educational activities for toddlers at home

75 Sanity-Saving Mess Free Toddler Activities To Do At Home

• Last Updated: February 6, 2023

By Sarah Peerless

Got a young kiddo at home? Suffering severe lockdown fever?  No time for mess?

Sounds like you need some easy mess free toddler activities to do at home to keep them busy (and you sane).

Covid-19 aside, if you have a little one aged 2, 3 or 4, there’s always reason to have a few good at home toddler activities up your sleeve.  (Err, hello Taylors of Harrogate coffee. Yes, I’m a coffee snob.)

You need simple no mess activities to keep your busy 2 year old toddler engaged and out of your hair. 

You need easy activities to do at home for your even busier 3 or 4  year old preschooler to keep them out of mischief, just for a few minutes.  Ideally with zero set-up and with things you already have at home. 

Heck, even easy at home activities to do with your kiddo when you so desire.

And mess free is the name of the game. At home toddler activities that absolutely DO NOT involve cleaning up some hideous mess. 

These are paint-free and glue-free toddler activities that won’t wreck your home….pinky promise.

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Table of Contents

How do you keep a toddler busy at home?

To keep a toddler busy at home, you need to provide them the stimulation and activities that involve things they’re naturally curious about.  You’ve probably noticed that from the age of 2 (and even before), your toddler loves doing the following:

• stacking & sorting
• pouring & scooping
• ripping & throwing
• touching & exploring with their hands
• cutting, posting, packing & unpacking…
• figuring out how things work
• opening and shutting containers, doors, lids….
• getting wet and messy…
• move, move, move!

They’re not merely playing or actually trying to destroy everything they touch.  Whatever it may seem.  They’re learning through each and every activity they’re doing.  

Your 2, 3 or 4 year old is trying to master certain fine and gross motor skills, while also satisfying their desire to explore the world.   

This list of no mess toddler activities is naturally geared towards these tendencies to learn and explore.  It’s full of toddler at home learning activities and opportunities.   

The main aim is to keep your 2, 3 and 4 year old busy and engaged in a constructive way as possible.  Or in a destructive way, but under your terms!

For littles less than 2 years old, check out these simple activities for 18 month olds . 

Let’s define ‘easy’ & ‘mess free’ toddler activities 

My definition of a successful and easy activity for my toddler and preschooler is one which:

• is quick to set-up – let’s say 5 minutes max
• doesn’t require printing or laminating
• doesn’t need fancy or expensive supplies (most are things you already have at home or can easily get the shops) 
• keeps said toddler/preschooler busy for 15 – 30 minutes, often independently 
• can be easily adapted to kids a little different in age (my two are 15 months apart so that wasn’t too difficult)
• allow exploration and experimentation (i.e. hands on activities)
• has minimal clean-up or better still involves no mess at all

So these mess free toddler activities to do at home should tick all of these boxes.  They should be good to keep your little one going while you have a cup of coffee, feed your newborn, cook or catch up on emails…

Mess free toddler activities to do at home INDOORS

Most of these practice fine motor skills in one way or another – there really are endless possibilities – and you don’t have to look hard to see some very common themes…

#1 Posting toy cars into a large bottle

Small toy plus a hole just a little bigger = a mess free toddler activity that can last a loooong time…then there’s all the fun noise your little one can make shaking them around and around and around…

Another task is to shake them all out again… literally a good 30 minutes of fun for a busy 2 year old!

It’s always a good idea to check the toy will come out again, but in the case of toy cars into a 5 liter water bottle, I could easily have cut the bottle up to get them out.

EASY ALTERNATIVE ACTIVITY: plastic baby wipes container also work very well to shove toys (and most other things) into and then pull them out again.

If you’re little one loves vehicles of all shapes and sizes try these Easy Transportation Crafts & Activities .

#2 Dry pasta scooping & sorting

Dried pasta shapes and ice cube trays with a set of plastic measuring spoons.  Or use muffin pans or silicone cupcake liners.  I swear these get used for toddler play a million times more often than for baking. 

Or just use any small plastic container.

EASY EXTENSION : Amp up this activity by mixing different pasta shapes in one bowl and have your toddler or preschooler fill some compartments/cupcake liners just with bows, others just with noodles, others with shells etc.

You can also make this a little trickier by adding in some different means of transferring the pasta.  E.g. salad tongs, ladels or plastic tweezers for kids (check the recommended products section for these).

#3 Puzzle mix-up

Those lovely easy chunky puzzles that used to keep your little one busy as a 1-year-old, are now too easy.  But most other puzzles you end up having to help your toddler with, right?

So take those easy puzzles and dump all the puzzle pieces out together.  Then have your older toddler or preschooler put all the puzzles back together at once.

Easy and fun and normally a good 15-20 minutes of peace in our house!

#4 Blowing pompoms with straws

This is as simple as it sounds…. but in practice was a bit tricky for my 2 year old.  However, my 4-year-old particularly loved this one.

There are any amount of ways you can set this up. I placed a bowl on a chair the other side of our narrow play table and he spent ages blowing pompoms across the table and into the bowl…

This is fun STEM activity for toddlers too. Smaller pompoms move easier but more wildly, and the larger ones are heavier and harder to move, but easier to maneuver.

EASY ALTERNATIVE ACTIVITY: use cotton balls or scrunched up balls of paper to blow.  Can even be done without a straw altogether but for some reason, all kids seem to love straws…

Or why not turn this into a color-matching activity.  Place clear plastic cups on the table, then blow all the green ones into one cup, all the red ones into another and so on.  Mom Brite has a great post with more details.

#5 Cutting straws

Cutting is always a popular activity for toddlers and preschoolers.  They just love to cut anything, especially once they’ve got their first pair of scissors .   And so easy to do at home.

But instead of always using paper, get out some cheap plastic straws for your 2 year old.

(I know these are a big no-no environmentally so I’d like to add that we only use plastic straws for crafts and activities these days where they get used over and over…. very rarely for drinking).

Unlike paper, a straw is easy for a toddler to hold, and is long (or at least starts off long) so there’s less likelihood of them cutting their fingers off.  Bonus.

In addition, plastic straws seem to jump all over the place when cut – much to the hilarity of my two – which does mean a little bit of tidying up but does prolong the fun.

You could argue this isn’t strictly mess free, but grab a dustpan and brush and clean up will be done in a couple of minutes.  Or send your toddler off on a ‘straw treasure hunt’.  This normally does the trick in our house.

EASY ALTERNATIVE ACTIVITY: a good alternative to straws, that isn’t paper, is long narrow strips of thin cardboard, think biscuit or cereal box cut into strips.  Advantage or disadvantage is card doesn’t jump into the air when cut!

Paint-chip cards are also perfect.

UPDATE: Just this morning I found an old jumbled up ball of wool… good for nothing… unless, of course, you have a young kiddo who loves to cut!  Another virtually mess free toddler activity to try at home. 

My 3 and a 4-year-old spent a good half an hour cutting up wool… I’m sure that’ll come in handy for another toddler activity or craft.

(You’ll see me on ‘Hoarders’ any day now.)

#6 Matching tupperwares with their lids

Who said toddlers couldn’t be useful?! Got a cupboard in Tupperware hell?  Haven’t we all. 

Dump them all out and if you have any with lids on, take them off. Then get your 2 year old to match the lids back to the correct Tupperware.

(While you’re at it, you can then throw the ones no longer with a lid away – or add to them to the box of junk really useful stuff for the kids to play with…)

#7 Bottle top posting

There are an endless number of learning opportunities and educational activities for bottle tops (just write letters or numbers on them and you can conjure up all sorts of related activities).

But for this one, you just need LOTS of them and then something to post them into.  I used an old formula tin and cut a few different holes in the top for tops of different sizes to fit through. 

Such a simple mess free activity for 2 year olds at home, but sadly not noise free! 

Using a tin means that the lid makes a satisfying clink when it hits the bottom – that’s a double win for a busy toddler.  

#8 Tower building & then (obviously) tower destroying

Tupperwares, plastic cups, empty cans, small boxes, large ones… you name it!

If your kiddo who loves to line stuff up and for things to be very ordered, then finding lots of things exactly the same is the way to go if possible.  This describes my preschooler to a tee.

So stacking empty (and clean) cans into various orderly arrangements and then knocking them down is his idea of heaven.

Because he loves the knocking down so much, it definitely suits him to use cans, rather than plastic cups – unless you don’t mind them being ruined. 

(He was determined to stamp on the cups having knocked down his cup tower so I swiftly put those away and delved into my stash of empty tin cans.)

#9 Squeeze pouch lids & mini muffin tins

I’ve yet to meet any toddler mom who doesn’t use squeeze pouches once in a while. Great for those early weaning days and also for emergency snacks when out and about.   

No surprise that those pouch lids are worth saving.  They’re the perfect size to fit neatly into the molds of a mini muffin tin, as demonstrated above. Other plastic lids work well too.

Putting them and in and taking them out can keep a toddler busy for quite some time.  So start stashing lids and use them for this simple mess free activity for 2 year olds. 

#10 Rip up egg box cartons

Another activity for destructive little boys.  Babies and young toddlers love to rip stuff – so paper towel, magazines or newspaper.  But for the older toddler and definitely the preschooler that’s just too easy – and can create a lot of mess in minutes.

So for an almost mess free toddler activity and to burn off some destructive energy, egg box cartons are the way to go, my friend.

These ripped up pieces are then perfect for dump trucks, diggers and rubbish trucks to play in (yup, even the rubbish gets reused in our house).

EASY ALTERNATIVE ACTIVITY: old cereal and biscuit boxes.

#11 Tiny toy rescue & recapture

Tape some little toys (toy dinosaurs, cars, ponies, Playmobil characters… anything really) to the side of the fridge with painters/masking tape.

Rescuing the taped toys is an engaging activity for the younger toddler, who will need to work those fingers hard to peel the tape off.  But even the older toddler and preschooler will enjoy it.

I thought my two would be too old for this, but no!

They added in a recapture element and spent a good 30 minutes resticking their Playmobil figures upside down (as in photo above), then making them fall by gently peeling the tape back.  Then they’d re-rescue them and start all over again…

EASY ALTERNATIVE ACTIVITY: Alternatively, stick toys to a table with plastic tablecloth or to a tiled floor.

#12 Screw lids on and off bottles

Another simple no mess activity for toddlers at home similar to the tupperware one above, but this time with bottles and lids.  It’s a bit trickier to screw the lids back on, so excellent fine motor activity for toddlers.

So start hoarding bottles of all shapes and sizes. It’ll provide a 2 year old with hours of fun. 

And if you’re feeling a little creative and have a spare 5 mins, why not make this DIY twist-top board . 

#13 Painters tape peel

You may have noticed your little one attempting to unpeel the sticky top off wipe packets so here’s a simple mess free toddler activity that plays to this desire.

Tape painters tape onto the kitchen floor and allow your 2, 3 or 4 year old to remove.  At first you can make it really easy, with a very definite end to the tape for your toddler to easily grab on to.  As their ability improves, you can stick the tape down more firmly at either end.

EASY ALTERNATIVE & EXTENSION: Try sticking to different surfaces and at different orientations. 

Peeling the tape off the carpet or a rug makes for a satisfying sound and changes the tape from sticky to fluffy.  The removed, and then fluffy, tape kept my two entertained even longer.

Or try taping to the fridge so your toddler has to peel the tape off a vertical surface and use different muscles.

#14 Dot sticker shapes & patterns

Dot stickers are amazing for all sorts of things when it comes to 2, 3 and 4 year olds, especially when it comes to counting practice, number recognition and basic math… So we’ll save those ones for another day.

So for a simple no mess toddler activity focus just on the stickering itself, i.e taking the sticker off and sticking it in a certain place.  Then just draw a pattern or outline of something very simple and have your little one trace it with stickers.

My preschooler – above – asked for a square and a triangle, my toddler asked for a heart.

Such a simple activity for toddlers at home and soooo effective to keep little minds occupied.

#15 Decorate a cardboard box

Decorate a small cardboard box that can become a ‘special’ toy box, baby bed, tiny house or whatever else takes your toddlers fancy.

My two recently wanted to make our new Jack Russell puppies a dog house.  I quickly taped up a small cardboard box and cut out a door and window and my two toddlers  went to town for a good 20 minutes ‘decorating’ it. 

(AKA scribbling with pencils and crayons, stamping with ink stamps and stamping pens.)

Needless to say the puppies are not at all interested in sleeping in it and so my 4 year old decided he’d try to hang it in a tree… Then we switched the sprinkler on and mmm… it’s now even less likely to be used as a dog house. 

But since the real aim was just to keep the two terrors (not to be confused with the terriers) busy for a few minutes, I’m counting it as a win.

#16 Pipe cleaners and a colander…

…and thread. That’s it!  My two loved using the finished articles as hats for their ridiculously enormous teddies and have also pretended they’re enormous spiders.  Fun as a Halloween activity too?

EASY ACTIVITY EXTENSION: Make this activity a lot trickier by challenging your toddler or preschooler to push pipe cleaners through a sieve.

#17 Rubber bands & a can

What is it with toddlers and elastic bands?  Well, give them a job to do with them: putting them on to a can and taking them off again, simple.

Or if putting them on is too much of a stretch (see what I did there?!) then you can put them on and let your toddler take them off.

EASY ALTERNATIVE ACTIVITY: use a plastic bottle or empty cardboard tube for smaller bands or for bigger bands that can go around twice.

#18 Apple or potato poking

This is a fun mess free toddler activity for fall or any time of the year when you have an apple or potato to spare.

