40 Effortless Activities for Toddlers at Home

Whether stuck at your house because of a stay home order, due to weather, or because of other kiddo’s nap time, moms can never have enough activities for toddlers at home.  Toddlers are such an incredibly fun age – but the motion and need for activity is never-ending!  The following is a comprehensive guide that will give you an arsenal of ideas on what to do next time you are faced with a tiny human and their need to be entertained.

Top 10 Indoor Activities for Toddlers At Home

  1. Sensory Table. Grab some rice or dried noodles and place in a storage container, throw in some disposable silverware and let the youngster go to town.
  2. Build a fort. While a small amount of effort is required from mom or dad at the beginning, simply securing some blankets can go a long way!
  3. Play with a cardboard box. Through a simple keyword search online, “what to do with a cardboard box” unearths lists of fun and easy ideas that will keep your toddler entertained.
  4. Throw them in the bathtub. It is amazing how an empty bath and bath toys can be so amusing for a child.
  5. Play pretend.
  6. Create musical instruments. Make a drum with a wooden spoon and various bowls. Or a kazoo with a paper towel roll and wax paper. Stretch some rubber bands across a plate for a banjo. Before you know it, you child will have a symphonic orchestra at his or her fingertips!
  7. Cutting and gluing paper. Grab some safety scissors, tissue paper, and a glue stick. These crafty supplies provide endless activities for toddlers at home.
  8. Dance party. Pandora and Amazon are two of many online music streaming companies that have stations devoted to Disney karaoke, Chipmunks radio, and much more.
  9. Read books.
  10. Green light go, red light stop. Don’t discount this gem of a game. A great way to wear the out young-ins is with lots of green lights. Never red.
40 Effortless Activities For Toddlers At Home
Read more: Staying home with toddlers during COVID-19

Top 10 Outdoor Activities for Toddlers At Home

  1. Water table. These toys are 100% worth the investment on steamy days when you don’t want to run after your toddler at the pool. Hours of activity and multiple options are available online.
  2. Chalk. Draw a hop scotch. Or an obstacle course. Or a unicorn shimmying down a rainbow. You be you.
  3. Bubbles. Although potentially messy, there are so many bubble guns and bubble machines available allowing mom to take a break while the toy does all the work.
  4. Play ball. Pick your favorite from soccer to basketball to t-ball to catch and start playing!
  5. Timed running races. Have the toddler run from tree to tree and coach them on improving their time.
  6. Ride bikes.
  7. Hunt for bugs. There are some great nets and insect catching kits available – or simply make your own with food storage containers.
  8. Dig in the dirt. Messy but fun, kids can dig and make believe they are unearthing dinosaur bones or treasures from the past.
  9. Paint with leaves. Go outside and find a bunch of non-dried out leaves. Use as stamps and “paint” your own creation.
  10. Find shapes in the clouds. Grab a picnic blanket and stare at the sky. Free entertainment and great for the imagination.

Top 10 Online Activities for Toddlers At Home

  1. Watch a live feed at a zoo. Zoos all over the United States are offering live camera views of various animals giving your toddler the opportunity to get up close and personal with his/her favorite animal. Just be careful the zoo isn’t airing a live birth. Speaking from experience.
  2. ABCya! is a website and app best for toddlers on the older side as the site begins with pre-K. ABCya! offers numerous learning games focusing on numbers, letters, shapes, and colors.
  3. Zdoodle is a freeform drawing app targeting children 2-5 years old. Great for learning hand/eye coordination and expressing creativity digitally.
  4. Audible offers audiobooks from Amazon Prime and has a great selection of books for toddlers. The site currently has a free 30-day trial with a $14.95/mo fee following the trial.
  5. Tozzle is a free app that offers puzzles suitable for children 2+. With more than 40 puzzles, your toddler will not only be entertained by the puzzles but by the sounds and movements of completed work.
  6. PBS Kids app gives parents and toddlers access to videos and clips of their favorite characters from PBS Kids shows.
  7. ABC Mouse is currently offering a free 30 day online trial with content for kids as young as two. The site boasts of having more than 850 lessons across 10 levels.
  8.  Disney Plus is new – but already widely known to parents everywhere. One thing you may not know about it: Verizon is offering a year of free streaming to its users.
  9. Education.com is similar to ABCya! in that it has free online games suitable for children in preschool up through grade school.
  10. Storyline Online showcases videos of people in entertainment reading your child’s favorite books. There are quite a few famous faces!
40 Effortless Activities For Toddlers At Home
Read more: Complete list of free or cheap online homeschooling resources

Top 10 Educational Activities for Toddlers At Home

  1. Math Cubes. These are a great resource for counting, early math skills, stacking, color sorting, and more. Fortunately, they cost right around $12 on Amazon.
  2. Puzzles. So many are available – Melissa and Doug offer some great wooden versions!
  3. Search and find books. By looking on Amazon or any book selling retailer, you should be able to locate “Look and Find” books with your child’s favorite characters.
  4. Activity books. Whether purchasing a book or printing out PDFs from Pinterest, the internet offers thousands of pages of activities suitable for helping teach your child.
  5. Alphabet bingo. Create your own bingo cards and instead of numbers, use letters. With an award like an M&M, your child will be interested for days.
  6. Color by numbers. Similar to activity books, color by number pages can be found online in PDFs or can be purchased in a book for your child.
  7. Shape scavenger hunt. Go around the house searching for every shape. Give your toddler a list of every shape to cross off as you spot them!
  8. Separating food or objects by color. While most fun with M&Ms, just about anything can be sorted by color.
  9. Opposite quiz. Challenge your toddler to opposites. Start with the the opposite of “in” is “out” and before you know it, your three-year-old will be telling people that the opposite of “dorsal” is “ventral”.
  10. Memory Game. Memory or Concentration is a game that can start out with 2-3 matching sets and multiply quickly depending on the child.
Read more: Educational toys for toddlers and children with Lakeshore Learning
40 Effortless Activities For Toddlers At Home

Toddlers will always have more energy than their parents.  By coming into the day prepared with a list of ideas and activities, parents will have a better chance of focusing that energy for the good.  With most toddlers having the attention span of a gnat, there can never be enough activities for toddlers at home to occupy their (and your!) time.

WANT TO READ MORE?
Check out this article on Fun Indoor activities for toddlers!

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40 Effortless Activities For Toddlers At Home

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Katie Cowan
Katie Cowan
A Kansas City native, Katie is a mom of three and wife of one. She enjoys being at home, freelance writing, and volunteering at her children’s school and her family’s Parish. She loves working out, trying new restaurants, reading, and binge-watching TV shows. All the TV shows. Follow as she attempts to read @onebookeachweek on Instagram!

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