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SensoryToddlers173 Comments
Make playtime with toddlers so much simpler with 50+ simply perfect toddler activities!
What activities can I do with toddlers?
What is the best activity for a toddler?
What activities should a 2 year old be doing?
What should I be doing with my 2 year old?
What do you do with a 2 year old at home?
I’ve heard it all from readers over the years.
Activities for toddlers are the number one hardest thing to come up with to do.
This is a hard age because they often want to put stuff in their mouths. Toddlers also have a tough time understanding direction with the extra fun of super-short attention spans.
For our purposes, toddlers are kids between ages 1 and 3, but it’s pretty fluid. This age group starts when kids start to walk and ends roughly when they can generalize new knowledge.
After years of doing activities with and for toddlers, I’ve found that simplicity is best!
Keep this list for a rainy day, or a day you’re stuck inside and wondering what to do (these make great indoor activities), or just keep this handy for anytime you find a bored moment and looking for something to get through your day.
We created The Activity Room for that purpose! To help you get through your day at home with your kids. Learn more here.
50+ Perfectly Simple Activities for Toddlers to Try at Home
I’ve started keeping track of some of my favorite toddler activities – both my own and ideas from other websites. And this is my giant master go-to list that every hands-on parent needs to keep handy.
These activities are separated into sensory activities, art and craft ideas, material explorations, and other fun toddler activities.
Everything has been specifically chosen just for toddlers!
4 Tips to Make Toddler Activities Easier
Before we dive right into my favorite 50+ toddler activities, I wanted to share some hard-earned tips I’ve picked up over the years.
How do you do activities with toddlers?
- Allow your toddler to explore whatever it is that you give them.
- Don’t do an activity with an intentional plan, it never works out with this age range.
- Expect a toddler to be interested, leave it out for them to come back to later, or even the next day.
- Plan for them to put it in their mouth if you have a mouther.
I also highly recommend the The Toddler’s Busy Book (affiliate link), by Trish Kuffner and PLAY: Activities Plans for your Two-Year-Old. These two resources always have an activity idea that my kids love!
Simple Sensory Play Activities for Toddlers
What are sensory activities for toddlers?
Activities that let your toddler explore materials with their fingers, nose, mouth…really, let them do what feels good!
How does it feel? What does it taste like?
These sensory bins are wonderful ways to learn and very hands-on.
- Soapy jars, fun to shake up and watch settle!
- This is a blast! And a way to get the kids to clean, with dish soap foam.
- Cook up some spaghetti (or even better, use leftovers), add some color to it to make spaghetti potion.
- A slimy gel bag is a squishy sensory delight for toddlers!
- Just flour. Let your toddler explore flour freely.
- Add water to the flour and put in a baggy for some flour & water piping.
- Explore ice cubes!
- Jello! A sensory activity from Learning 4 Kids.
- Playing with and exploring pasta, from Fun at Home with Kids.
- Oooo. Add water to paper, idea from Tinkerlab.
- Bubbles! Simple sensory activity at MamaSmiles.
- Spray basic shaving cream onto a baking sheet or a highchair tray, add a few drops of food coloring and swirl!
Easy Peasy Arts & Crafts for Toddlers
This is the area I struggle with the most: getting creative with toddlers. But it can be done if you’re a little creative, too!
Find some toddler proven strategies to arts and crafts with these activities!
What are art and craft activities for toddlers?
- Make a simple egg carton train with pipe cleaners.
- Use a baggy and paint and add a dowel, small toys or toy cars of some sort and do some roller painting.
- Contact paper window decor. The best toddler art activity there is, I think!
- Using a toilet paper tube or cardboard tubes, stamp a heart!
- Use yogurt to paint.
- Make your own edible finger paint and create tape resist art. (Or use store-bought washable fingerpaints, affiliate link!)
- Foam shapes art on the window.
- Sticker art is a perfect toddler art activity from The Artful Parent.
- Spray paint art using water and watercolors with squirt bottles, toddlers will love this idea from Adventure in a Box!
- Shaken ball art (from Toddler Approved) is fun for your toddler to get moving and create art in the process.
- Create fruity art with fingerprints, with an idea from Penny Pinchin Mom!
- Turn potatoes into cool stamps, just like Glued to My Crafts!