Use a felt tip pen to mark dots on an apple or potato and see if your toddler can stick a toothpick into the fruit/veg on the dot.  I was so surprised by how much my two loved this simple mess free activity.

A quick peel and said fruit/veg should still be good to use. 

(Having tried this with both apples and potatoes I’d recommend using the latter, since they’re less likely to bruise when dropped a few hundred times.)

EASY ACTIVITY EXTENSION: if your kiddo has a small toy hammer or you have a lightweight wooden meat tenderizing hammer, you can help your toddler hammer the toothpick in. 

You will probably need to help hold the toothpick (I did) but this is sure to keep them entertained as it’s quite tricky and you need to be gentle – something most toddlers or preschoolers are not good at!

#19 Trace simple pattern with pompoms

This is a little like the dot sticker patterns, but without the stickering part.  Draw any shape, and have your toddler line up pompoms or any other small loose item along the lines.

EASY ALTERNATIVE ACTIVITY: Pasta, cereal or small toys work really well too.

#20 CD/DVD stacking

Got a bunch of old CDs that skip every few seconds?  Haven’t we all… well if you have one of those CD stacker storage thingy-m-bobs then taking the CDs off and putting them back on again could well keep your toddler busy…

Just know that you’ll never be using them for music or film again.

EASY ALTERNATIVE ACTIVITY: this is not a direct alternative, but if you have old CDs in boxes that are destined for the rubbish then your kiddo is probably going to love just taking them out and putting them back in again.

It’s actually not all that easy for a toddler to get them in the right place so the box shuts nicely.

#21 Pompom transfer & sorting

Bunch of pompoms in a bowl, a muffin or mini-muffin tray and something to transfer them with.  Salad tongs, ladels or plastic tweezers or just a small spoon.

Sounds suspiciously like pasta scooping and sorting, right? Yup, that’s the beauty with toddlers and preschoolers; virtually the same activity, just with different tools!

Younger toddlers will love the transferring part to create pompom ‘cakes’.  (Stand by imaginary oven.)  Older toddlers and preschoolers tend to gravitate towards sorting colors… Whatever keeps them happy and busy goes as far as I’m concerned.

#22 Encourage toy mixing

As adults, it’s so easy to get caught up encouraging our kids to play with toys in a certain way.  But the mind of a 2, 3 or 4 year old is of course very different. Actively encouraging different toys to be played together leads to a huge number more ‘games’ that can be invented.

My preschooler loves his train set and has made endless additional bridges with duplo blocks and wooden blocks.  He’s made salt dough hills for the track to go around.  We’ve made cardboard houses too…

Mixing and matching those toys keeps it fresh – I highly recommend it.

#23 Marbles and cardboard tubes

Grab a few tubes, some marbles and then something to catch them in and let your toddler or preschooler play.

A very simple mess free activity for toddlers and preschoolers at home that involves a certain amount of problem-solving.  Getting the tube to stay up, and to position the cup, bowl or egg box in the right place to catch the marble and so on.

So a good one for lots of experimentation. 

(We found that egg box cartons work the best to catch the marbles as they don’t jump out as easily as from plastic bows or cups).

You could also make a more permanent marble run by hot gun gluing tubes to a big sheet of cardboard.  I wasn’t all that successful and my two just wanted to move the tubes all the time…

#24 Craft stick & block building

I saw this simple no mess activity on Frugal Fun 4 Boys and knew this would be a hit with my toddler, who loves to build!

If you click here you’ll see the different ways they build and balanced towers, using crafts sticks, blocks as well as plastic cups.  H was intent on the low, wide bridge and ramp pictured above.

Given there’s so much potential in this activity, I can see us returning to it again and again.

#25 Listen to stories on audiobooks

I was hesitant to include this as it’s not a very active toddler activity, but it’s very much no prep and no mess and my two love to listen to audiobooks.  Great for screen-free resting and relaxing, which we do every day after lunch.

We only got into this in a few weeks ago at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic when Audible started offering free audiobooks.  We’ve been listening to The Timeless Tales of Peter Rabbit & Friends and Winnie The Pooh ever since.  And are now signed up forever more…

#26 Sweetie game

What better way to introduce your toddler to a simple board game than with sweets? This is one you’re going to be actively involved in but is fun and no mess all the same.   

Instructions as follows:

• Draw a grid of squares or rectangles
• Each player takes a line. One end is the start, the other the finsih.
• Put your sweetie at the start 
• Roll the die and move your sweetie along the grid, according to the number
• When you’ve reached the end and are finished, you can eat the sweet!

Great for counting practice and everyone’s a winner. 

Indoor WATER PLAY activities for toddlers & preschoolers

Toddlers and preschoolers love to play with water .  Wait, I hear you say, that doesn’t sound mess free?!  Especially if you’re stuck indoors…

Even if you can’t get outside, these water-play activities shouldn’t get out of hand.

These activities are mostly to be carried out at the kitchen sink (or similar) or in the bath.  There are a couple which can be done at a table, well covered with a plastic table cloth.

For plenty of ways to keep little ones busy in the garden or backyard, wet and otherwise, try these simple and fun outdoor activities and play ideas .

#27 Pour and scoop water at the sink

Stool at the kitchen sink, sink full of warm water and some empty yogurt pots/tupperware with some measuring cups… Yes, this is exactly the same as playing with stacking cups in the bath.  Different location, different tools, completely different activity!

#28 Play with ice cubes in the sink

Toddlers and preschoolers alike just love ice. So an ice activity is a must once in a while and I’d definitely argue that this one is a mess free toddler activity, perfect for a 2, 3 or 4 year old.  It can keep my two busy for ages…

EASY ACTIVITY EXTENSION: Add some food coloring to the water before freezing for a bit of color or some pompoms for a hidden surprise.

#29 Wash plastic toys in the sink

As above but make out that your toddlers toys (battery-free of course) need a good scrub.  Let’s face it, you won’t need to ‘make out’ that they need a clean, in all probability they’re fairly grubby.

Just remember to be clear that ‘only Mom or Dad’ can put the dish liquid in though.  And then hide it unless your toddler has an insane amount of self-control.

#30 Play with non-bath toys in the bath

So not regular bath toys, but other water-friendly toys.  Think duplo, plastic animals, plastic characters etc.  Our rule is nothing wooden and nothing with batteries.

Building towers in the water is completely different to building them on dry land. Obviously Mommy because now it’s boat, not a house. Or a houseboat.  Or a submarine. I lose track…

#31 Bottle tops & pipettes

First, fill a few small cups with water – you can add a drop of food colors to each if you want so each cup of water is a different color.  Then lay some bottle caps and jar lids out on the table (preferably on a plastic table cloth or plastic tray, or both). 

Take a plastic pipette and show your toddler how to use it first – this can be quite difficult for a 2 year old.  My youngest struggled with this at first (see the easy alternative below) but now at 3 she’s got it nailed.

Then show them how to transfer water from the cup to the bottle lid – without it overflowing of course.

EASY ALTERNATIVE: if your toddler can’t manage to figure out the pipette, then you can do the same activity using a 1/4 teaspoon measuring spoon.  You need to use a small teaspoon otherwise those bottle tops overflow very quickly.

#32 Water transfer with pompoms

This activity is good fine motor practice for your little one and can be done at the sink or at the table. 

We’ve tried it at the kitchen counter, with a shallow oven dish full of water and a bowl of pompoms and then a few small bowls and cups.

Younger ones will just enjoy picking them up and squeezing them but an older toddler or preschooler can transfer water from the dish into the cups and bowls by squeezing the pompoms.  Just don’t set the cups up too far away from the dish to minimize water dripping too far.

Mess free SENSORY ACTIVITIES for toddlers at home

This post is all about easy mess free activities to do at home with minimal clean-up.  We don’t need to add to the craziness of life with toddlers do we?

Here are some clean sensory activities for toddlers that are totally mess free.

If and when you’re in the mood for letting your toddler get messy, try this bumper list of sensory activities for 1 year olds and up. 

#33 Create a textured walk

Toddlers love nothing better than to explore with their fingers, but also with their feet.  So in this easy mess free activity for 2 year olds create different sensory opportunities for them specifically for walking on.

They may also want to touch with their hands and crawl over them too but set it up primarily for walking.

Bubble wrap is always a favorite. Tape it to the floor and let your toddler loose! Jumping up and down on it will be a fun experience and will also burn some energy.   

EASY ALTERNATIVE: Rather than tape things to the floor you could set up a sensory bin specifically for walking in.  Simply add lentils or rice for your 2, 3 or 4 year old to walk over. 

#34. Twinkly light sensory bottle

You do need a large plastic bottle with a large opening for this one.  The bottle pictured originally had craft supplies in it but has been used for several different activities and play scenarios since.

Add battery operated twinkly lights to the bottle and screw shut.  A 5 liter water bottle might work too, depending on the battery pack size of the lights.

A fun at home toddler activity that’s safe for tiny tots and involves no mess whatsoever.

EASY ALTERNATIVE:  Add jingle bells and tinsel for a Christmas themed toddler activity or how about acorns and dried leaves during Fall?

For more seasonal sensory fun, try these festive Christmas sensory activities or these fake snow sensory bins .

#35. Water beads mess free toddler activity

Water beads are fun to play with but are not safe for under 3’s or any little one who loves shoving everything in their mouth.  But you can bag them up and make a colorful sensory bag in a jiffy.

This one does need a bit of prep as you need to soak the beads in water overnight.  Then pop in a ziplock back, seal shut with tape and you’ve now got a safe and mess free toddler activity that’s good for tiny tots too.

I tried this with my 10 month old twins (pictured is one of them).  It’s an easy and safe sensory activity for babies .

#36 Play with silks or dance scarves

Play silks/dance scarves make for a fun no mess toddler activity at home and there are so many different ways in which they can be incorporated into play.

Stuffing them into a box or  Oball and pulling them out will keep a 2 year old busy.  Older toddlers and preschoolers will love incorporating them into all sorts of costumes.  Play silks can become a cape or wings or used to create a sea or river in small world play. 

#37 Squishy sensory balls

I tried these squishy balls as a baby Easter activity , because they look like eggs. Sort of.  Regardless of the season, playing with these will keep a toddler who loves to fiddle and touch all the things well occupied.

Using a funnel, simply fill balloons with different dry materials, tie the top and off you go.  The flour filled balloon was my personal favorite –  it feels just like a stress ball, it’s so, so squishable.

My toddlers liked all of them of course.  We’ve tried corn kernels, rice, oats, beads, beans, sand – whatever could be fitted in, went in. Such a fun mess free activity for 2, 3 and 4 year olds and up.  (Including adults!) 

Minimal mess SENSORY ACTIVITIES for toddlers & preschoolers

Here are some dry messy play ideas with minimal mess.  The mess can be fairly well contained and swept up quickly.

Of course, with a toddler at the helm, things can get out of hand pretty quick.  So skip ahead if minimal mess activities are not mess free enough.

Remember to state those boundaries/expectations upfront!

#38 ‘Bake’ with playdough

I could say ‘anything’ with playdough because playdough never ever seems to get boring and can be used in a million and one different ways.  However, I  thought it more useful to name something specific.  So baking it is – a firm favorite and something we do almost weekly in our house.

Our equipment list of choice is:

• playdough, homemade or store-bought
• muffin pans
• silicon muffin cases
• cookie cutters
• toddler sized rolling pin
• cut straws (cake candles, of course)
• some kind of unit that will double as a pretend oven (we use a white plastic kitchen trolley – finishing the homemade play kitchen is still on my to-do list…)

This is a case of less is more – toddlers get easily overwhelmed with too much choice in the cookie-cutter department…

For a winning playdough recipe, mix the following together, heat gently and stir until you have a lump of the stuff – dead simple.  Even works when my 3 and 4-year-old are doing the measuring!

• flour – 2 cups
• salt – 1 cup
• cream of tartar – 4 tsp
• vegetable oil – 1 tbl
• food coloring – a few drops

That’s enough to make 4 different colored decent-sized lumps.

For a more permanent play dough like activity, salt dough crafts are fun.  They make great Christmas ornaments .  

#39 Moon sand sensory bin

Mix flour and oil together (any types will do, whatever you have to hand) in a ratio of 8:1 and you have some lovely soft and fluffy moon sand.

Put it in a large plastic container or crate – at least 40cm by 80cm (think underbed storage container) or use a sand or water table.  Then throw something in:  a bunch of sand toys, little diggers or cups and spoons or small plastic animals.   

Then let your toddlers scoop with it, smush it through their fingers and just play.

My two loved burying their plastic insects in a moon sand mound and then rescuing them with toy diggers… whatever floats their boat, right?!

#40 Rice bins

Very similar to above – a scooping and sensory play activity that is virtually mess free.  Remember, state the rules of play first and stick to them!

Cheap, uncooked rice in a large plastic container, as it is.  Or dyed if you want to get fancy (just soak in food colored water overnight).

You can take this one a bit further and tape some paper tubes to the side and add a funnel or too.

My toddlers loved to put a little dump truck under the tube, pour the rice down the tube and be incredibly excited to watch the truck collect their cargo.  Simple minds, remember!

EASY ALTERNATIVE: Instead of rice use, cereal or small pasta shapes.

TIDYING & CLEANING activities for toddlers at home (no mess)

Who said toddlers and preschoolers can’t be useful?!  If you haven’t got your kiddo involved in a few household activities at home yet, I’d urge you to, for a few reasons:

• toddlers and preschoolers love to feel useful at this age and love to help with things – capitalize on this because it can only last so long, right?
• although most activities will take long with a little one in two but at the same time said toddler/preschooler is busy and out of mischief
• they start to learn the importance of being tidy and responsible and other general life skills
• there are plenty of easy activities for toddlers to try at home that are mess free

Of course, they’re not going to get it 100% right but remember to praise anyway.  (And re-do if necessary.) 

