Favorite Toddler Activities
for Hours of Fun and Learning

There are many different types of toddler activities and each type addresses certain skills and promotes development.

Here are a number of great activities to engage your little one and develop a foundation of learning to last him a life time.

COOKING:
Develops math skills(counting and measuring),nutrition and science concepts.

ART:
Develops creativity, emotional expression, fine motor skills, large motor skills, cooperation and spatial concepts.

PRETEND PLAY:
Develops social skills, language and vocabulary imagination and emotional expression.

PUZZLES:
Develops problem solving, abstract reasoning, shape recognition and spatial concepts.

BLOCK BUILDING:
Develops a foundation for more advanced science comprehension including gravity weight and balance.

Choosing Appropriate Toddler Activities

Most young children have short attention spans. Most toddler activities presented here can be done in less than twenty minutes. If you want to plan a thirty minute activity time it's best to set up two or three short toddler activities instead of one longer one.

Toddler activities that teach lessons that are relevant and engage your child as an active participant will have the greatest impact.

Here are some of my favorite toddler activities:

Back Blackboard(Good for Resting Time)
Ask your child to lie still on his stomach. Ask him to pay attention to what he feels. Draw shapes, letters, etc on his back and ask him to guess what it.

Sorting Socks
Show your child how to sort socks according to size,color and style.

Fill and Dump
Most very young children like to dump things. Put a few items in a container and show them how to dump and fill. Don't forget sand and water play in the summer.

Water Play:
My son loved his little wadding pool. Just don't leave him unsupervised. Fill a dish pan or tote with water and toys and have a splash.

Sand Boxes
If you don't have room for a big sand box go to a store and by a tote that is 4-6 inches high and a few feet wide with a lid. Fill it full of sand box sand(Wal-Mart has colored sand that is so cool). Or if you have a screened in area where cats can't get to it for a litter box one of those plastic round kiddie pools doubles as an inexpensive sand box.

Bean Bag Toss
Give your child three or four beanbags and show her how to gently toss them into laundry baskets or large tubs.

Toddler Games
Simon Says, Musical Chairs, Hide and Seek, Tag and Red Light/Green Light are fun outside games. These are a great way to develop motor skills, turn taking and rule following.

Makeshift Shelters
A sheet or blanket over a table can become a tent, a farm, a cave, a fort--the possibilities are endless. Get involved in this activity with your child. A great place to have lunch.

Turkey Trap:
Engage your child's imagination with this favorite toddler activity. Tell your child you are going to trap a turkey for Thanksgiving dinner. Set a cardboard box on a sturdy stick. Show your child how the turkey will knock the stick over and be trapped. Place some corn under the box. Overnight remove the corn and replace with feathers and some candy. Leave this little poem from the turkey. You tried to catch me, but I can't be beat. So I left some candy for you to eat.

Pick Up:
Cooking tongs or large plastic tweezers are great for building hand strength, eye-hand coordination and manual dexterity. Toddlers love picking up things and dropping them into containers. I have collected a variety of bugs,frogs and worms and we have to catch them and put them back into their jar. It is also fun to use things with different sizes,shapes and weight.

Water Painting Fun:
Here is a great no mess painting fest. Use a regular size painters brush and a small pail of water and let your toddler paint your house, fence or drive way.

Spray Bottles or Squirt Guns:
Fill with water in them make great fun. Have your toddler squirt the house,fence or what ever. Syrofoam balls make great targets because the move easily. Of course there is always squirt tag too.

Lacing or Stringing:
This is a toddler activity favorite. Use things with some firmness to lace with. I have used clear tubing like ice maker tubing that you can find at most hardware stores.(Avoid using tubing from things like fish tank pumps because these can contain harmful chemicals.) Straws are great to lace with and they come in different shapes and sizes. The dollar stores almost always have a great selection of straws and they sometimes have the curly ones which is another toddler favorite to string on. Old boot or shoe laces work great. Just wrap electrical tape on the ends about 2-3 inches down to give the ends firmness.

You can string oodles or things. I have used cereal like Fruit Loops and Cheerios. Pasta makes great string fun. What about candy like Life Savers. Cut straws into different sizes and make a cool straw bracelet. Craft stores often carry large beads just be sure they are not choking hazards. Make holes in foam balls or make your own clay beads,dry paint and wow. Empty thread spools make great lacing items and they make great Christmas decorations for the tree. The sky is the limit. When your toddler gets good at these adjust the size of holes and the firmness of the string to challenge them but not frustrate.

