Activities to Keep Toddler busy

Toys are great and all, but there is only so long toddlers have the attention span to play with their toys. That’s why there is always jokes about kids having more fun playing with the cardboard box the toy came in rather than the toy itself. It takes some time for toddlers to gain that independent play and get good at entertaining themselves. Skills like that come with practice. That’s is why it’s good to have activities set aside for your toddler on rainy days or for times you can tell they are getting bored and are struggling to play independently. Plus these activities have a bonus of learning some sort of skill set in the process. I am not a montessori expert or educator, but these are some activities I felt my toddlers have actually enjoyed doing and I’ve picked up a few of these activities either from the preschools the kids have gone to or from other moms etc. NOTE: these activities do require supervision (as all things with toddlers do;)), but you can at least supervise while giving them space to do on their own once you show them what to do! And it’s okay if they put their own spin on it ! That’s their creativity working in the process.

WIndow Washing!

Spray bottle + Squeegee + Cloth

Best for messes & ‘potion’ making

MUD KITCHEN

Water Activities: I don’t know what it is about kids and water, but they love playing with it! Water can be so entertaining when you put a few dollar store items with it and put some purpose behind what they are doing. It’s easier of course to do water activities in the summer when you can set it up outside and it’s less messy and you don’t care if they get wet since it’s hot outside. But you can and should do some water activities inside as well. As long as you put down some trays or large plastic bin to do the activity in, lay down some towels for splashes and expect they may get wet. It will be worth it once they are busy for a good amount of time.
- Window washing: spray bottle with water plus a squeegee and microfibre cloth. Give them a big glass door to spray with water, squeegee and wipe with a cloth. They may not actually clean the window, but they will be excited to have their own spray bottle to use and since it’s just water it will be okay if they don’t actually spray the door. This was one of my first kids favourite activity at their preschool. Once they get the hang of it, you can redirect them to ‘cleaning’ surface of tables and cabinets. Will it actually get cleaned…no, but they will be excited to get to do something they witness you do on the regular!
- Pouring activity: put some different sized cups, measuring cups (with handle and spout), bowls or whatever you choose with some warm water and let them pour from one item to another. Will they sometimes miss the cup? Absolutely! But will they have fun- you sure bet!
- Making bubbles: get a large measuring cup filled with half water and let them pump some hand soap into the cup and give them a whisk to stir and make bubbles!
- Potion making: ‘cauldron’ (or large bowl) of water and have some other small bowls or cups with different ‘ingredients’. You can put pom poms, leaves, flower petals, salt, sand …possibilities are endless and let them mix all together for some fun! Mud kitchens (outdoor tables with sinks) are also really great for this type of play.
- Wash station for toys: give them a large bin with warm water. You can give them some soap for added fun. And let them clean their toys (water friendly ones). Give them a toothbrush or cleaning brush to scrub their toys clean!
- Transfer water: this one is more to build on dexterity when they are a little bit older in the toddler years. For example an ice cube tray filled with water and give them a syringe to transfer water into a bowl. Or get a salad dressing dispenser with a push spout to pour water out into the ice cube tray and try not to overfill. Or a peri water bottle and work on their squeezing water out upside down.
Object transfer: super basic, but can keep them busy if item is interesting enough. You put any item like pom poms in cups or containers and let them organize and transfer/pour from one container to another. My third child one night couldn’t fall asleep so we let him hang with us watching TV and I set up some plastic cups for him with some cheerios and he played this for 30 minutes straight while we watched a show and then he went straight to bed afterwards. Was glorious!
Sorting: Mix some items together and get them to separate them into groups using their fingers or tongs or spoon. You can use shells, pom poms, rocks, etc. and get them to sort them. Or you can get them to sort based on a color or size to make it more complicated for older toddlers.
Buttons & cups: Similar to sorting exercise but buy some mixed buttons from dollar store that are large in size and let them sort of ‘pour’ these buttons from one cup to the next. You can give them some tongs and scoopers to help with transfer if they want!
Folding washcloths: Okay now this is sounding more like giving your toddler chores ;) But they actually do like watching what you do and try it for themselves. They don’t end up doing properly anyways, but the whole point is they feel involved and they are learning. Simple thing like folding laundry is one of them. When you have to fold some laundry yourself, set up a pile of smaller washcloths for them they can practice folding or rolling up nicely.
Washers on screw: You can purchase activities like this online or just get a piece of smooth wood (no splinters), put some screw in it sticking out (not pointy edge) and let them put different sized washers on them by turning. It helps with their dexterity and makes them feel like they are doing construction too!
Sand activity: Literally just buy some sand from the dollar store and get them to pour and scoop the sand from one bowl to another using spoons. My girls loved doing this activity and loved the texture of sand. Sand is messy though so try to have them do it on a tray to reduce spills.