Gradually you could build a few into your schedule and turn them into daily activities for toddlers at home.

#41 Cutting food up

Set your toddler up in the kitchen close by (this is obviously not to be done unsupervised) and hand them a normal eating knife or plastic salad knife .  I bought the latter especially for my toddlers to use.  They’re great for playdough too.

Fruit and veg that work well for us have been potatoes, cucumber and lettuce.  For the first two, cut them lengthways in half first so that they don’t roll around. 

Warning – things will end up very small – fine for cucumber but probably only good if you want mashed potatoes.

#42 Folding pajamas or other clothes

If you’re looking to introducing some fun and easy daily activities for your toddlers at home, then folding pajamas and night blankets is a good place to start. This is now firmly part of our morning routine. 

I do still lay them out so it’s easy for them to get started, but they both love this.  Racing to see who’s the fastest normally motivates my toddlers when they’re dwindling.

A winning mess free activity for toddlers at home that is useful too.

#43 Washing up

Well, if they can play at the sink, why not take it one step further and get them to wash up?

Not glasses, china or sharp knives, obviously… but their own plastic crockery and cutlery, plastic cooking utensils and small metal saucepans are well within a 3 or 4-year-olds capability.  Might be a stretch for a 2 year old but will keep them busy!

They’re probably going to spend much of the time just playing, scooping and pouring the soapy water, but that’s ok. 

If it gives you 15 minutes to clean up the kitchen or think about what to get out the freezer the next day then I’d count that as a win.

 #44 Sorting the clean cutlery back into the cutlery draw

I.e. putting the forks back with the forks, the spoons back with the spoons and so on… A classic matching activity for toddlers to do at home that ticks the mess free box.

#45 Breaking spaghetti

I think you can see that my daughter loves this one!  Super simple virtually no mess toddler activity to do at home with your 2, 3 or 4 year old and surprisingly time-consuming.

It can take little hands a good 10 minutes or so to break up enough spaghetti for a meal for 4.  It also minimises the mess of your toddler or preschooler eating spaghetti if you get them to break it up nice and short…

#46 Toy clean up

If you’re looking for a simple tidyng and cleaning activity for toddlers, then packing away toys is a good one.  The sooner they learn to take care of and keep their toys organised the better. Easier said than done but worth the effort. (I think!)

You can make toy tidying fun too, by singing songs, racing cars onto the shelves and so on.  It also keeps little ones busy, hence is definitely an ‘activity’ in itself.

It can take a good 15-20 minutes plus an additional 5-10 minutes while your toddler or preschooler stops to play with the toys they’re meant to be tidying up. A fun activity that’s all about tidying up the mess.  Win win!

Mess free toddler CRAFT activities to try at home

With a bit of extra time and on my hands, I do love painting (or fingerpainting ) and doing crafts with my toddlers.  

But crafts don’t have to involve sticky glue or paint…. Here are some crafty, creative and simple mess free toddler activities to try at home.

If and when you are in the mood, here are some easy arts and crafts we’ve tried over the years.  And for paint, check these recomended baby-safe non-toxic ones .

#47 Make a pipe cleaner bracelet

Wonderfully engaging toddler or preschooler activity for girls and boys… pipe cleaners are perfect for threading activities because they’re dead easy to poke through a bead without a needle.  Pipe cleaners are super useful for all sorts of toddler crafts .

Related post:  STUPIDLY EASY pipe cleaner spider craft for toddlers (no prep & no mess!)

EASY ALTERNATIVE:  thread noodles or buttons onto shoelaces.

#48 Sticker birthday or occasion card

Everyone loves a homemade card from someone special, particularly when that someone is knee high to a grasshopper.  Making a homemade Christmas card or two is something we’ve gotten into. It’s a favorite Christmas tradition of ours.

So for a very simple mess free craft activity, your toddler can simply decorate a blank card with stickers.  Write a cute message inside and you’re done. 

If and when you don’t mind a bit of mess and you want to make a cute personalised card for someone, check out these handprint birthday card ideas .

#49 Paint with marbles

This may sound a little curious, but painting with marbles is fun process art which can also yield some lovely results.  And yes, it’s a completely mess free activity for 2, 3 and 4 year olds that you can do easily at home.

Simply line a large tray with paper, add dollops of paint (I used our everyday child friendly paint), chuck in some marbles and get them to moving.

If you do want to try and keep the artwork afterwards, I’d advise using some decent slightly heavier weight paper.  Also choose the colors you use carefully, since they will end up mixing.  

To see all the various works of art we created check out the full post here:  Marble rolling: easy art activity you’ll actually want to keep)

#50 Contact paper window mosaics

Tape some contact paper to the window and then your toddler can decorate it with tissue paper shapes, feathers, pipe cleaners and other materials you have to hand. 

A fun mess free activity for toddlers at home that creates cute window decor you can theme to the season.  Pictured is a fall-inspired window mosaic from Mom In The Six which uses faux leaves. 

More simple Fall themed crafts for 2 and 3 year olds here . 

#51 Paper plate wreath craft

Another easy craft activity for toddlers with no mess whatsoever and takes mere minutes to prep.  Yet again, it involves a sheet of stickers or two!

Simply cut a circle out of the paper plate and add stickers of choice.  Of course, wreathes are normally assoicated with Christmas, Easter and Fall.  For some themed wreath inspiration check these toddler Christmas crafts and these Easter crafts .

#52 Make paper airplanes

Since he flew his very first paper airplane as a 2 year old, my eldest hounds me for them day and night. Well, that’s what it feels like! Now his little sister has found the love…

If you’re not sure how to make one, try this simple video tutorial. I tried lots of other that said they were easy, but that was the only one I could follow with said toddler hot on my heels.

#53 Make a simple crown

Toddler love making hats.  And pretending to be a princess, a king, a knight and so on… So for a simple mess-free toddler activity at home, make a simple crown for them to decorate.  The fun doesn’t end once it’s decorated, then it’s time to play!

Don’t be put off by the making part – all you’re making is a headband out of card with some zigzag edges.  Simply size it to your toddlers head and secure with a stapler.  Just be sure to staple so the flat side of the staple is against your childs head.

Here’s an easy paper crown tutorial if my instructions are a little too basic.

#54 Make a noodle necklace

Another deja vu… yup, more jewelry and another threading activity for your toddler or preschooler.  We painted our noodles first but totally not necessary.  Then threaded using some decorative twine – stiff-ish and easy enough for little fingers to thread.

EASY ALTERNATIVE: thread Cheerios for an edible and (probably) short-lived necklace.  Or for a similar non-jewelry toddler activity, stick some spaghetti, toothpicks or wooden skewers into a lump of playdough and create a noodle or cheerio tower by threading them on.

#55 Mess free painting

Tape a piece of paper to a large chopping board, add blobs of paint and then loosly, but securely, cover with plastic wrap.  Then your toddler can paint at home, indoors, mess free.

EASY ALTERNATIVE: Slip paper into a ziplock bag with paint and seal shut.  Use tape if your toddler is good at opening ziplocks!

For more simple, minimal mess toddler crafts of a themed nature, try:

• Fun Fathers Day crafts for toddlers
• Cute Valentines crafts for toddlers to make
• Adorable Mothers Day Crafts for toddlers
• Natvitiy crafts for kids
• Fun & easy Easter crafts for 3 year olds

Simple MUSIC activities for toddlers at home

Music can get everyone out of a funk.  Toddlers and preschoolers are no different so for a different type of no mess activity, try something musical.

#56 Action songs

There are so many fun action songs that will entertain little ones, particularly a 2 year old who’s still experimenting with basic movements like clapping their hands, bending down to touch their feet etc.

Lots of these will also help expand your little one’s vocab and coordination. But best of all they’re plain good fun as well as being very obviously no mess.

Here are some fun and easy action songs you’re sure to know:

• Heads, shoulders, kness and toes
• Row, row, row your boat
• Hokey Cokey

#57 Have a boogie

There’s nothing cuter than the waggling hips of a toddler.  But this one is definitely not just for the onlooker.  Little kids love to have a boogie and normally at 2, 3 or 4 years old have yet to become shy about it, especially if they’re at home.

#58 Make plastic bottle maracas

Add different materials to plastic bottles to make DIY maracas for your toddler. 

Rice, dried pulses and uncooked pasta, sand make interesting and varied sounds.  You can use bottles of different sizes and experiment with the sounds by filling them to different levels.  Seal shut with tape if you need.

Then let your 2, 3 or 4 year old play and experiment with their very own homemade maracas.

#59 Play With Jingle Bells

This one is as simple and easy as the title suggests… your toddler will love shaking and playing with jingle bells. You could also make a jingle bell maraca or use them in your sound experiement, as outlined above.

#60 Play the pot and pans

Use wooden spoons and other baby-safe kitchen utensils as drum sticks.  Upturned pots, pans, plastic containers and old shoe boxes are the drums.

This one never fails to entertain my particularly boisterous and noisy toddler! An easy at home toddler activity that keeps said 2 year old entertained, with zero mess.

EASY ALTERNATIVE & EXTENSION: Experiment with larger items, like teaspoons, metal bottle lids, onions etc in different containers, like a lidded  sauce pan or tupperware and create all sorts of different ‘noise makers’.

Extend this for older toddlers and preschoolers by discussing and testing which ones will make the loudest noise, which will make the most soothing noise and so on.  A simple mess free activity that’ll get them thinking.

#61 Try a dance routine with Just Dance

This one is more for older toddlers and preschoolers as the routines are a little tricky to follow. Let’s just say, I struggle.  But it’s good for a laugh and a 2 year old is sure to still enjoy it.

Wacka Wacka is our favorite Just Dance track at the moment.

#62 Musical statues (or freeze dance)

A classic party game that definitely shouldn’t be reserved for special celebrations and definitely should be started in the toddler years.  Play some music, hit pause, and everyone must stand like a statue or freeze. 

This can also be themed to the season too.  The Monster Freeze would be a fun Halloween party activity .

PRETEND PLAY at home toddler activities 

Toddlers love to play out and recreate scenarious they see in everyday life.  You don’t need many props, as these fun mess free toddler activities prove.  They have an amazing imagination so combine that with a few items you have at home and you should be all set.

#63 Teddy bears picnic

Here’s another classic activity that will never grow old.  Simply get your toddler to gather their favorite teddies and treat them to their very own picnic. Use your toddlers cups and cutlery and add any toy food items. 

If you’re short of anything, don’t worry. Your 2, 3 or 4 year olds imagination will be more than sufficient.  They can help their teddies to sip their tea and eat their fairy cakes.

Remind those teddies of their table manners! 

#64 Build a fort

With large cushions, sofa cushions and blankets build a fort with your toddler.  They’ll love crawling in and out, taking their teddies inside and may even want to take nap their. 

There may be a few cushions to tidy up after, but in the grand scheme of things, I definitely class this as a mess free toddler activity.

#65 Cooking and baking

It’s no secret that toddlers love to pretend to cook and bake.  There is an abundance of choice when it comes to play kitchens and toy food.  But you don’t need to rush out and buy anything for your little one to enjoy this mess free toddler activity.

A small coffee table works well as a toy oven, as does a large cardboard box.  Cut out a flap of cardboard to create your oven, complete with door.  Or simply use a small table with stove tops for your kids to pretend to cook on.

#66 Picnic in the garden or on the carpet

Make preparing for and eating lunch or a snack a fun activity in itself. Pack up food, crockery and a blanket (or foam floor mat as pictured) into a hamper or your toddlers backpack.  Oh yes, take the potty too if you’re going from the house!

#67 Go on a bear hunt

Going On A Bear Hunt is a fun book that my toddlers really enjoy.  In this fun no mess toddler activity to do at home you’re going to act out the book.   My two like to nominate one of their teddies as the bear to be hunted. 

Use an old toilet roll as your monocular and off you go. (Or check this list of toilet roll crafts if you want to make binos.) 

EASY ALTERNATIVE: You can simplify this and just make it a hide and retrieve game.  My two love to go on a dino hunt.  I hide their toy dinosaurs around the garden.  (They’re foraging in the jungle.)  And then they go find them. Simple!

A fun dinosaur activity for indoors and out that involves no mess and takes minutes to prep.

If your toddler or preschooler loves these prehistoric crestures, check out these fun and easy dinosaur crafts and activites .

#68 Make a play house

Cut doors and windows out of a gigantic cardboard box and turn it into a play house.  Decorate or not, as you please.

MOVEMENT GAMES & activities for toddlers at home

Kids of all ages need to move, toddlers perhaps more so than most.  While there are plenty of activities that keep their hands busy and mind engaged there are plenty more that involve full body movement.  These will help develop gross motor skill development, while getting all those wiggles out.  

Several of the mess free activity ideas above, and most of the music activites, involve movement.  But this section here is dedicated fun movement games and activities.  

Not only are these no mess, they’re also no prep too.

#69 Bean bag toss

Learning to catch is a skill which your toddler can start to learn around 2 years old. This simple gross motor activity helps develp visual processing skills and descrimination.  Hand-eye coordination and a good grasp is then needed to catch. 

A simple and fun gross motor activity for toddlers at home, indoors, as long as you have a clearish space and nothing precious in the firing range.  

This would also be fun game for a little one’s birthday party .. 

#70 Balloon keepie-uppies

Playing with balloons is a fun activity in itself. If you have young kids at home, always have a stash of balloons somewhere.