Cutting Play-Doh:
With plastic child scissors or a plastic knife cut Play Doh. Make letters,numbers,shapes,food,animals etc. the fun is limitless. Have your toddler try to copy the you made or make his very own. Use this time to teach letters,numbers,counting shapes,size,colors or build vocabulary, expressive language skills and imagination.

Scissors:
Around the age of 2-1/2 years I introduce scissors to toddlers(with total supervision.) Toddlers love to cut. We cut up junk mail and magazines,construction paper,Play-Doh,straws and yarn etc.

Pre-Handwriting Skills:
Attach a large sheet a paper to a wall, fence or floor. Let your toddler color with crayons,chalk, markers and paintbrushes. See if they can make vertical,horizontal and diagonal lines and circles. Great pre-handwriting fun.

Big Connect the Dots Pictures
Use them to form shapes,animals or what ever. Gradually shrink the size down as your toddler gains skill.

Tracing
This is a great way to learn writing control. Toddlers love tracing stencils. If you don't have stencils use things like blocks or shapes from a sorter or cookie cutters.

Rubbings
Have your toddler make rubbings of different objects around the house and in nature. You can use keys,buttons, cardboard cut outs,leaves,sand the list goes on and on.

Picture of Me
Place a large sheet of paper on the floor and have your toddler lay down on it. Trace his outline. Ask him what is missing? See if he can tell you what goes where. If he needs help point to the area and then ask him again. Help him draw the various body parts on the outline.

Draw and/or Trace
Use sticks and fingers in wet sand,rice,shaving cream,finger paint.

Magnetic Forms
Use letters, numbers, shapes, animals etc. Used on a refrigerator. You can also make your own pictures that stick. Here's a fun game. Cut out a blue pond, a green tree and a red barn and tape them to the refrigerator. Ask your toddler to place magnetic animals on the picture of where they live. You can use the same theme for matching colors,size and shape. The Dollar stores usually carry those 3X5 magnetic picture frames. Grab a couple and cut them up in half or quarters. Glue pictures on them to make same and different,tic-tac-toe or matching.

FYI(Home centers and hardware stores carry magnetic paint. I made the front of my son's toy box a magnetic board. They also carry paint that can turn a wall in to a chalk board.)

Motor Fun:
Climbing and hanging from Monkey-Bars, swing, sliding, running jumping, kicking and catching a ball. Well, DAH!! Take your toddler outside. Go to a park or play in your yard but let him move.O.K., Now that I have that off my chest we'll talk about fun things to do outside besides just going out.

Blowing Bubbles
Do I need to say more. It's cheap,easy and fun entertainment for kids of all ages. Add spice by using a net,light weight racquet, foam bat or if your toddler is like mine a foam sword fights off bubble aliens real well.

Kite Flying
How long has it been since you flew a kite ? Nice activity for little people. Let them help hold the string once its up. This will bring big smiles to little faces.

Nature Walk
Going for a nature walk around your yard or in a park. Teach your toddler facts about his world and about how to protect it.

Ride On
Toddlers love riding tricycles or scooter toys. This is a great way to develop motor skills and strength.

Play Ball:
Hitting a T-Ball, beach ball or balloon. Play catch, kick or chase with a ball.

Bowling
2-liter bottles make great pins. Start out by using them empty. Them you can add water to them to make them a little more of a challenge as skill and strength build.

Picnics
Take your lunch out side and eat on a blanket. Bring a book too and share a story in the shade.

Gardening
Plant a flower or vegetable garden. Big or small this is a fun activity to share with your toddler. Think about all the development you can get from a simple pack of seeds. First you have to choose what to plant and where.Then you have to prep the soil. Count how many seeds you are going to plant of each thing. Put them in the holes and cover them up. Add just the right amount of water to each little plant. All the while talking about mother nature and how she works her miracles. There's a whole life time of lessons in a garden.

You don't need to buy a ton of toys or yard stuff to play effectively with your toddler. You are the best toy/teacher your toddler could ever have. You can't buy back time with your children when they are little so make the most of every minute.

Young children are naturally curious. Capitalize on their enthusiasm and nurture their inquisitiveness through your attitude and the toddler activities that you plan.
Children like to feel independent and want to do things themselves. You need to be available to gently encourage and guide your child along through each toddler activity. Chose toddler activities that actively involve your child and allows him to make choices.

Toddler Crafts

Toddler Activities

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