Find many physical activities for toddlers to burn off some energy!
Free Play for Toddlers Made Easy
Free play is often the simplest of all the activities for toddlers!
It’s just a material by itself. Then, let them play and explore with it.
What will they come up to do with the object?
You’d be surprised at the fine motor skills and learning that can happen from every day play from 2 and 3 year olds. And they’re having so much fun, they don’t even know it!
What are appropriate activities for toddlers?
- Explore ribbons, add a bottle to the mix for some fine motor practice.
- Pom poms are perfect for toddlers and they love putting them in other objects!
- Pipe cleaners are not only fun to touch, but you can stick them through small holes (such as a colander), too!
- Let your toddler play with a cardboard box. Easy enough.
- Corn kernels, just keep an eye that they don’t put them in their mouths, and they’ll haul them around or pour them into containers!
- Tissue paper can be thrown, scrunched up, or torn into small pieces!
- Give toddlers your fabric scraps to play with!
- Use your leftover baby food jars as busy toddler play! Screw and unscrew them, stick little objects inside for prizes!
- The good old pots and pans never get old to a toddler!
- Water never gets old for kids! Add color to it for added fun. Let them play with cups and spoons for hours!
- Play with lights and mirrors for a free play science activity from My Mundane and Miraculous Life.
- Ripping magazines! From Confidence Meets Parenting.
- Stacking cups could be a great busy play activity for toddlers! Idea from The Imagination Tree.
- Stabbing foam plates, from Bounceback Parenting, could be lots and lots of fun with recyclables!
- Build a block city with taped up streets!
Other Activities for Toddlers
Sometimes you just need stuff for toddlers to do – more than exploring, arts and crafts, or an activity with an intended purpose.
Just an activity that a toddler can definitely do and do well.
- Chop up some pipe cleaners for sprinkles for fine motor practice or pretend play!
- Get the balloon out and play balloon badminton with your hands or with paddles.
- Leftover shipping packaging makes for a great bubble pop runway.
- Hammer golf tees into Styrofoam for some great hand-eye coordination.
- Bust out your ABC Mat and make roads to drive along – or a ton of other activities! Don’t have an ABC Mat? (affiliate link) Get one! They can be used for all sort of activities and learning!
- Go on a heart hunt or any kind of hunt. Hide some like items around the house like you would Easter eggs!
- Pop a spaghetti noodle into some Play Dough and thread other noodles onto the spaghetti for some fine motor practice.
- Throw newspapers in the house.
- Roll down hills.
- Make a balance beam from boards inside or outside and practice walking along them.
- Stack up blocks with your toddler and let him try, or let him knock them down. (Have a builder? Make sure you have these top ten block toys!)
- Make doodles in the carpet with cookie cutters and other kitchen utensils.
- Set out random ingredients from your pantry and let your toddler stir and mix them up in their own concoctions.
- Make some pom pom drops!
- A homemade lacing activity, from What do We Do All Day?, is an excellent toddler fine motor activity! You can also buy lacing cards too!
My Go-To Toddler Activities Toys
These toddler toys make are versatile to use in many activities and worth having! These affiliate links are to products to help make the toddler years easier and more fun.
What are your go-to toddler activities? We’d love to try new ideas!
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Clare says
Love all of these ideas especially the edible ones lol! We’ve really been enjoying the science activities from Play Connect (Website: https://www.playconnect.org ) lately – fairy tale foam and balloon inflation have been our fav!
Karem troche says
Realy imagination and very much patience ^•^
Syed Saleem says
amazing post thanks for share it
Syed Saleem says
this list is amazing. My kids love to paint with fingers. I’ll also show them a few activities that you mentioned here
Syed Saleem says
thnks for share it
Syed Saleem says
Thanks for share it.
Syed Saleem says
I am very thankful to you that you have shared this information with us. I got some different kind of knowledge from your web page, and it is really helpful for everyone. Thanks for share it.
Taylor Hansen says
I like how you mentioned doing spray paint art using squirt bottles with your toddler. I’m trying to find more activities for my 3-year-old daughter since we don’t go out as much since the pandemic. Thanks for the list and I might have to come back to this as we do more fun things together.