In this easy energy-busting toddler activity to play at home, the aim is simply to keep the balloon in the air.  This is a surprisingly difficult task and another that’s good to develop visual processing, coordination.  It’s also a tiring but fun activity for toddlers and sure to be a hit.

#71 Torchlit hide and seek

This is an absolute favorite game of my two – they ask for this one on a regular basis. 

The only restriction is that it needs to be done once it’s dark outside, so no good for long summers days… Simply hide teddies around the house, in obvious places. Then your 2, 3 or 4 year old must go and hunt for them using their flashlight.

#72 Balloon waddle

Another fun balloon activity, the one more challenging than the last.  See how far your toddler can walk across the room, while holding a balloon between their legs.

#73 Shape tag challenge

A fun way to learn and practise shapes while burning off some energy.  Call “square” and your toddler must find and tag something at home that’s square shaped.

More fun and minimal prep indoor games, try these gross motor activites for 1, 2 and 3 year olds .

#74 Green light, orange light, red light

In this fun movement game, your toddler is driving their imaginary car, zooming around according to the color of the traffic light. 

Call “red light” and they must stop, dead still. “Orange” and they can move slowly and “green”, you guessed it, top speed.

Such a simple activity that you can wear your toddler out with, while staying at home.

#75 Ball wall

Setting up the ball wall does take a few minutes, but is guranteed to keep your toddler occupied for quite some time. 

The ball wall consists of plastic balls, such as ball pit balls or pingpong balls, attached to the wall using masking or painters tape.  Roll it into loops, sticky side out, so one side sticks to the wall and the other to the ball. 

Attach as many balls as you have time for at a height on the wall that makes it tricky, but not tricky, for your 2, 3 or 4 year old to reach.  At the other end of the room, place a bucket.

The game is to grab a ball from the wall and run across the room to place it in the bucket.

Recommended toys to engage toddlers at home

I’m a big believer in less is more when it comes to toys. There are so many toddler toys on the market that don’t keep them busy for very long.  The best toys are ones that can be played with in an open ended way, which means your little ones will continue to find new and interesting ways to play with them.

This is an additional section I’m adding now that my 2 eldest, pictured frequently throughout this no mess toddler activity post, are at school. These are toys the’ve loved since around the 2 year old mark and still play with now, at 6 and 7.

#76 Duplo blocks

There are an endless number of houses, animals, vehicles and towers that can be built with simple building blocks.  Duplo blocks are simple enough for toddlers as young as 2 years old to handle.  That’s when mine started playing wtih Duplo.  I’ve still not put them away, 5 years later…

#77 Montessori Music Instruments

Toddlers love making noise, sorry music. That doesn’t change as they move through the preschooler and early school years!  

Playing with these simple instruments works on hand-eye coordination and other fine motor skills while allowing your little one to experiment with rhythm.  And it’s just plain fun!

Click to purchase music set on Amazon 

#78 My First Purse

I’m not much into purses, but at around 2 years old, my daughter got into them big time.  She just loved packing and repacking her purse of the moment. This is still a favorite activity of hers, 4 years later…

Click to purchase My First Purse set on Amazon 

#79 Farmers Market Set

Click to purchase farmers market set on Amazon 

#80 Shopping cart

Great to accompany the farmers market set, but can be used for a whole host of other things too.  Every toddler needs something to carry all their stuff around in.  Soft toys, books, duplo…. you name it, everything will be transported in this cute trolley.

#81 Magformers

Another fun building toy that has kept our two busy for hours over the years.  This one has the interesting USP of being magnetic, so towers and shapes are built by sticking pieces together. 

Click here to purchase Magformers on Amazon

An advantage over the Duplo and other more traditional building blocks is that it packs down small and comes with a cute carry bag, making this an ideal toy to take when traveling.

For more toy recommendations, try these posts:

• Best toys for 1 year old baby girls
• Best outdoor toys for 1 year olds

Summary SUPPLY LIST for mess free toddler activities

Here’s a list of everything that you’ll need to do these no mess activities at home:

• kitchen implements – salad tongs, ladles, wooden spoons, measuring spoons
• whiteboard/dry erase markers + whiteboard (though the latter you can do without)
• elastic bands
• cocktail sticks
• plastic straws
• masking/painters tape
• printer paper
• crayons, coloring pencils

To add to this – here’s a list of things I’ve begun hoarding in order to use in other mess free toddler activities:

• bottle tops
• toilet rolls
• cardboard tubes from kitchen towel rolls, foil and wax paper
• cardboard boxes of all shapes and sizes (if too big to store I flatten them for use for painting projects)
• old tupperwares
• used spice jars

Recommended products for these toddler activities 

And lastly, a few specific items to purchase if you don’t already have. Below are all the links to the recommended products that are included in various places throughout this list of easy mess free toddler activities at home.

All these links are ‘affiliate links’, which means that if you click on one and make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

• pipe cleaners
• dot stickers
• toddler scissors
• toddler sized rolling pins and playdough tools
• colored and natural wood craft sticks
• pipettes and other fine motor tools
• jumbo beads
• plastic salad knives (or other kid-friendly knives)

Tips for doing toddler activities at home (for preschoolers too!)

1. be realistic.

If your kids are only 2 or 3 then don’t bargain on more than 20-30 minutes before it’s time to move onto something else.  Even at 4, staying content to do one activity for more than 30 minutes is a stretch, although there have been a few activities which have done the trick.

2. Let your child lead the way

Don’t be restrained by the exact way your toddler is meant to play or do the activity. If he or she comes up with a variation of ‘the right way’ and it’s safe and engaging and keeping them busy, then just go with it.

3. Simple is always best

If your toddler finds something too difficult and is getting frustrated, don’t push it.  Either adjust to make it easier if possible or move on to something else.  I still continue to be amazed at quite how simple things need to be.

4. Keep open-minded

Some of these hands on activities for toddlers might sound the bees knees and get zero love from your toddler… because it’s going to happen.  Don’t be disheartened!

While others you might be a bit skeptical about and are an instant hit.  And you’ll keep coming back to them again and again….

As the saying goes, you just never know until you try.

5. Set and state any necessary boundaries first

There are couple of activities to do with toddlers that could get messy if no boundaries are set.  Or if your toddler is not good at sticking to them.  This can take a bit of practice!  (See above photo…)

Clearly stating the rules and then a firm ‘if we can’t stick to these rules then we’ll have to put these things away’ has worked pretty well for us. Then, of course, you need to stick to what you say.

6. Safety first

Hopefully, this goes without saying, but for any at home toddler activities that involve small parts, watch your little one carefully.  If your toddler is on the younger side and still loves to put stuff in her mouth, then skip those activities altogether.

Adjusting easy toddler activities at home to different ages

Always keep it simple – so set the difficulty level of the activity to the youngest.  Then adapt as you go along. 

Given that it’s through play, that toddlers learn, this post lists toddler learning activities at home.  However, you can easily add in a specific learning concept, such as counting, letter or number recognition in to the mix and turn them into more ‘educational’ activities for toddlers at home.

Do I have to entertain my toddler all day?

Toddlers are pretty good at entertaining themeselves, given the right environment, tools and hands on opportunities. You don’t need to ‘entertain’ them as such, but rather provide them with these opportunities.

This list of easy and fun toddler activities at home will help you do just that.

I started this post back in lockdown, knowing that many people had a sudden need to keep their young toddler busy as a result of lockdown.  Because all the “sanity-saving nurseries are shut”, as a dear friend put it.

Keeping your toddler busy at home is a skill that can be learned!

Keeping 2, 3 and 4 year olds busy with easy activities is certainly not a skill I was born with.  (Like a bunch of other things I kind of presumed would come easily as soon as I became a mom. Silly me.)

But with no playgroups, daycare, softplay, toddler groups or tots classes of any kind where we lived in this beautiful corner of the African bush, I got plenty or practice. 

I got a handle on what makes their little brains tick and how to bust that energy, all while maintaining a certain level of sanity.

(Most days.  As long as the Taylors hasn’t run out.)

So for all those of you who are suddenly or not so suddenly on the hunt for easy mess free activities to do with your toddler at home, you’ve come to the right place.

Ready to try some mess free toddler activities at home?

I hope that’s given you a good few ideas to keep your toddler or preschooler busy at home  and give you a little peace.  I’m sure before you know it you’ll be coming up with more ideas of your own!

You’ve probably figured out along the way exactly what your little one loves doing and gravitates towards.  Remember there’s actually a very real need to practice these things. This is how toddlers and preschoolers master new skills.

So instead of just saying “no”, “don’t do that” and “don’t touch that”, hopefully, this list will give you the means to offer your child that need in a way that you are ok with. 

So pick and choose from these mess free toddler activities at home.  You’ll also begin to see how you can easily adapt activities to the materials you have on hand. 

You can also easily turn many into more specific educational activities.  For example, you can include letter and number recognition dependent on the age and stage of your toddler. 

There are so many possibilities!

Enjoy these special stage of your toddlers development.  And good luck!

_______________________________________

Looking for more preschooler or toddler activities? Check out these posts now:

• 50 Easy Easter Bunny Arts & Crafts Ideas For Toddlers 
• 29 Scarily Easy Skeleton Crafts for Kids
• CRAZY EASY pipe cleaner spider craft for toddlers 
• 41 Easy Christmas Tree Arts and Crafts for Toddlers
• FREE 3d paper Christmas ornament templates for kids

Useful stuff? Want to save it for later?  Want to share with other moms? Click above or pin this image:

Got any comments or questions?

I’d love to here from you.  (Your email address will not be published.)

Or contact me direct at [email protected]

Want to dig a little deeper? Check out these other related posts:

35 Cute, Easy Christmas Ornaments to make with Toddlers (Fun DIY Holiday Decorations)

Silver pasta Christmas tree ornaments – a cute and simple toddler craft and keepsake

41 Fun, Easy & Adorable Nativity Crafts & Ideas for Kids

50 Easy Transportation Crafts & Activities for Preschoolers

33 Easy & engaging activities for 10 month olds

25 easy FAKE SNOW sensory bins & sensory play activities for kids this winter

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Hi, I'm Sarah

Mom of four outrageously gorgeous Littles.  Yup, four!  The twins are now two and that title still brings me out in a cold sweat… Yet I’m just as determined to give them the best without losing my mind.  I reckon it’s possible!  Most days.  

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The Ultimate List of 50+ At-Home Preschool Activities (Toddlers, Too!)

May 14, 2020 by Rachel Cooper

Last Updated on July 7, 2024 by Sheryl Cooper

Inside: Fill your time at home with these simple to set up at-home preschool activities, ranging from literacy games to yoga poses. Each idea builds important skills, too!

Finding ways to entertain your children at home often feels overwhelming. Finding ways to do this while focusing on their skill development can sound even harder. Don’t worry, putting together activities at home is simple and requires fairly basic supplies! The sorted list below will inspire you to fill your afternoons with fun fine motor games and art activities  .

For the most part, you probably have access to a good amount of the supplies used in these activities. If not, you can put together some great activities with similar structures with what you do have! Some of the common items used in these activities are tape, pipe cleaners, clothespins, and whatever toys you have on hand!

50+ At-Home Activities for Preschoolers (and Toddlers!)

Fine motor activities.

Squeezing Water with Basters – Add mini basters to a tub of water to work on squeezing the hand muscles.

Pipe Cleaner Beading – Preschoolers will use their pincer grasp to slide beads onto the pipe cleaners.

Q-Tip Foil Painting – Provide sheets of foil, paint, and q-tips to use as paint brushes.

Garlic Press Playdough – Show children how to squeeze playdough through a garlic press or citrus squeezer.

Cut Straw Threading – Cut straws into smaller pieces for preschoolers to thread onto yarn, creating a necklace.

Hole Punching Paper – Preschoolers will hole punch various colors of paper to strengthen hand muscles. (The Resourceful Mama)

Bead Drop – Cut out a lid with four small holes to drop beads through into a jar. (Modern Preschool)

Peeling Tape – Lay strips of painter’s tape down on a table for toddlers to peel off. (Hands On As We Grow)

Squeezing Sponges – Include some giant sponges into a bin of water for squeezing. (Things to Share and Remember)

Pipe Cleaner Weaving – Preschoolers will weave pipe cleaners back and forth through a cooling rack. (JDaniel4’s Mom)

Pom-Pom Tube Drop – Tape toilet paper tubes to the wall to create a course for the pom-poms to drop through. (Teaching Littles)

Clothespin Clipping – Provide a wire basket for children to clip clothespins onto. (School Time Snippets)

Cutting Strips – Print off these strips with lines for preschoolers to cut, working on their scissor skills. (Planes and Balloons)

Easy Paper Tunnels – Tape pieces of paper onto the ground in an arched formation for toddlers to push cars or a ball through. (Mama Papa Bubba)

Rubber Band Pinecones – Wrap rubber bands around pinecones to work on coordination. (The Imagination Tree)

Math and Cognitive Skill Activities

Playdough Counting Mats – Roll balls of playdough to match the number on the printable mats.

Number Matching with Paper Cups – Match the number on top of the paper cups with the amount of dots on the paper. (Fun Learning for Kids)

DIY Counting Cards – Make your own counting cards using stickers or dots. (Learn with Play at Home)

Car Park Numbers – Tape numbers on top of toy cars and create a cardboard parking lot with numbered spaces to match them together. (B-Inspired Mama)

Shape Hunt – Hide different shape cut-outs around your space for preschoolers to hunt for and find.