Ripping or cut scrap paper: This one won’t last long, but it’s super easy set up. Give them a tray of newspaper, magazine paper or scrap paper and let them rip and make a mess. Once they get a bit older you can get some toddler friendly scissors to get them to cut!
Sticker Sorting: These stickers are great for this sort of activity, but you can use whatever you like! You can get them to take these colored dot stickers and place them with similar colors on a paper. Or you can get them to put on a line, shapes or letters you drew to help with their hand eye coordination.
Experiment: Anything with baking soda, vinegar and food coloring is always fun! For any age. You can get them to pour little set cups of vinegar with different food coloring into a clear white bin of baking soda. If they have the dexterity you can use a syringe or pipette instead. Another idea I saw on ‘Busy Toddler’ was to hide the food colouring under baking soda in a muffin tray and get them to pipette or pour vinegar onto the soda to see what colour they will get! These are all fun activities that do take a little prep, but a nice scientific surprise. Used these experiments with my kids alot during covid home schooling them.
Puzzles: Lots of toddler friendly puzzles out there . Puzzles are great at any age! These wooden ones are great for introduction. Also these ones you can usually find at the dollar store and easy to use but fun for them!
Sand letters: Preschooler activity to practice writing letters using their fingers in sand. And the added fun that it’s in sand! You supplement the activity with a written or 3D letter they can look for reference.
Flower arrangement: Get them a little plastic vase (or dollar store vase) and buy some cheap loose flowers (or pick them from a local meadow) and get them to help cut the stems and make a little flower arrangement and pour some water of course! Let them lead the way in choosing which flowers and how long to cut.
Pin & cork board: this one is for a bit older toddlers like 2 and up with supervision. Grab a piece of paper and draw some basic shapes or numbers/ Place the paper onto a cork board. Have them poke holes along the lines you drew for them and this helps improve their dexterity. If they poke enough, the enclosed shape will pop out.
Color match or ABC match chart (2-3 years old): If you have some colored bowls or cups place them out with colored items that can fit inside. Give them a mess and let them figure out where to put items with some hints and guide. You can also just draw on a bristol board with colored markers with the colors you want them to find and tell them to place on that spot and they can use any of their toys or items they can find in the room. When they are a little older you can make this game a little more challenging by getting them to sort based on letter of alphabet it starts with.
Alphabet sticky notes: More of a preschool activity, but hide sticky notes around the house with alphabet letters on them. Once they find them they have to say the letter and something that starts with that letter. My preschooler really enjoyed searching for them and learned some in the process.
Beading: This one is for probably 2.5 years and up! You can get any yarn and beads from the dollar store just make sure they are a large size so they don’t struggle putting them on. And the size of the hole in bead makes sense with the yarn or string you are getting. Always supervise so they don’t put the beads in their mouth. You can also just get cheerios to put on the yarn and they can have a little snack when they are done putting them on. And you don’t have to worry as much for chocking hazard.
Painting: Painting anything is always fun but messy of course. I feel the easiest way is to have your kid down to their diaper or underwear. Provide brushes but if they want to use their fingers let them! Just get some non toxic paint and supervise. Easels are a bit easier since they don’t have to worry about paper moving when they paint. Another idea is to let them paint play structures or toy outside. Get washable paint and give them a few of their toys to paint and it washes right off when they are done. OR to keep it less messy give them a paint roller, tray and water and let them ‘paint’ their toys outside with water.
Plant: Get them to plant their own flower or vegetable. Get them to help put some soil into a cup with some seeds and water after and check on it every few days and let them water or put ice cubes daily. These is an activity that kindergarteners love too!

Painting in Diaper

To reduce mess and increase fun!

These activities may seem a little daunting to set up! Like who has the time?!? But I found that if I took a day to organize and set up on trays (especially ones they really start to like) and separate each activity- it makes it so much easier to quickly go grab a tray when getting frustrated and let them have fun! Or you can offer for them to pick a tray and bring it over to their ‘station’ and work on it followed by ‘cleaning up’ as they do in montessori schools. That may not be as practical as you may not have the space to have them all on display. But even just having them set on trays or even ziploc bags ready to go makes it so you will actually use it more and have more opportunity to use it.

Let them ‘help’ around the house or outside the house as long as is safe to do so! They are not really helping per se, but they are learning and feel happy to be included in what you are doing! Some examples like if you are de-weeding outside, let them bring the disposed weeds into a bag. If you are raking outside, get them a little rake to do with you and help put the leaves in a bag. If you are unloading the dishwasher, take out any sharp items first and then let them take out the utensils and pass them to you. If you are baking let them assist by watching and explaining the steps to them while letting them pour some ingredients in. You may surprised at how willing they are to be your little helper.