Siannon says
The bubble wrap killed me, guys! This is amazing.
Nilda J Stanley says
I am daycare teacher for 1 to 2 year olds…would like more ideas for groups in this age range….
Michelle says
This list is amazing. My kids love to paint with fingers. I’ll also show them a few activities that you mentioned here.
Thanks for sharing!
Hand and Hand says
Really thanks for sharing this useful post !! This post is very informative and i have got very good information about toddler activities. keep sharing !!
Lil says
I’m always looking for inspiration for great activities my toddler will love – thanks for all the tips!
love to read this posts….
Gordon Myers says
This is a treasure chest of activities! I love it. I plan to make a weekly schedule of these activities that we can then loosely follow. It will help me have a great idea when my little one needs entertainment and I’m brain-dead.
Clare says
I’m always looking for inspiration for great activities my toddler will love – thanks for all the tips!
Agnes Electra Chlebinska says
Young children need the opportunity to use their whole body and develop their gross motor skills. It’s only when they have mastered these that they will be able to control their fine motor skills, such as using a knife and fork or holding a pencil, for instance. As a result, children playing outside can have a positive impact.
Sachin Shah says
Growing toddlers need to be kept active all the time. This can mean a lot of time and effort. Most often, the first-time parents are confused how to go about this ordeal. That is where posts like this one come as a great blessing, help and guidance. Thanks for sharing this information.
padma says
Great post.
You have to give your child a lot of attention and channel whatever they are learning in the right way to boost their emotional, social, mental and cognitive development.
C.tillotson says
We are not allowed to use empty toilet rolls. It’s an health & Safety plus hygiene.
Nave says
Pls I need more simple and cheapest activities for toddler thanks
Sharon Forbes says
I can’t wait to do some of the projects with my 13 month old grandson that I keep once a week. Thanks for some great ideas.
Live in Nannies says
Great post. All toddler activities are very impressive and creative too. Surely I will implement to kids. Thanks for sharing.
Meena joshi says
I always get impressed with all the activities i get to know and actually it fulfills me with a energy to explore a new world to them help them to move in their dream land.
Thanks
Child Care Services Manchester says
Best ideas for toddlers. I like that we don’t need to buy expensive/talking toys. These activities will keep her busy and help in personal growth. Thanks for sharing!!
Rashmi says
some more innovative physical, cognitive and fine motor development is needed.
Heather B. Larson says
I also have available plastic measuring spoons and cups (each a different color), tiny pitchers, large rugatoni,various sized balls and beads. They will ‘pour’ beads, walk with ball atop measuring cup/spoon to balance the ball (or not LOL), put a rigatoni on each finger, string beads/pipe cleaners through the rigatoni, etc!
Dr.Shahana says
Great ideas! My son is into a lot of cartoons since this week! and would like to make him do these activities.Thanks for sharing.
Mrs Ruth Pereira says
Fantastic website
Tony says
My two year old Granddaughter loves a cubby house made with with sheets or blankets in the room, keeps her busy for ages.
Tony says
As a Grandfather exploring my 2 yr old Granddaughters world I find she loves interacting with her many dolls, I provide a voice for each one and we play act out shopping expeditions and ‘mummies busy’ routines which keep her occupied for hours, I’m fortunate that I’m retired as this kind of activity is very time consuming on your behalf.
Cornelius C. Porter says
Great ideas for activities for toddlers! I like that you don’t have to buy any expensive toys too, it’s all just stuff you’d have around the house!
Val Manchuk says
Hello Jaime,
These will be a great resource for me. We have our first grandchild on the way!
Val
Jessica Fitzgerald says
Really helpful ideas . thank you
Natalie Jubiar says
All Of These Sound Amazing I Should Try All of Them When My Little Monster Grows up!
Foam Products says
Very interesting! Thank you :)
Andre says
Hi those are very good ideas but my baby sister is 2 1/2 and she acts like a 7 year old! I would like a little bit more of better ideas but good job I still enjoyed it.?
Siyana says
Really helpful
Debra Moses says
I have enjoyed reading your ideas for toddlers. I am concerned by some that are amongst the choking list for this age group, such as balloons, the loose corn. The golf tees very sharp, and soap in case of rubbing eyes. What are your thoughts?