Simple Shape Puzzles – Draw shapes onto multiple popsicle sticks for homemade puzzle pieces. (Toddler At Play)

Tape Shape Outlines – Put down outlines of shapes using painter’s tape to trace around with different small objects. (Learning 4 Kids)

House Color Hunt – Have a scavenger hunt where preschoolers have to search for different objects around the house that match the colors on the sheet. (Toddler At Play)

Shape Sorting – Sort toys and various objects into piles on the floor by shape. (Busy Toddler)

Fill to the Line – Draw or tape a line over a clear container for preschoolers to fill to that line. (Days With Grey)

Art Activities

Circle Stampers – Simply dip empty paper rolls into various colors of paint to make a stamp for circle shapes.

Watercolor Garland – Paint with watercolors and q-tips to create a beautiful decoration. (Artbar)

Sponge Painting – Clip sponges with clothespins to make sponge brushes. (Busy Toddler)

Paper Plate Sculptures – Decorate paper plates and cut the sides to connect the plates together. (Kids Activities)

Fizzy Flour Paint – Create your own flour paint that fizzes using flour and baking soda. (Playdough to Plato)

Sponge Rainbow – Paint the different colors of the rainbow on a sponge to swipe a rainbow onto paper.

Blow Paint – Use a straw to blow the watercolors around the paper, creating a fun effect. (Simple Everyday Mom)

Yarn Process Art – Drag the pieces of yarn around the paper through the paint. (Buggy and Buddy)

DIY Paintbrushes – Experiment with clipping various objects to clothespins to make unique paintbrushes. (The Inspired Home)

Painting With Bubbles – Use a paint and soap mixture to blow bubbles onto the paper, leaving an outline of them behind. (Early Learning Ideas)

Citrus Printing – Cut citrus fruits in half to stamp with paint, leaving behind a fun print. (Rhythms of Play)

Literacy Activities

Introduce Journals – Show your preschooler how journals are books for writing and drawing their thoughts in.

Cupcake Tin Letter Sorting – Preschoolers will sort out the letters into the correct cupcake liner. (The Imagination Tree)

Post-It Alphabet – Write down letters onto post-it notes for kids to stick under the matching letter. (Busy Toddler)

Playdough Name Prints – Push foam or magnetic letters into the playdough to make a print of the child’s name letter by letter. (123 Homeschool 4 Me)

Name Stamp – Glue foam letters backwards to a popsicle stick to create a stamp. (My Bored Toddler)

Touch and Feel Letters – Glue pipe cleaners onto pieces of cardboard to create letters that toddlers can touch. (Teach Me Mommy)

Sensory Letter Hunt – Bury letters in a sensory bin for preschoolers to dig through and match onto the paper. (Busy Toddler)

Hidden Letters – Write down the child’s name with white crayon for them to reveal with watercolors. (Fantastic Fun and Learning)

Large Motor Activities

Bubble Wrap Runway – Tape leftover bubble wrap down onto the ground for toddlers to walk on and pop. (Hands On As We Grow)

Hallway Maze – Tape streamers to the walls of your hallway to make a laser maze to move through without touching the streamers. (It’s Always Autumn)

Indoor Obstacle Course – Set up a simple obstacle course within your own home to promote movement. (How to Run a Home Daycare)

Walk the Lines – Lay lines of painters tape on the ground in various paths for toddlers to follow. (Hands On As We Grow)

Texture Walk – Tape various materials onto the ground for toddlers to walk on, experiencing all of the different textures. (A Cotton Kandi Life)

Yoga for Kids – Get the body moving and stretching with these yoga poses for young kids. (Kids Yoga Stories)

Toddler and Preschool Activity Plans

Looking for an entire year’s worth of learning activities? We’ve done the work for you!

I have helped create each of these packets, along with a team of talented educators and homeschoolers.

Easy to follow activity plans include activity modifications and adaptations to meet the needs of all learners.

Every theme comes with recommended reading lists, songs, material lists, and more.

Click on the graphics below for more details.

Toddlers (18 – 36 months):

Preschool (3 – 5 Years):

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May 27, 2020 at 5:48 am

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100+ No-Prep Indoor Activities for 2 & 3 Year Olds

• Preschooler

Updated in 2023 with new no prep toddler activities! Are you looking for fast and easy activities to keep your toddler busy? No prep or low prep activities that are easy to clean up, engaging, education and fun? The you have come to the right place! Here is our ultimate list of the best super easy no-prep or low-prep activities you can do at home with your toddler or preschooler or 2 and 3 year olds .

Most Requested List on Social Media

I first put this list together back when we were all at home but it has quickly morphed into one of the most requested resources on social media. Hundreds of parents struggling to keep their toddlers busy at home message me on instagram requesting this list. These are the go to activities that I did with my 2 and 3 year olds at home and it will quickly become your go to as well.

I have updated the list with new activities and new pictures and more details.

I put this list together from the best kids activity blogs out there and I hope that it will help you through this time while at home. I will be updating this list periodically as I find more easy no and low-prep ideas. So keep checking back for new ideas. They will be at the top of the list.

Tips for Working Parents

If you are a parent who is now working from home, finding ways to entertain your kids all day can seen very daunting but with this list you will have a resource you can turn to that will help you through this tough time.

The best way to use this list is to go through it the night before and choose 2 or 3 ideas you think your kids will enjoy and you feel comfortable setting up. Write them down on stick them on the fridge so you can refer to them the next day.

Keeping the Mess Down

To help keep the mess down when it comes to doing easy painting or easy sensory activities take advantage of your bathtub! It’s a sure fire way to change the mood of any toddler and messy activities when done in the tub can be cleaner up with a turn of tap.

Supplies For No Prep Toddler Activities

(This post and list contains affiliate links for your convenience. If you make a purchase using one of these links, I may earn a commission. Please visit my disclosure policy for more information.)

For a quick guide to activity supplies check out my Amazon shop .

For more help on how to start to do activities with your kids check out this post for things to buy and save for kids activities.

These activities are things you can set up when your child comes to you and says, “I’m bored”. Most of them will take 5 minutes or less to set up. And although it’s hard to predict how long your child will play with an activities, it’s more than likely that they will play with these ideas for more than just 5 minutes!

Quick No Prep and Low-Prep Activities for Toddler

• 50+ Easy Things to Do at Home by Happy Toddler Playtime is a great list of 50+ super no prep activities to do at home with a 3 year old but can also be done with a 2 year old and even older children. That should be the first place you look for easy no-prep ideas. I created it when I was pregnant with my twins and I had a 3 year at home. It saved me on many many days. Click here to find the first 50 super easy and completely doable low prep activities for preschoolers here !
• Mega Blok Jumping

You’ll need Mega Bloks. Set up an indoor jumping range for your toddler using their Mega Blocks. This is a simple active activity that your toddler can help set up with you!

• Pillow Road

You’ll need pillows and cars or trucks. Create a pillow road for your toddlers favourite trucks and cars.

• Toilet Paper Rolling

You’ll need toilet paper and toys. Take a toilet paper roll, unroll is and place a toy at the end. Invite your little one roll is back up trying to keep the toy from falling off.

• Snack Names

You’ll need snack, paper and a marker. Write their name on a piece of paper with circles below each letter. Invite your toddler to place one snack in each circle and have them identify each letter and its sound. As they remove their snacks and eat them repeat the same thing.

• Sock Puzzles

You’ll need a sock and a wooden puzzle. Put wooden puzzle pieces inside a large sock and have your child put their hand in to find the pieces and complete the puzzle

You’ll need paper, marker and snacks. Count snacks on a piece of paper.

• Free the Animals

You’ll need animals and small ziplock bags. Place the animals inside and invite your toddler to open and free them.

• Dinosaur Bath

Put dinosaur toys in the bath

• Decorate your Diapers

Decorate diapers with permanent markers.

• Painting Bread

You’ll need white bread, food colouring and milk. Paint bread with edible paint and then eat it! Find out more here .

• Ice Sensory Bin – an easy idea that works in winter and summer
• Snowman Towers – build a snowman using paper towel rolls.
• 100+ Low -Prep Activities you can Do in Your Backyard by Little Pine Learners are a great set of fun activities to do outside.
• Paint with Kitchen Tools as Paint Brushes by Busy Toddler or with cotton balls.
• Do a craft together using kitchen tools. Check out this post of super easy crafts using a potato masher .
• Car bowling using bowling pins or toilet paper rolls and a car big enough to knock them over. Line the pins or rolls up and then use the car to knock them down.
• Alphabet Match is fun activity using fridge magnets and can be set up in 3 minutes!
• Tea Bag Water Play is a quick activity using herbal tea bags and water.
• Paper Tunnels and Balls by Toddler Approved can be set up in minutes and is fun for little and big kids.
• Pom Pom Number Sweep can be set up in 2 minutes and is fun for 2 and 3 year olds.
• Pouring Station by Busy Toddler is fun water sensory bin that is sure to entertain for more than 5 minutes!
• MegaBlok Names is a quick set up activity to practice name recognition.
• Foil Puzzle Presents is a great way to use a puzzle and has lots of ways to extend the play.
• Toddler Dot-to-Dot by What We Do All Day is a fun idea for Toddlers
• Build a Book Rainbow is a great way to use your children’s library in a fun way. It will lead to reading a few current favourites and some forgotten favourites as well.
• Sponge Letter Match uses sponges and letters and is fun for 2 and 3 years. It can also lead to lots of extending play.
• Animal Tape Rescue by Busy Toddler is a fun fine motor activity that toddlers will love!
• 10 Salad Spinner Toddler Activities is a list of 10 super easy to set activities to do with a salad spinner using items you already have at home.
• How to Make Paper Airplanes by The Best Ideas for Kids has a great full video tutorial. This idea is great for all ages.
• Spaghetti Drop for Toddlers is a quick activity using dried spaghetti and cardboard tubes. You can set it up in minutes.
• STEM Play Dough Building Challenge by Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds. This is a fun idea that you can set up in less than 2 minutes and great for 4-6 year olds as well.
• Cloud Dough Kitchen uses a quick sensory recipe using flour and oil to create a taste-safe dough that is fun and easy to play with.
• Coin Sorting by Rhythms of Play is a fun sorting activity using coins and can be set up in 2 minutes. Great for 3-5 year olds.
• The Drop Anything Toddler Activity have your toddler drop markers, crayons or anything they can find that will fit down a cardboard tube! You can set this up in 2 minutes!
• Towel Holder and Rolls For Toddlers by Powerful Mothering using paper towel rolls and is great for toddlers.
• Feed the Animals by Little Ones Learn
• Cutting a Banana by Rhythms of Play is a great way to combine snack time and playtime. This is great for 2 and 3 year olds.
• Pom Pom Picnic by Happy Toddler Playtime is a fun pretend play activity that lasted for days in my house.
• DIY Sorter by Little Ones Learn is a fun diy activity using a cardboard box and random items in your house.
• Lego Color Sorting by Lorena & Lennox is a quick set up colour sorting activity that has the potential to lead to lots of free play!
• Colour Mixing Tea Party by Happy Toddler Playtime is a quick early colour mixing activity.
• Water Play for Toddlers – Fishing for Colors and Letters by Active Littles is a fun and easy water play activity for toddlers.
• Cardboard Box Wash & Paint by Happy Toddler Playtime for Toddler Approved is a great way mess free way to use a cardboard box.
• Dinosaur Hunting with Paint by Powerful Mothering is fun for 2 and 3 year olds using water colour paints.
• Pom Pom Water Transfer

You’ll need Pom Poms or sponges and two containers and water. Find out how to set it up here .

• Cookie Sheet Sensory Play by Twin Mom Refreshed is a quick to set up sensory activity.
• Stone Washing by Happy Toddler Playtime is a easy set cleaning activity using stones and shaving. Its not as messy as it sounds and will entertain for more than 5 minutes for sure.
• Wine Cork Push by Happy Toddler Playtime is a great way to use those wine corks you might accumulate while working from home with your kids!
• Paint Animals

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Mandisa | Happy Toddler Playtime (@happytoddlerplaytime)

51. Elastic Bands Around Feet

Take a few elastic bands and invite your toddler to pull them over there feet. Don’t use too many and remove them immediately after playing. This is great practice for putting on socks. You can also use scrunches!

• Cutlery Sorting

53. Dinner Plate Counting

54. Backyard Toy Painting

More No Prep and Low Prep Toddler Activities

55. Car Letters

56. Hand Sock Painting

• Window Washing

You’ll need sponges , water, soap and sensory bin or bowl.

• Pom Poms Mega Blok Colouring Sorting

Your’ll need Pom Poms, Mega Bloks and tongs. Turn your Mega Bloks upside down and use them to colour sort with Pom Poms.

59. Snack Necklaces

Serving snack? Why not turn it into an activity. All you need is string and a embroidery needle and snacks that are soft enough to thread the needle through or have holes or soft

60. Elastic Bands over Paper Towel

Grab some elastic bands and invite your toddler to see how many they can wrap around the paper towel roll.

61. Ivory Soap Experiment

You’ll need ivory soap, microwaveable plate and microwave. Unwrap bar Ivory Soap, place in the middle of the plate. Place in microwave and heat for 1- 2 minutes (about 1:30 is the sweet spot). Keep watching the entire time because it happens fast!

62. Turtle Boxes

You’ll need a cardboard box. Grab a cardboard box and place it on your toddlers back and pretend to be turtles. Can you hide in your shell? Decorate the outside of the shell with markers

63. Bug Whisk Rescue

You’ll need a whisk and small toys, Pom Poms or socks. Place toys like bugs or LEGO or Pom Poms or socks or cotton balls.

