What Indoor Activities For Toddlers
What Indoor Activities For Toddlers
Finding indoor activities for toddlers isn’t usually hard. You can give them some pots, pans, and plastic containers to play with, a box to climb in and out of, or even just toss them a ball.
They can keep themselves entertained surprisingly well! Still, there’s only so much time you want to spend listening to your child bang on the pots while they giggle hysterically.
At some point, you’ll need something new – something that will keep them busy and (ideally) keep their hands off of the pots!
Toddler Sensory Board
A sensory board is a simple way to provide your toddler with some fun, stimulating play. It can be as simple as a foam board, or you can make it more elaborate by adding ribbons, glitter, and paint. Here are some tips for making and using a sensory board.
- What is a Sensory Board?
A sensory board is just what the name suggests: an activity that provides lots of tactile stimulation for the senses. You can purchase these at most toy stores; they’re typically made out of foam boards with holes in them so you can push different materials through them (for example, putting marbles into holes). But if you’re crafty enough to make something yourself, consider using cotton balls or pom-poms glued onto poster board (or any other colorful material) with glue dots or double-sided tape!
- How Do I Make One?
- What Should I Put On A Sensory Board For Toddlers?
4 Tips For Using One With Your Toddler!
- When introducing new objects on your sensory board, let your toddler explore them first before giving him or her instructions about how they should be used (especially if he’s been rough with his toys). This gives him/her ownership over what happens next; when given freedom over the process of exploration and discovery—anything from learning how something works to decide where it goes—kids feel empowered rather than controlled!
DIY Magnetic Wall
If you’re looking for a kid-friendly way to use those old CDs, this is the project for you. All you need is some magnetic paint and a few hours.
The result is an awesome DIY wall that kids can play with on their own or with mom and dad. There are many ways to make a magnetic wall:
- Magnetic paint + metal tape
- Magnetic strips + wood board
- Magnets in the wall with the metal surface behind them (like this)
Homemade Stickers
Making your stickers is easy, and they can be used for arts and crafts.
Plus, if you have a toddler who likes to draw on walls and furniture, making your stickers will save you money on paint remover.
Stickers can be made from recycled materials such as newspapers or magazines, tape, or glue. You’ll need paper for the backing of the sticker (old magazines or newspapers work great), adhesive (tape works well here), markers if you want to add color to the finished product, and scissors.
Homemade Window Paint
Mix 2 cups of water with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch.
Mix until thick paste forms, then add food coloring and glitter to your liking.
Optional: Add a few drops of essential oil, such as lavender or chamomile, if you want to make the paint calming for your toddler and reduce his/her stress levels.
Pour into containers (you can use ice cube trays) and place in the freezer for several hours, then pop out the paints when they’re ready to use!
Homemade Kitchens
In this activity, you will make a homemade kitchen. You and your toddler can use a plastic container to store all of their utensils and food items.
They can have fun with the containers that they find in the kitchen, such as coffee mugs or bowls.
They can also bring out some play food that is safe for them to eat and play with such as cooked noodles, hot dogs, and marshmallows (if they are not allergic).
This is a great way to encourage your child’s imagination by allowing them to pretend-cook or pretend that they are at home preparing an actual meal!
Toddler Art Boxes
You can provide your toddler with their own “art box” and all the supplies they need.
You can find great ideas online and make your art box for your child. You will need.
- Toys like wooden blocks, picture books, and crayons or markers
- Paper (you can use sticker paper as well)
- A spray bottle full of water so they can wash off the stickers after they color on it
Nature Scavenger Hunt
Nature scavenger hunts are a great way to teach your toddler about nature and the world around them.
They can help them learn how to identify different plants, animals, and objects in their environment. You don’t need anything special to get started, just take a walk outside or go on a hike with your child and have fun finding interesting things in the wild!
Examples of things you could find.
- A tree
- A flower
- A rock
What you could do with the things you find.
- Take pictures of them for a photo journal or scrapbook
- Color drawings of what you found
Postcards
If you are looking for fun indoor activities for toddlers, then writing a postcard is one of the best ideas!
The post office can be a great place to go on vacation and it’s also an easy way to keep in touch with friends and family. Your child will learn all about what happens when you send mail by using this activity as inspiration.
They will also have fun coloring or drawing on their blank postcard before mailing it off. You can add stamps and take them over to your local post office or even send it online if you don’t have any stamps around the house!
Make Ice Cream in a Bag (with or without salt)
What you need, Salt (optional), Ice Cream Bags (with or without salt)
Ingredients for Ice Cream Base: milk, sugar, salt, vanilla extract. You can use whatever flavor of ice cream you want!
The amounts will depend on how much milk you decide to make. Make sure to add the ingredients in the order listed above so that you get a good mix.
We used about 2% milk and then added about 1/4 cup of sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt until it was just right for our taste buds!
Bubble Wrap Hopscotch or Trampoline
If your toddler is a fan of bubble wrap, they will love this activity.
You can let them create their hopscotch or trampoline with the bubble wrap. You could also use the bubbles to play a game where you hide objects under some of the bubbles and ask them to find them!
Learn Colors with Rice in a Ziploc Bag
This is a great activity for toddlers because it uses their natural curiosity to help them learn about colors.
The rice represents the colors of the rainbow and you can use this opportunity to explain that they are red, orange, yellow, green, blue (indigo), and violet. You can also talk about how you see these same colors when you look out at clouds or watch them in a glass of water.
If possible use real objects to display each color so that your toddler can feel it as well as see it.
Indoor activities for toddlers
Here are some great indoor activities for toddlers that will help your child learn and grow while allowing them to explore their environment in new and exciting ways.
Indoor Activities For Toddlers
Children learn best when they’re allowed to explore their world on their terms. This is why children love play time so much it allows them the freedom to interact with the world around them in a way that makes sense to them.
By letting your child pick out their toys, you’re allowing them to explore what interests them most at any given time—which may mean a little bit of everything!* Indoor activities for toddlers should involve lots of repetition; this allows children an opportunity not only to get comfortable with certain skills (like walking) but also gives them time to process what they’ve learned before moving on. Most importantly, indoor activities for toddlers need plenty of space!
Even if indoors feels like infinity compared with outdoors (and even though the difference is pretty small), there must be enough room in each area so kids can feel free exploring all parts without running into anyone else or having anything get broken underfoot. Lastly let kids touch stuff! Touching things helps develop motor skills while building knowledge about how things work together as part of a whole system—iPhones aren’t just things we use but rather devices made up of many smaller parts!
Conclusion
Indoor activities for toddlers can be a lifesaver! They will keep your kids entertained and you sane. We hope that these 25 indoor activities for toddlers help you to keep your toddler (or toddler and baby) entertained no matter what the weather is like outside. Remember, even if they are only able to do an activity for a few minutes, it is better than nothing! By preparing in advance for these activities, you can spend less time thinking of ideas and more time playing with your kids!