Jamie Reimer says
I think you need to use your own judgement of your supervision and your kid. Every kid is different.
Carroll says
What would you do with toddlers ages 2,3, &4 these projects are for little babies who have about nothing to do.
Kimberly says
I have a 3 year old brother that would not apply to any of these activities either. One thing that helps him is watching nick jr’s shows. Also teaching colors is fun. tell them a color and do an i spy like game. For numbers, grabs his/hers favorite toys, cars barbies, etc…(at least ten) and show him/her how many are each along with a card or piece of paper with the number. My brother also loves playing and learning, ex. playing with dogs while learning about dogs. making fun videos for the alphabet is also fun.
Yours,
Kimberly (11)
Jamie Reimer says
Hey Carroll – these are perfect for 1-3 year olds. If you’re looking for more advanced activities, check out our preschooler recommendations: https://handsonaswegrow.com/activities/preschool-activities/
Val Manchuk says
Hello Debra,
Maybe run the sharp tip across an emery board, or a sanding block? I’m sure it would still go through the styrofoam.
Val
madame butterfly says
great ideas! this activities are really awesome! i have a 3 year old son and i want to have this kind of activities at his early age. for him to improve his mental and physical ability.. They say that many parents now a days are considering their child to go to a fun activities like this with their kids in an early age where they can learn and help the child development as they grow. This ideas are really great! You might want to include this idea on your list. When my baby finally came out until now that he is 3 years old already i have already reading him books , many different kinds of books. Like this one http://www.amazon.com/Butterfly-Coloring-Pages-Butterflies-Adults/dp/1500501255, My doctor says that,”Reading a book to your newborn is a one-on-one activity that you can really turn into a special time with your baby,” reading at them as early as possible helps your baby develop.
YoungDad says
Some of these are really cool. A lot are just letting them make a mess with different objects. Granted it’s fun and good for sensory development, but without some kind of structure (putting them in a box or cup, maybe moving them from one place to another) they’re really not as good for learning as they could be
Jamie Reimer says
Not all activities, especially for toddlers, need to be about learning something. They “learn” a lot just by exploring and seeing how things work in their environment.
Tiffanie says
I have a picky eater, alot of these ideas i was able to use to get her to eat more. Thanks!
Dona Smith says
Great activities for toddlers
steph says
Some AMAZING ideas and thanks so much. Working in a nursery with toddlers we sometimes run out of ideas, so now i have a few more which may give me more brownie points at work ha ha… oh heres an idea that i did with the children the other day and loved it! Fill latex gloves with water and different items. I used pasta, toy train, food colouring, glitter and a peppermint filled one. Once frozen, run under warm water for a second to losen glove and take glove off to reveal ice hand. Children loved it! I have smelly hands in freezer now which have herbs, coffee, lemon zest, mint and a few other smells… cant wait to see if they like them too! Hope this idea comes in use :) email me.any more ideas if you have any… :D
Michelle says
Thanks for the inspiration! My 15-month-old has really enjoyed exploring cotton balls this week. They clump together, pull apart into long strands, squish, and stick to her clothes. She put a bunch in an empty laundry hamper yesterday and sat in them like a bath. Amazing what fun you can have with everyday items.
Kizzi says
My 20 mo’s favorite non-toy toy is the salad spinner. She loves to fill it with different objects (mardi gras beads, ping pong balls, magnetic letters, etc . . .) and see how they spin. This activity holds her attention longer than most “toys”.
Deasy says
I don”t know how to describe my feel about all these stuffs you have give Jamie! I do really..really inspired with all these activities. You are really kind mom. Very nice to know you…
try this site says
At this moment I am going to do my breakfast, after having my breakfast coming yet again to read
additional news.
Amparo Abrego says
Interested on projects for toddlers.
Karin says
So excited for updates!
Roma says
Mother toddler is best
Oriel Dixon says
I have 16 month old boy/girl twins and want some fun things I can do.with them during the summer that they will actually like doing and not eating or crying
Ms Natasha Byndon says
What a amazing website for educators to educate young children.
Mark says
I love the balloon badminton idea for young kids. I have a similar free website with kids activity ides being http://www.excitedkids.com and will add a link given I hadn’t thought of a lot of these ones. Well done.