64. Book:  Super STEAM Activity Book for Kids

Learning all about science, technology, engineering, art, and math sets kids up for scholastic success―and it can be so much fun! Watch kids enjoy building STEAM skills as they color friendly fish, help water find its way to tree roots, solve math problems with mazes, and more. 

Find out more and grab your copy  here .

Designed for preschoolers 3 years old and up.

65. Laundry Basket Dump Truck

You’ll need a laundry basket and heavy items like a bag of flour or bottle of vinegar or oil. Place some heavy items into a laundry basket and see if your toddler can move them around like a dump truck.

66. Balloon Bug Tennis

You’ll need a balloon and a cardboard tube like a paper towel roll.

67. LEGO Body Trace Activity for Kids

You’ll need larger butcher paper, LEGO DUPLO or MEGA BLOCKS and marker.

68. LEGO Finish the Animals

You’ll need butcher paper and LEGO and markers.

69. Step Stool Jumping

You’ll need: a step stool. Invite your toddler to climb and jump off the step stool!

70. Feed the Stuffed Animal Ball Relay Race

You’ll need: Plastic balls, cardboard boxes, stuffed animals. Place the plastic ball pit balls into a box on one end of room or backyard and an empty box on the other end. Place their favourite stuffed animals next to the empty box. Invite your toddler to use a spoon to scoop up a ball and walk it over to the box next to the stuffed animals. They can pretend to feed the animals the ball and then place it in the box. Repeat until all the balls have been transferred over.

71. Rescue the Animals

You’ll need pipe cleaners and animals. Wrap elastic bands around your under the sea creatures or farm animals. Invite your toddler to unwrap the animals to free them

72. Stick Ladder

You’ll need sticks. You can use broom sticks or even just painters tape and invite your little one to pretend that it’s a ladder that they have to climb up. Find more ways to play  here .

73. Book Drop

You’ll need: books and a cardboard box and scissors. Does your toddler love to return library books at the library through the book drop? Well all three of mine do so I decided to turn it into a fun activity using a cardboard box!

74. Bubble Wrap Highway

You’ll need bubble wrap, painters tape, sharpie and cars. Use bubble wrap to create a highway for your toddlers toy cars and trucks.

75. Glow in the Dark Bowling

For toddlers use a larger ball so that hitting the balls is not so challenging. Grab some empty large water or pop bottles, fill them with glow sticks. Set them up in your basement or a room that you can make fairly dark and let them try and know them down!

76. Paper Towel Roll Towers

Grab some paper towel roll with the paper towels still on. You can even add some toilet paper rolls with the toilet paper still on. Full rolls for this activity and invite your toddler to stack them like giant blocks! We did activity in the winter and made  snowmen  out of them by adding buttons and a hat. 

77. Fly Swatter Bubbles

You’ll need fly swatter and dish soap, water and a bowl. This bubble making activity is soo easy for toddlers and a great way to get out energy. And bonus no spilt bubble solution!! All you need is a fly swatter! Find out more  here .

78. Clouds in the Sky Picture: Cotton Ball Gluing

You’ll need blue construction paper, glue and cotton balls. Invite your toddler to make a clouds in the sky picture glue the cotton balls to the blue construction paper.

79. Water Pouring Station

You’ll need bowls and cups and water and towel or sensory bin. Fill bowls and cups with water and place them on a towel. You don’t need lots of water to make this fun. Invite your toddler to pour the water in the bowl. If doing this in a sensory bin or outside you can add more water! or even colours with food colouring!

80. Ice Cream Cone Balloon Toss

You’ll need: balloons and brown construction paper. Twist your brown construction paper into a ice cream cone shape and use some tape to secure it. Blow up a balloon. Invite your toddler to toss the balloon in the air using the cone an try and catch it again!

81. Taste Test

You’ll need 4-5 containers and different foods that taste sweet (honey, chocolate), sour (lemon, lime), salty (chips, cucumber with salt) and bitter (kale). Invite your toddler to taste each one. Taste about how it tastes with them. What’s their favourite? Least favourite?

82. Pull the Pipe Cleaners

You’ll need pipe cleaners and a colander or container with small holes. Invite your toddler to insert the pipe cleaners in the colander and them remove them.

83. Spice Container Measuring

You’ll need spice containers. Measure different things using spice containers. My kids loved measuring themselves, stuffed animals and large trucks.

84. Pillow walk

You’ll need pillows. create a path using all the pillows and cushion you have and go for a walk on it!

85. Giant Nail Salon

You’ll need cardboard box, sharpie, ice cube tray washable paint, fine paint brushes or q-tips. Find out how to set it up here .

86. Pom Pom Water Transfer

87. Wash the Toys

You’ll need plastic toys large or small, water, dish soap or bubble bath and water. If indoors use a sensory bin otherwise you can do this outside!

88. Oat Sensory Bin

You’ll need oats, animals and a sensory bin or box or large Tupperware container.

89. UNO Memory Game

You’ll need UNO cards. Choose a match of 3 or 4. Place the card face down. Flip over two cards, if they match you keep them. If they don’t match turn them over and try again.

90. Draw A Farm

You’ll need markers, paint sticks and a large sheet of butcher paper and farm animal toys. Invite your toddler to draw the different habitats of farm animals. For example a mud pit for the pigs, a pond for the ducks, a field for the cows and horses and barn or the chicken. You can draw the outline of item for younger toddlers and let them colour it in or let yourolder toddler create their own farm.

91. Pom Pom Drop

Can’t have a list of easy toddler activities without this classic one. Its a classic for a reason. Its super easy to set up and just plain or fun for toddlers. You’ll need cardboard tube, painter’s tape and Pom Poms.

92. Prepared Playdough Kits

93. Foam Shapes on the Window

You’ll need foam shapes, a bowl and water. Wet the foam shapes and stick them all over a window!

94. Painting with Water and Chalk

You’ll need construction paper, colourful chalk, bowl, water and paint brush. Paint the construction paper with water. Then colour over the water with some chalk.

95. Salad Spinner Art

You’ll need a salad spinner, washable paint and coffee filters or paper and scissors. Place the coffee filter in the salad spinner or cut a circle from white paper to fit inside the spinner. Add a few drops of washable kids paint. Close the spinner and turn as fast as you can. Open the spinner up and see what happened!

96. Pasta Threading

You’ll need penne pasta and pipe cleaners. Thread the penne pasta around the pipe cleaners.

97. Feed the Animals: Puzzle Activity

You’ll need rice, animal puzzle, spoon, bowl and sensory bin or box.

98. Oobleck

You’ll need water and corn starch. Find out how to make it here .

99. Popsicle Bath

You’ll need popsicles and bath.

100. Stacking Challenge

You’ll need flat rocks. Try and stack them as high as you can!

101. Fizzy Experiment

You’ll need baking soda, Tupperware container or sensory bin, bowls, vinegar, eye dropper and food coloring. Spread baking soda out in the sensory bin. Fill bowls with vinegar and a drop of food colouring. Use the eye droppers to apply the coloured vinegar to the baking soda and watch it fizz with colour!

102. Playdough Tool Mark Making

You’ll need paint, paper and play dough tools. Dip the playdough tool in the paint and make prints or marks on the paper.

Toddler and Preschooler Curriculums, Books & TV Show!

Play2learn toddler & preschool programs for curious toddlers.

There is no limit to your toddler’s energy and curiosity. That energy and curiosity although a joy can be challenging at times. Their interest in just about everything around them is what makes them great learners. One and two year olds can soak up so much just from their senses!

But as a teacher or parent that thirst for learning can be exhausting. That is why I created this toddler and preschooler program. To help you get the most out of this time with your curious toddler without having to come up with creative ways to play and interact with them.

Play2Learn for Toddlers  includes 20 Units for toddlers. Each 2-week toddler unit has 20 super easy to set up and engaging activities for toddlers 18 months to 3 years.

Play2Learn Preschool  which includes 20 Units for preschoolers. Each 2-week preschoolers unit has 20 unique and easy to set up and engaging activities for preschoolers 3 years to 5 years.  That’s over 800 learning activities for your toddler and preschooler at your fingertips! So many ideas you and your child will never be bored again! 

These  toddler and preschool lesson plans and activities  will definitely keep you and your toddler and preschooler busy playing and learning!

Click here for more information: Play2Learn

Designed for toddlers 18 months and up.

Book:  Exciting Sensory Bins for Curious Kids

Did you know I wrote a book of sensory bins? Click here for more information  Exciting Sensory Bin for Curious Kids . Or grab your copy at  Amazon . 

Boring afternoons are made exciting with awesome animal-based bins, like Salty Shark Bay or Yarn Farm. Pretend play bins like Birthday Cake Sensory Play or Bubble Tea Party encourage creativity and imagination. And your kids will have so much fun they won’t even know they’re getting smarter with STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) activities like Sink or Float Soup, Magnetic Letter Hunt or Ice Cream Scoop and Count.

Book:  Big Book of Riddles for Kids

Riddle me this: What’s an exciting way to practice critical thinking while having a blast?  The Big Riddle Book for Kids , of course! From hilarious puns to tough brain teasers, kids can build problem-solving skills with hundreds of riddles that show them how to think outside the box.

• 350 riddles for kids —Have hours of fun with riddles, puns and jokes, and math and logic puzzles that’ll get their wheels turning!
• Level up their skills —Riddles get trickier as kids progress through the book, challenging them as they get better at solving puzzles!
• Double-check their work —Kids can check their answers in the back of the book with a handy answer key.

Help children expand their minds while having fun with this puzzle book for kids!

Designed for kids ages 6 years   old and up.

TV Show:  Curious Crafting

I’m so excited to finally share my new crafting TV show  Curious Crafting  which launched July 1 at on  TVOkids  and  TVOkids YouTube !

Set in the ultimate crafting space, Curious Crafting is a short form pre-school age series about the joy of making crafts. I lead a rotating cast of adorable little preschoolers (including my own) making magic out of common household objects.

In each episode we transform recycled items into magical crafts like a milk carton school bus, paper bag puppet or cotton pad turtle. The crafters learn and laugh their way through each activity while demonstrating what their young imaginations can create. 

Curious Crafting shares the adventure and joy of making art with takeaway lessons for creating crafts at home.

This show designed for toddlers and preschoolers 2.5 years old and up. 

WILL YOU TRY ANY OF THESE NO PREP & LOW-PREP TODDLER ACTIVITIES WITH YOUR TODDLER OR PRESCHOOLER?

Filed Under:

• Three Year Olds
• Two Year Olds

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1 comment on “100+ No-Prep Indoor Activities for 2 & 3 Year Olds”

Good rreading your post

17 Learning Activities for 2-Year-Olds: Teaching Toddlers Through Play

Play-based learning is the best way for your toddler to learn about themselves and their world.

The world of your 2-year-old is full of exciting possibilities. They are developing quickly, and you will find them ready to dive into learning experiences. They are actively looking for ways to assert their independence and test their boundaries (and yours!).

Learning activities for 2-year-olds should look at their development holistically and engage them in new ways of thinking. Toddler learning activities are a fun way for you to connect with your child as you learn and grow together.

Play-Based Learning for Toddler Development

When your 2-year-old is playing, they are learning how the world works. Play ignites their curiosity and gets them to think creatively about simple tasks.

“Play is our brain’s favorite way of learning” – Diane Ackerman.

Here are some other ways that play is beneficial for development:

• Practice life skills
• Improves communication
• Develops empathy
• Encourages imagination
• Allows for independence and autonomy
• Fosters problem-solving skills

17 Learning Activities for Your 2-Year-Old

When it comes to educational activities for toddlers, you want to make them hands-on and fun. Learning should be joyful and creative. Fun activities can teach your child and keep them happily immersed in play.

Activities for Gross Motor Skills Development

1. Play Silks and Dancing

There is something magical about watching a child lost in their own world. Play silks are a great way to encourage imaginative movement in little kids. 

Put on some music and let your little one move to the rhythm. This unstructured activity allows them to use any movements they want. The play silks help them move their bodies, become aware of themselves within a space, and embody different characters. 

Fun Tip: Try music that evokes different moods. Watch as your child adjusts their movements to the music.

Benefits: 

• Imagination
• Free movement
• Express emotion

2. Animal Imitation

What toddler doesn’t love pretend play? 

You can use animal cards, toy animals, or even recorded animal sounds for this activity. Help your child think about how each animal moves and then watch as they try to imitate that movement. They can include the sound the animal makes to really get into character.

Fun Tip: Do this activity with your child. Yes, it may seem silly, but they will love it. Play is how our kids communicate with us, and something special happens when we join them in their world.

• Crossing the midline and gross motor skills
• Builds core strength
• Improves focus and attention

3. Mud Monster

Getting dirty is a great way to learn and a fun activity. Not only is mud a fantastic sensory experience, but it contains friendly bacteria that stimulate the release of serotonin . 

To create your mud monster, draw one on a wall with mud or build one around a hula hoop placed on the ground. Your toddler will then make mud balls and have to throw them into the mud monster’s mouth. Your 2-year-old is learning to throw overhand at this stage, and this is a fun activity to practice.

Fun Tip: Let your toddler help you make the mud. The process of mixing sand and water is a valuable learning opportunity.

• Develops tactile skills
• Strengthens throwing motion
• It helps them identify their dominant arm

Activities that Develop Fine Motor Skills

4. Building Blocks

Building blocks are a classic toddler activity that has a multitude of benefits. Simply place a bag of blocks on the floor and watch as your little one begins to create. At this age, your 2-year-old will be able to build a tower of 4-7 blocks, opening up a world of possibilities for them.

Fun Tip: Add other elements such as cars, animals, and wood planks. This will help your toddler play with the blocks in new and imaginative ways.

