-colored construction paper and a chalk marker. Gather various household objects like cookie cutters in different shapes. Have your toddler trace each item onto the paper, fostering fine motor skills and creativity.
24. Paint project
Provide your toddler with tempera paints in different colors and a large piece of cardboard or thick paper as the canvas.
Squirt the paints onto a paper plate or another surface. Let your toddler use brushes or their fingers to create their masterpiece, encouraging self-expression through art.
25. Paper flowers
Collect colorful paper cupcake liners and help your child cut out flower shapes using child-safe scissors.
Assist them in attaching the flowers to skewers with glue. Let them place the flowers in a pot of dirt or a vase, fostering creativity and fine motor skills.
26. Hand printing
Gather paper plates, tempera paints, paintbrushes, and rags or paper towels. Pour different colors of paint onto a paper plate.
Let your toddler paint one of their hands and press it onto a paper plate to create a hand print. Display their hand prints on the fridge once dry, creating a memorable keepsake.
27. Egg carton caterpillar
Gather colorful pompoms, pipe cleaners, and child-safe glue. Let your toddler decorate an empty egg carton to resemble a fuzzy caterpillar by covering it in pompoms and adding pipe cleaners as legs. Complete the look with googly eyes.
28. Tissue butterflies
Provide sheets of tissue paper, watercolor paint, and pipe cleaners. Let your toddler paint the tissue papers in their favorite colors (or use pre-colored tissue paper).
Once dry, help them fold the paper accordion-style and gather it in the center, tying it onto a pipe cleaner to create the butterfly’s body and antennae.
29. Animal tracks
Purchase moldable air-dry clay and roll out a large oval for your toddler. Encourage them to press their favorite animal toys’ feet, like plastic dinosaurs or ponies, into the clay to make tracks. Once dry, you’ll have a fun archaeological sample that your toddler can paint later on.
Interactive Toddler Activities
Here are some interactive activities for toddlers, with some additional adult help required:
30. Water xylophone
Line up water glasses or glass jars filled with water at different heights. Hand your toddler a wooden spoon and let them create their own tunes by hitting the sides of the jars.
To enhance the experience, add different colored food coloring to each container.
31. Sidewalk art
On a nice day, give your toddler some large sidewalk chalk and let them unleash their creativity on your home’s walkway or sidewalk. Ensure close supervision if they’re using the driveway or sidewalk for safety.
32. Main Street USA
Break down a large cardboard box and give your toddler markers in different colors. Help them create their own city by drawing roads, buildings, homes, driveways, etc. Once they’re finished drawing, they can use toy cars to drive around their town.
33. Edible necklace
Provide your toddler with a bowl of O-shaped cereal in various colors and a long piece of shoestring licorice. Help them string together a necklace, tie off the end, and they’ll have a colorful, edible accessory.
34. Tea time
Encourage your toddler to set up tea time in the kitchen. They can invite their stuffed animal pals and enjoy a make-believe tea party with their friends.
35. Ball-and-cup game
Grab three opaque plastic cups and one of your child’s favorite small toys. Hide the toy under one of the overturned cups, then shuffle them around. Ask your toddler to guess which cup contains their favorite toy. It’s a simple and entertaining game for little ones.
36. Hopscotch
Introduce your toddler to the classic playground game by drawing squares on your driveway or sidewalk. Explain the rules of the game, but don’t worry if they don’t grasp it completely yet—jumping from square to square will still be enjoyable for them.
37. Sprinkler fun
Create lasting memories by setting up a sprinkler in the backyard on a hot summer’s day. Dress your toddler in their swimsuit and let them enjoy jumping around and getting wet under your supervision. Don’t hesitate to join in the fun!
Final Thoughts
Keeping an active toddler entertained at home can be tough, but it’s all about finding fun activities that engage them. Whether it’s an indoor game for a rainy day, a creative arts and crafts project, or a quick distraction while you tackle chores, there are plenty of options to keep your little one happy and occupied.
Remember, even the simplest activities can create magical moments for your toddler. So, let your imaginations soar and explore the endless possibilities of fun things to do together.