Jennel says
Egg cartons are unsanitary and dangerous and should not be used for play of any kind.
” A type of bacterium, Salmonella, can be on both the outside and inside of eggs that appear to be normal, and if the eggs are eaten raw or lightly cooked, the bacterium can cause illness.”
http://www.cdc.gov/features/salmonellaeggs/
Jade says
Wow fun killer much, sounds like a response from a germaphobe. Pretty sure the cartons wouldn’t be clean before handing them to your child. Lots of kids play with egg cartons they are a staple in many kindergarten classes for art activities.
Bronya says
My kids live on raw eggs and are always playing with egg cartons…we have been doing so for years with no problems.
evelyn says
Thanks for all the wonderful ideas. I am using some of the your ideas for my toddler at my nursery.
Jamie Reimer says
So great to hear Evelyn! Got anything specific you’re looking for?
Cindy says
Only mylar balloons are appropriate for young children–never latex balloons. This website doe not make this clear. Latex balloons can pop very quickly in a child’s face, startle a child, and the deflated balloon goes into the mouth. This is not a scare tactic; this is real life.
Vanessa yepiz says
This is true! As a little girl I watched my friends sister choke and die because she put a large piece in her mouth.
Cristi Boddy says
Balloon play is safe with latex as well. Supervised! Supervised! Get on the floor with your toddler stop them from pinching the balloon if you are fearful of them being startled and clean away any broken balloon pieces at once. It’s common sense. A crayon can choke a toddler too are they forbidden? These are many interactive activities if you need unsupervised busy time use those that are appropriate.
Star says
Love this list…
Can’t wait to do some of these with my little one!!!
Octo says
My toddler son love to play lego duplo bricks, it’s also a very interesting activity, but it is very hard to find some easy building examples, lately I found this site very useful
It has many easy to build examples specificly for toddlers.
Barb says
These ideas are great. My 2yr old loves popping the balloon back and forth.
Jamie Reimer says
Balloons are great! Have you seen our balloon collection too? https://handsonaswegrow.com/28-ways-to-play-with-balloons/
Mukesh Rajpal says
Thanks for the lovely ideas to keep kids busy in fun activities, I can use some of them in my school.
RU says
actualy great tips. many thanks
loveghost003 says
Really really nice post, thank you for the collection.
Jamie Reimer says
Thanks :)
Andi says
Right now the toddlers t my preschool are loving uncooked oatmeal and cinnamon, with cups & scoops.
Duncan Faber says
We spice up all our indoor activities by having an audiobook play in the background. We have them on when the kids are playing, cooking, relaxing… whatever. There’s lots of great sites to get them, but we use this site a lot because all the stories are free and original.
Gina Carter says
We useand get boxes of activities sent to our house every month. It is very affordable and gives you insight to your child’s behavior as well.
parvitas says
so great ideas! thanks for inspirations :)
diaane says
Some great ideas. BUT. shaving cream is pure soap or so the parmedics told my neighbor when they had to take her 2 year old in the ambulance because he got some in his eyes and was sensitive to it. his face swelled up .
At a first aid class a parmedic told us that two of the hardest things to get out of a childs throat when they are choking is a GOLF TEE and PEN cap. great ideas but probably not for 1-3 year olds.
Pam says
My grandson loves playing with a beachball. He’s 11 months old now but we’ve been playing with it for awhile. Big smiles and giggles!
Bethy says
My two year old daughter absolutely loved to play in the dirt! I set out shovels and spoons and sticks and she practices digging differently with each tool. She draws in the sand with her fingers, uncovers hidden objects like rocks, discovered mud (ack!) and has even taste tested it. I say, they’re only little once!
Gramma RN says
Some activities should be always ith adult supervision. The balloon idea, for example. A popped balloon piece in the toddler’s mouth poses a real danger for choking. Have fun with your toddler, but with anything that could fit through a toilet paper tube, don’t take your eyes off the child.
Cyndi says
Put a balloon in a stocking and if it pops the pieces will stay inside. :) *My son LOVES balloons so this is at least a once a month activity.
Gramma RN says
Some activities should be always ith adult supervision. The balloon idea, for example. A pooped balloon piece in the toddler’s mouth poses a real danger for choking. Have fun with your toddler, but with anything that could fit through a toilet paper tube, don’t take your eyes off the child.