• Problem-solving
• Early math skills

5. Simple Tracing

Your 2-year-old might not be holding a pencil confidently, but they will enjoy simple tracing activities. They will help them develop tensile strength in their fingers and work on their fine motor skills.

Use simple shapes and lines with an easy-to-follow dot-to-dot pattern. A chunky pencil or marker will work best for your child’s inexperienced fingers.

Fun Tip: Start with sidewalk chalk to encourage large, free-flowing movements. Before starting with a pencil, try a Q-tip and paint to follow a series of dot patterns.

• Hand-eye coordination
• Concentration
• Crossing the midline

6. Paper Washing Line

Reaching the washing line outside might be tricky, but you can create a mini version indoors. All you need is a cardboard box, some twine, and two pieces of dowel rod. You can cut out clothing from cardboard and let your 2-year-old peg them onto the line.

Fun Tip: You can use clothes pegs to hang up art, count, color sort, and paint with. They are a versatile option for 2-year-old development activities. 

• Improve pincer grasp
• Motor accuracy
• Hand preference

7. Playdough Jars

Play dough is fantastic for sensory play and fine motor skills development. Put playdough and loose parts into different jars with the lids on. Then let your toddler open the jars and empty the contents. Opening the jars is good fine motor practice and your toddler is also at a stage where they love to empty containers.

Fun Tip: Ask your toddler to sort the items and place them back into the jars at the end of the activity. 

• Strengthens fingers, hands, and wrists
• Improves concentration

Activities for Language Development

8. Picture Books

Picture books are essential in child development, particularly for emergent language. Reading picture books allows you to foster connection with your toddler while demonstrating a love of reading. Your 2-year-old will also learn to connect the words to the pictures. This will help them understand their meaning better.

Fun Tip: Play a game of ‘spot the x.’ You can help your child learn new words as they associate them with a picture.

• Listening skills
• Strengthen visual thinking skills
• Encourage conversations

9. Mystery Bag

This is a versatile game that you can play with almost any object. Put a selection of things into a bag. Ask your toddler to reach into the bag and try and name an object they feel before pulling it out. This is a fun way to introduce new words to your child’s vocabulary.

Fun Tip: For an interesting variation of this game, draw the outline of your toddler’s body on a large piece of paper. Then ask them to point to and name their different body parts. 

• New vocabulary
• Improved tactile sense

10. Story Cubes

Story cubes have scenes/characters/objects depicted on them. Your toddler can choose the order of the cubes, and you can create a story together. This activity is excellent for teaching toddlers about creative thinking and future scenarios.

Fun Tip: Incorporate tower building into the process. Then start the story from the top of the tower and reverse it. This is a fun way to introduce the concepts of top and bottom while helping your toddler use their imagination.

• Imaginative play

11. Nursery Rhymes

Nursery rhymes are great for teaching 2-year-olds about phonics and help with language development. Keep your rhymes simple and choose ones with repetitive verses.

Some great nursery rhymes for 2-year-olds are Incy Wincy Spider, Old MacDonald, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Humpty Dumpty, and Hickory Dickory Dock.

Try to incorporate rhymes that have corresponding movements. The car is also great for practicing nursery rhymes with your toddler.

• Develop motor skills
• Teach grammar
• Introduce counting, colors, and shapes

Activities for Social/Emotional Development

12. Emotion Cards

2-year-olds are learning about themselves in relation to other children so talking about emotions is vital. Emotion cards work well as they show the picture that relates to a feeling. Start your day with the emotion cards and regularly bring them out. 

Fun Tip: Take a ‘sportscasting’ approach to toddler behavior. That means you observe and repeat the facts of the situation. This allows your toddler to feel and deal with the emotion for themselves.

• Builds empathy
• It helps them learn self-regulation and self-control
• Emotional vocabulary development

13. Simon Says

2-year-olds are starting to copy the behavior they see around them. That makes Simon Says a fun and simple game to play. Your toddler is also becoming more aware of themselves, and Simon Says is a fun way to start teaching them about the parts of their body.

Fun Tip: Use the anatomical names for body parts. Children must know the real names as they become aware of themselves and their bodies.

• Developing body awareness
• Sequencing Skills
• Following instructions

14. Kitchen Time

Your 2-year-old is becoming more independent, and you may find them increasingly defiant. Spending time in the kitchen is a great way to help them feel empowered and capable.

Simple cookies, scrambled eggs, and banana muffins are easy recipes that your 2-year-old can make with you.

Fun Tip: Involve them in the whole process by allowing them to crack, mash, and scoop but also wash up.

• Basic math skills
• Builds independence
• Boosts confidence

Activities for Cognitive Development

15. Puppet Play

Puppet play is an amazing developmental tool for toddlers. Your 2-year-old is starting to engage in make-believe play and new language. Puppets encourage creativity, imagination, and new vocabulary. It also helps develop social skills.

Fun tip: You don’t need fancy puppets. Toddlers love craft activities, so why not make your own out of socks? You know, the ones that make it out of the dryer without a partner?

• Motor skills
• Builds self-confidence

16. Treasure Hunt

A treasure hunt is a versatile learning experience that you can use repeatedly. For example, you can have a color hunt where your toddler has to find items in the house that are a specific color. Or you can stick shapes around the house and ask them to find and sort them.

Fun Tip: Take this activity outside for a diverse sensory experience with different textures.

• Color identification

17. Sorting Basket

Sorting baskets are another fun matching game to help your toddler learn colors, numbers, shapes, and sizes. You can put almost anything in a sorting basket, from leaves and stones to blocks and fabric scraps.

Fun Tip: Mix up textures and color shades to challenge your toddler.

• Develops reasoning and thinking skills
• Encourage categorizing
• Early literacy and numeracy skills

Teaching Your Toddler Through Play

Play-based learning opportunities are the best activities to get your toddler engaged and excited. They allow you to introduce complex concepts through simple play that your 2-year-old can easily understand.

Watching your little one engage with the world around them is a magical time, so get on their level and get playing.

fun & meaningful learning every day

200+ Activities for Preschoolers at Home & School

Shared by Mary Catherine 10 Comments

Are you looking for awesome activities for preschoolers at home AND school? If you’re a regular Fun-A-Day reader, you know I believe learning takes place everywhere, both in the classroom and out. So I put together this collection of classroom and at-home preschool activities to help both parents and teachers.

These simple preschool ideas can keep children engaged and learning while at school. AND they’re perfect for children at home during the summer, over holiday breaks, or homeschooling.

You’ll find activities that cover a wide variety of subject areas – math, literacy, art, movement, science, sensory, music, and even messy play. Most of the preschool ideas shared below are also pretty simple to setup, so you have the kids engaged quickly and easily.

Related: Free Preschool Printables

Be sure to grab the free printable at the bottom of this post. Parents, use it with your children at home if you’d like. Teachers, send it to your students’ parents or keep the list on-hand when you need new inspiration.

Table of Contents

Activities for Preschoolers at Home

My goal here is to share simpler activities that you can try with the kids without too many materials.

This post is a bit of a work in progress, so I’ll likely come back over the course of the week to make changes and add more ideas.

Below you’ll find ideas for a variety of subject areas. Pick and choose which will work best with your kids and add them to your plans. Start slowly and give yourself a lot of grace. You don’t have to do everything at once.

Simple Math Activities

Use the items that you already have on-hand to create simple math lessons for your preschoolers.

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Count all of the red things in your living room.
• Sort the groceries (by color, by food, etc.). Make a small graph of the groceries on the kitchen table.
• Go into your yard and find 10 natural items.
• Use rocks and acorns to make patterns.
• Staple blank paper together to create a little book. Write a number on each page. Add that many stickers. Keep the book to read and count.
• Play a homemade game of shape memory using index cards with shapes drawn on them.

Be sure to check out over 30 more easy math activities for preschoolers , too!

Science Activities for Preschoolers at Home

Science is all around us, so there’s no need to make it too complicated for the kids.

Here are a few simple science activities to try at home:

• Go for a nature walk.
• Explore what happens when you mix water and dirt. This one is better done outside if possible, but can be brought indoors if needed.
• Pour baking soda in a pan. Let the kids drop vinegar from pipettes (or spoons) onto the vinegar. Consider coloring the vinegar or adding scent with extracts.
• Freeze things in water. Some possibilities – flowers, LEGO mini figures, small toys, coins, etc. Then let the kids experiment with different water temperatures to “rescue” what’s been frozen in ice.
• Host a taste test. Use foods you already have at home. Some possibilities – chocolate, marshmallows, crackers, green foods, etc. Observe the foods with all five senses. How does it feel? Sound? Look? Smell? Taste?
• Keep a simple science journal about all of your scientific adventures.

Pop over and read about 30 more easy science experiments for kids at home or school.

Easy Preschool Literacy Activities

Don’t let the thought of teaching early literacy worry you. There are so many simple activities that pack a punch.

Some literacy activities for preschoolers at home to try:

• Read. Then read again. And read some more.
• Integrate literacy with everything else you’re doing with the kids! Science journals, writing about their favorite paintings, recording information about a graph of favorite apples, and so on.
• Talk. And then talk some more. Everyday discussions that take place during your routine can have a large positive impact on language development.
• Play a simple rhyming game using your child’s name. How many rhymes can you all make up?
• Practice stretching words slowly to hear all of the sounds. This is especially fun if you’re pretending to talk like a whale.
• Make a name puzzle for your child. Write her name on a piece of paper and cut it apart. Use that to work on letters and words.

You can read about 40+ more early literacy activities if you need more ideas!

Sensory Activities for Preschoolers at Home

Sensory play is a must at home! Young children learn so much as they explore through their senses.

Below are some sensory ideas to try at home. Please note that these are more appropriate for older preschoolers. If you have younger children who still put things in their mouths, you’ll want to steer clear of any choking hazards. For the littles, use taste-safe material or age-appropriate materials.

• Put some stale pasta in a plastic tub. Add a few scoops, spoons, and bowls to the tub.
• Run scrap paper through your shredder to create a paper bin. Add some scissors and let the kids cut too.
• Add water to a sensory bin. Then put a little bit of scented shampoo or soap in the water. Add whisks, bowls, funnels, etc. This could also be done in the bathtub.
• Put a variety of materials into a large bin (small toys, beads, bells, paper clips – anything really). Add containers that have tops. Let the children place the materials into the containers and explore sounds.
• Make a simple sensory bottle by adding pasta, paper clips, pompoms, etc. into a clean, empty bottle. Seal shut before giving to young children.

Head over and find more than 40 more simple sensory activities for preschoolers.

Preschool Songs

I couldn’t put together a list of activities for preschoolers at home without including a little section on songs.

Singing and dancing allow children to work on SO MANY early learning concepts. Vocabulary, rhyming, gross motor movements, fine motor skills, literacy, math, science, and so much more.

Here are some song collections your preschoolers might enjoy:

• Hand washing songs
• Rhyming songs and fingerplays
• Alphabet songs
• St. Patrick’s Day songs for preschoolers
• Winter songs for preschoolers
• Christmas preschool songs

I will, of course, come back and add more song collections in the near future.

Art Activities for Preschoolers at Home

No matter where your preschoolers are, at home or at school, creativity is a must.

Let the kids experiment with different techniques and materials as they get into art and crafts. They’ll be learning how to express themselves, use their imaginations, and they’ll even touch on more “academic” knowledge this way, too.

Some easy art activities for preschoolers at home:

• Let the kids use paper and markers to draw anything they want. If they need a prompt, ask them to create their own magical creature, draw their family, use all the colors of the rainbow in one picture, etc.
• Hand the children some chalk and let them at the sidewalk or driveway! To “spice up” this activity, have the kids see what happens when they draw with wet chalk.
• Use random items you have on-hand to create art – paper clips, cotton balls, leftover plastic Easter eggs, Post-It Notes, old CDs, etc.
• Grab spare kitchen utensils, paint, and paper. Let the kids paint using potato mashers, spatulas, whisks, and anything else in those kitchen drawers. If you have washable ink, that would work well too, as would using water to “paint” with the utensils on the sidewalk or a driveway.
• Have the kids create their own jewelry with beads and string/yarn. If you don’t have any beads, consider cutting straws into smaller pieces or using buttons.
• Draw or write a hidden message with a white crayon on white paper. Have the kids use watercolors to paint over the page and uncover the surprise.

Read about more than 40 more fun art projects for kids , too!

Movement Ideas for Kids at Home

And we can’t forget encouraging those kids to move, can we?! It is SO important to ensure that young children are moving their bodies a lot throughout the day.

Some ideas to inspire you:

• Have a dance party at home! Turn up a favorite song and just dance.
• Challenge the kids to run in the shape of a triangle or a circle.
• Hold a hop-off. Who can hop 15 times? 25 times?
• Play a simple game of tag outside.
• Have the kids race to pick up natural items in the yard (flowers, pine cones, acorns, etc.).
• Use items you have to create a homemade obstacle course. Some ideas might include tree stumps, big baskets, bikes, etc.

Do you have any favorite movement activities for the kids?

Messy Play Ideas to Do at Home

Don’t be scared to try messy play activities at home! Children can learn a ton through exposure to messy play fun. AND they get a chance to practice all of those cleaning up skills.

Check out some fun 25 messy play ideas at home activities.

Tips for Parents with Preschoolers at Home

If you’re a parent with preschoolers at home, these tips are for you. If you’re a teacher, feel free to share these suggestions with your students’ parents before long breaks.

Schedules and Routines

Children of all ages thrive with a routine, especially younger kids. This doesn’t have to be a strict down-to-the second schedule, by any means! You definitely don’t need to make yourself stick to a schedule you saw online just because you feel like you have to.