JV says
Thank you for this. I’ve been trying to find activities for my 18 month old. By far, the best round up I have seen. :)
Dolores Castillo says
Toddler’s activities
vicky says
hi people i need your ideas of wot sessions i could run in a children centre from 0-5 i would be greatfull
Tawny says
Just a suggestion for those allergic to flour: we love to explore rice, too!
Amy says
Love all of these! I have 18 month old twins and they will love to do all of these (and so will their big sister!).
Eryn says
What a great list of activities. The golf tee’s and styrofoam is just brilliant. My son will be busy for hours with that one. Love your website.
Sue Beth says
Good list! one activity our kids liked was real paint brushes and water in a bucket or bowl and painting outside….anything…the house, the cement, the deck, the deck chairs….
Adele says
Hey hun. Just wanted to let you know that I featured this on my blog today. I would love it if you could check it out :)
http://mammymade.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/mint-stuff-ive-seen-23.html
– Adele @ Mammy Made
April says
Great ideas! Ive been through, what seems like, thousands of web sites to get ideas for my busy smart little 19 month old daughter. She is bored with practically everything that we own, have done or she has seen, so I am on the look out for some creative ideas to keep her little mind expanding. Thank you for this! It was/is very helpful!
Mel@TheDizzyMom says
Perfect! I am trying some of these tomorrow. We are getting so bored around here. I am a new SAHM and trying to keep my 2 year old entertained is so hard!
Jess (aka Seamama) says
I find myself returning again and again to this post to peruse the ideas. Especially on days where I am low energy and need something easy to do with Little A. Thanks for such a comprehensive post.
Cayla says
Thanks for all the great ideas! I babysit an 18 month old and 2 1/2 year old at my house and have been in need of some toddler activities. I can’t wait to try these out!
leanne says
Great ideas, can’t wait to use some!
Candice says
Our favorite thing right now is flour but we mix in baby oil do it can be molded. Lots of fun but a mess afterward but it’s worth all the fun and smiles
Melanie says
Right now my daughter loves playing with plastic Easter eggs and an egg carton. I put a different coloured item in each egg (pom pom, pipe cleaner, scarp of material), and she’s just delighted every time she opens them up! This is how she learned her colours too!
Jamie says
That’s brilliant! We did something similar with the baby food jars – just opening them up is a delight, but to find something in it is even better! Love that idea Melanie!
Emilia says
What a great comprehensive list for the kiddos! Love it.
crystal@growingajeweledrose says
I was just looking at traffic sources, an realized you linked me onto this. I somehow missed that the other times I looked through the list. Just wanted to thank you for including Growing A Jeweled Rose in such a fantastic round up!
Jamie says
haha! Yep! You’re welcome and thanks!
Julie says
Based on your criteria I have 3 toddlers. A one year old, a two year old and a three year old!! Thanks for some great ideas
Jenna says
These are really good ideas!!! You do have to be careful with some of these ideas and what age you do them with. If you do it with young toddlers you need to have a watchful eye because there are chocking hazards in some of these ideas. I have been a 2 year old teacher for many years now.
Lyn Armstrong says
Thank you for painting on an easel instead of a flat table! Doing things on a slanted surface (like the desks of 1900’s) or an upright surface (like an easel) helps pull the hand into a grip that you want your child to use holding a marker, crayon, pencil. In this position the wrist muscles help which makes it easier for your child. Wonder if you could attach the styrofoam for hammering onto such a surface? Hm…..You have wonderful ideas!
Heather says
These are awesome!!!
Rene says
Watch out for the flour activity…I am highly allergic to the dust off flour.
Jamie says
Oh man! And flour is so fun!
Brooke says
This is terrific!!! Some great ideas we haven’t tried before!! Thanks for the inspiration. :)
Brooke
Jessica says
I love the extra ideas, my favorite is mashed potatoes! Left over, homemade, or instant they all are awesome for kids to play with of all ages.
Jamie says
Ooooh! Mashed potatoes would be great sensory play!
Sue says
These are such great ideas. Love them.
momandkiddo says
A great collection. Thanks for including my post in it.
Andrea says
My kids love to play with ramps. I usually lean an extra table leaf on the couch and they slide everything they can down the ramp (especially themselves!)
Jamie says
This sounds so tempting, I just don’t know if I can bring myself to let the kids use my table leaf! I may have to snag something at a garage sale just for this…. I know the kids would have a hay day with it!
Anna @ The Imagination Tree says
Lovely list Jamie! Thanks for including one from me!
Denise Hardin says
I loved your list. I have a small in-home day care with toddlers. I use a lot of your ideas, but have added some more of them. I wanted to give you one idea that my toddlers LOVE. I put food coloring, a little cooking oil, and fill with water a water bottle *plastic* and tape the lid around it. I sometimes put small things like little glittering glass balls, glitter, etc. in them for them to roll around and watch. Just a little idea
Jamie says
I’ve tried the bottle sensory thing once, we didn’t have luck with it. I may have to do that one again. Its such a great idea.
Srishti@ProlificCooking says
Amazing collection! I always get short of ideas for my 1 and a half year old. Thanks for sharing!
Mommy to the Max says
It is amazing how such simple things can entertain and fascinate your little ones. I remember doing pots and pans, balloons and bubbles when my kids were younger.
Surprisingly, those same items work with my older kids, too. Of course, they play with them differently now but my 11, 8 and 4 year olds still love muffin tins (we use these in various games such as catch the penny), balloons (we have assorted contests with these) and bubbles – well they’re just fun no matter what age.
Rachelle | TinkerLab says
fabulous list, jamie! i love toddler activities, and find that following a child’s lead helps me come up with things that work well. thanks very much for including us with all these toddler super-stars.
Leza says
I love the golf tee idea. I will be doing many of these with my 2 year old twins. They love to “paint” the house. I give them water and paint brushes and the water changes the color of the bricks.
Lori says
Wow, awesome list. Thanks! I love lists :)
Lori @ Cachey Mama’s Classroom
Jode says
Great list thanks Jamie! My twins are only young toddlers so we do a lot of messy play outside where i don’t need to stress! We do many of these ideas too but have found lots of inspiration through your list! They are definitely a harder age to plan successfully for!
Jessica says
Shaving foam is definitely a great one! I usually keep it contained by giving each child their own oven tray to smoosh it around in and draw pictures with their fingers. Adding tools helps maintain interest aswell – pop sticks, craft matchsticks, paint brushes/old tooth brushes, rubber stamps, anything really. A little note: if you do a long session of this, a bit of moisturiser after the clean up helps those with dry or sensitive skin.
Another one is egg cartons. Go on a nature walk or treasure hunt and collect little things then either play with them in an egg carton, putting them in and out and opening/closing the lid, or glue one thing in each hole.
PS. I love the hammering golf tees idea! Can’t wait to try it out! The woodwork table was always may favourite thing at kindy so this is a great way for younger children to get the same thrill.
Trisha @ Inspiration Laboratories says
Great list, Jamie! My son’s favorites are anything to do with water or paint or trains.
Shannon says
I have two little ones in this age range now and these ideas are fantastic. I love the sensory section, that is where I fall short so I will be implementing these. Thanks!
Ness says
Fantastic round-up! I found the toddler stage the most difficult as well. Pinning this for future reference (just in case…)
The Iowa Farmer's Wife says
What a great list of activities!! Thanks for sharing these!! :)
Roopa says
That is an amazing list of activities!! Shaving cream was one thing that my daughter loved then and even now. But may not be apt for <2yrs.
Thanks for including our 'Foam art on window'.
Katie says
the shaving cream is hard, at the daycare i work at we use spray whip cream they love it and its safe to eat
Jamie says
Great suggestion!
JDaniel4's Mom says
Wow! I can do many of these with my preschooler.
maryanne @ mama smiles says
Such a fantastic round-up of activities!!! Thanks for the new ideas to try!
Kylie @ Octavia and Vicky says
Wow, what an amazing list! You’ve been so busy, that’s for putting all your great ideas together in one spot.
crystal@growingajeweledrose says
Fantastic round up!
Toddler Approved says
Awesome post! I am excited to now have even more ideas to do with my 16 month old daughter! Thanks for including our heart ball art in your post.