Take a look at your responsibilities, available times for the family, and come up with a flexible routine that works for you.

Some families need a specific schedule, some families prefer a gentle routine, and other families are happy with a more super laid-back approach. Decide what will help YOU the most and go with that. And work the preschool activities into it as you can.

Remember the Good You Do

I want you to remember that parents are amazing! Look at what you’re doing for your kids. You’re loving them, you’re on top of meals and, you’re spending quality time with your children. (And you’re here looking for activities preschoolers can do at home.)

You’re their safe space! Because that’s what children need the most – YOU! Many children are anxious about changes that happen around winter and summer break. Having you there to connect with and love on them is the most important thing.

I know you’re worried you might not be patient enough. I know you’re worried about not meeting all of their educational needs. But you are rocking the heck out of being there for your kids!

Parents ARE Teachers

Please remember that parents are amazing teachers. You might scoff when you read that, but it’s true. Parents are a child’s first teacher. Look at all of the things you’ve helped your child learn – how to tie their shoes, how to ride a bike, manners, kindness, potty training . . . and so much more.

You just don’t realize that you’re teaching them. But you are. Every single day, whether they are in school or out of school – they are learning from you. You have got this!

Learning Doesn’t Just Take Place in the Classroom

One more thing – children learn SO MUCH from things around them. Simple things. Cooking with you, playing a fun game, walking around the neighborhood, and so on.

Keep it simple! If you’re feeling overwhelmed, stick with these five general activities for preschoolers at home:

• PLAY – Play games, play outside, play pretend, just play!
• TALK – Talk about the day, talk about your family stories, talk about the cooking you’re doing, talk about future plans.
• CREATE – Create art, create science experiments, create goofy games, create amazing LEGO structures, create memories.
• READ – Read picture books, read chapter books, read magazines, read comic books, read stories you write together.
• SING – Sing favorite songs, sing while washing your hands, sing while having a dance party, sing your own made up songs.

When you’re ready for more activities, I’ve got you covered above.

At-Home Preschool Materials

I know it can be overwhelming thinking of all the things you might need for your preschooler. So, I’ve created a list of the most basic things that you might need for your at-home preschool time. Here are my suggestions (I may get commissions for purchases made through links in this post):

• Dramatic play supplies
• Art supplies
• Math manipulatives
• Books , books, and more books!

All of these things can certainly come in handy as your little one begins to learn a variety of preschool concepts. However, I think the most important thing you can give the children is your time and attention! Be sure to play with your children as often as possible. It is so important and there are so many learning opportunities to be had.

Done-For-You Preschool Resources

Below are a few of the resources from Preschool Teacher 101 . They would be great in the classroom, as part of a take-home pack you send home with your students, or for parents at home with preschoolers.

Click on each photo for more information:

Preschool Activities at Home Printable (Free!)

I put together a simple list of all of these starter activities for preschoolers at home. You can download it, print it out, and slap it up on your fridge. When you’re at a loss of what to do, try one of the items on this list! And when you have time, you can pop back over here for even more possibilities.

If you’re a teacher, make copies of the printable and send it home with your students! Or give their parents the link to this post so they can grab it themselves.

The printable is available to members of Fun-A-Day’s free email community. If you’re a member, add your information below and it will be sent to you. If you’re not a member yet, fill out the information to join and get the printable as a welcome gift!

What are some of YOUR go-to activities for preschoolers at home? Feel free to leave me even more ideas in the comments below.

Originally posted March 2020.

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March 20, 2020 at 11:35 pm

I noticed at the top of your article it says Teachers can send it to thier students but when you open it, it says to not copy it and post for our students.

Do I have permission to post this on google classroom for my preschool students?

Thank you for your response.

March 21, 2020 at 12:19 am

Oh rats, I forgot to change out the permissions for this particular time. Yes, feel free to email it directly to your students’ families. You can also put it in private groups or apps (like Facebook or Dojo) . . . but no public social media, public websites, etc. Thanks for checking in about it.

March 21, 2020 at 12:41 am

Hi! This is the most fantastic post I’ve seen so far since subscribing to your site! I’m a preschool teach her who will be starting the new adventure of teaching PreK from home this coming week! Love all the ideas! Please send more soon! Thank you!

March 21, 2020 at 1:00 am

Thank you so much for the kind words, Karen! I’m working on quite a few additional things to supplement this – hopefully they’ll be up in the week.

March 24, 2020 at 7:40 pm

Thank you for doing this for people all over the world. I just forwarded your link to my preschool families. Now the parents will see how their children’s creativity, imagination and energy unfold.

March 24, 2020 at 10:19 pm

Joy, I am so happy I can help in some little way. Your sweet words mean the world to me – thank you!

March 26, 2020 at 8:24 pm

Thank you sooooo much!! Your email really calmed me. Looking forward to more emails from you.

March 27, 2020 at 9:03 am

I’m so happy I was able to help a little bit! 🙂

April 3, 2020 at 12:32 pm

This is Amazing! Thank you!

April 3, 2020 at 12:54 pm

Happy to help!!!

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Easy Play to Learn Activities and Printables for Little Learners

200+ Easy Toddler Activities To Do at Home

3 Year Olds , ACTIVITIES , ALPHABET , FINE MOTOR PLAY , Fine Motor Skills , INDOOR PLAY , MATH , SENSORY PLAY , TODDLER , Toddlers , TOP ACTIVITIES We use affiliate links and may earn commission from purchases made through those links.

Table of Contents

Are you looking for easy, fun and engaging activities for toddlers?

You are in the right place, toddler learning folder, i am so excited to share a list of over 200 toddler activities at home, having two children myself, it is so important that we incorporate play to learn activities, sensory play, arts and crafts and play based learning., toddler activities can be as simple as bringing forth a bin filled with: , a sensory base , a few of their toys, that’s it that is all you really need to create an epic activity that will last hours throughout the day , i’ll be sharing different ways you can go about incorporating fun activities to try at home. , free printable bug busy book below, best toddler activities for 2 year olds, i’ll be including the following categories: , easy toddler activities , diy toddler activities, toddler activities at home, creative activities for toddlers, small group activities for toddlers, here are some of the many homemade craft supplies we love using to put together a simple activity for toddlers: , cardboard tubes, popsicle sticks, wooden spoon (for storytelling), bubble wrap, cookie cutters, cardboard boxes, water beads in an empty water bottle, soapy water, wooden blocks, paper towel tubes, different shapes, dry noodles, old tissue box, and, so much more. , toddler activities benefits, hand-eye coordination skills, social skills, gross motor skills, fine motor skills (here are 50+ fine motor activities for toddlers and preschoolers), child development, creative expression, sensory activities, indoor activities for toddlers, there are a lot of different activities we love to bring forth. , here are a list of toddler activities for young kids. , educational activities we love: , toddler activities book printable, easy alphabet sensory bottle, pretend play , color sorting printable, fun rainy day toddler activity, sensory play ideas: , easy sensory bottle, simple sensory bag, shape toddler ideas, fun sensory bin, we love setting up an easy sensory bin. , here are some of the ingredients we use within a simple sensory activity: , measuring cup, different objects, different color items (for a color learning activity ), check out our preschool activity book printable below, perfect toddler activities, sometimes we’ll use food coloring to color our base (uncooked rice..), for an added bonus, include a sensory bin with a small amount of warm water and bubbles. , add their favorite squishy bath toys for an easy activity. , little hands will enjoy exploring and have extra fun with this simple play setup. , adult supervision is always advised. , a safe environment is a must. , toddlers have short attention spans so a simple sensory setup is filled with so many benefits (stimulates the senses, learning is improved..) and takes up a good chunk of time. , what are some of your favorite things to add within a sensory bin , do you have some great ideas we can incorporate into simple activities to try at home , share with me a fun way to go about setting up a new sensory bin in the comments below. 🙂 , i love learning your easy home activities and setups , preschool themes  for the entire year (tap below):, toddler worksheets we love: , on the hunt for toddler printables  , here are some of our favorites: , brown bear booklet, brown bear sorting activity , farm theme busy book printable, summer free printable, shape activities, we love using these freebies for learning about colors, the alphabet, matching activities and more. , for even more toddler printables , go here. , check out our toddler activity book printable below, simple crafts for toddlers, here are some of our favorite crafts for older toddlers and older siblings: , hedgehog craft, winter painting craft, shamrock mess free painting, autumn mess free painting, baby painting ideas, ball painting, some of these ideas are so much fun, they will work for a variety of ages. , we love the plethora of painting with baby activities here . , it is so much fun bringing forth easy activities for toddlers that are not only fun but educational. , educational, yes, educational ., we love talking about the different colors we see., and, for a more advanced approach, incorporate a bit of color mixing. , example: red and yellow = orange. , another example: yellow and blue = green., what are some activities to do with toddlers , there are so many fun toddler activities you can bring forth depending on the season, the day of the week, a toddler theme, or just because… , there are plenty of objects that can be included and a variety of different items that can be used in some of the best activities., homemade is always a good idea. , bring out the recycled items that are kid friendly such as: , toilet paper rolls, diy sensory bottle, construction paper, here are some toddler activity ideas we have tried in the past: , rainbow fish craft made out of a recycled cardboard cutout, pouring water activity for toddlers, easy color match dot sticker fish activity , chicka chicka boom boom alphabet cardboard activity, and so much more , we love putting together a simple homemade sensory bottle. , i’ll use a hot glue gun (adult-use only) to glue the top to the bottle. , this allows for the bottle to be extra shut. , it’s the simple things, right , sensory bottles are a great activity for little kids and for older kids. , it allows littles to explore while everything is contained. , outdoor activities for kids (tap below) , what are good activities for 2 year olds , i like to incorporate activities that involve a little bit of: , fine motor skills , sensory play, crafts for kids, those are my 3 main and then i will work around themes and ideas for different seasons and such. , this is a wonderful way to go about bringing forth an activity for 2 year olds making sure that the items are not small and that they are well supervised when attempting any of these activities. , i’ll be sharing below many different activity ideas for toddlers, so stay tuned , related: looking for fun things to do with a toddler check out this duck and frog sensory bin , shape activities for 2 year olds and up: , how do i entertain my 2 year old indoors , entertaining a toddler indoors is so much fun , you can set up so many fun ideas by incorporating a bit of open ended play. , for example, do you have a blue towel , this can be a pretend ocean. , then, add all of their ocean toy figures to it and pretend the sea animals are swimming in the ocean , if you are looking for more open ended toys, here are some ideas of ones we own and truly love: , poster board preschool printable bundle below, how can i stimulate my 2 year old at home , you can stimulate toddlers at home by bringing forth engaging activities such as: , open ended play, crafts for toddlers and for kids, fine motor skills, diy cardboard activities, montessori activities, many of these allow for the stimulation of the brain by bringing forth play to learn activities which are so important for the stimulation of toddlers , best part: they are gaining benefits and learning at the exact same time. , share with me your best activity for young children in the comments below. , i love following ideas and learning a great way to bring forth a popular activity of yours in our home. , it makes me so happy and i think it is the best thing ever to add new and exciting ideas for the summer months or any time of the year. , 200+ easy and fun toddler activity ideas , easy toddler activities  , toddler busy book – active littles, easy rubber band fine motor activity – active littles, easy shape sorting activity – active littles, pouring water activity for toddlers – active littles, water play for toddlers – active littles, learning shapes sensory bin – active littles, apple washing activity for toddlers – active littles, puzzle unwrap – busy toddler, q-tip painting – toddler approved, alphabet soup – raising dragons, washing dishes sensory bin – raising dragons, paper plate seek and find activity – active littles, m ega blok puzzle – active littles, dot paint flowers – happy tot shelf , diy toddler activities , easy diy alphabet sensory bag – active littles, easy diy color match toddler activity – active littles, diy chicka chicka boom boom activity – active littles, ocean sensory and play bag – happy toddler playtime, bottle cap toddler activity – happy tot shelf, straw poke toddler diy – montessori from the heart, pom pom push diy activity – montessori from the heart, toddler busy board diy – hello wonderful , scooping pom poms – buggy and buddy, diy oobleck – active littles, diy fish sensory bag – active littles, ice cream hair gel sensory bag – active littles, no prep toddler activity – playground parkbench, toddler activities at home , construction site sensory bin – active littles, easy learning activities for toddlers – active littles, frozen dinosaur sensory play – active littles, pet animal sensory bin – active littles, taste safe sensory bin – active littles, fill the alphabet toddler activity – happy toddler playtime , matching objects – toddler approved, flashlight hunt – toddler approved, sink or float – busy toddler, diy recycled project for early learning – active littles, color sort activity – busy toddler, toddler fish craft – teaching 2 and 3 year olds, rainbow tissue paper activity – active littles, creative activities for toddlers , rock match activity – active littles, contact paper toddler activity – active littles, paper plate crafts for toddlers – active littles, shaving cream and legos messy play – days with grey , trucks and oats sensory bin – toddler approved , finger painting with toddlers – play teach repeat , learning shapes – teaching 2 and 3 year olds, toddler made suncatchers – fun at home with kids, sensory art activities for toddler – mama papa bubba, moon rock letters – happy toddler playtime, pool noodle pour station – raising dragons, rainbow water bead sensory bottle – active littles, waterbead calming sensory bottles – active littles, paper towel roll activity – raising dragons, indoor ice skating – play teach repeat , squirt the numbers – days with grey, truck painting – happily ever mom, art exploration for toddlers – playground parkbench , small group activities for toddlers , rainbow fish craft – active littles, spring flower activity for toddlers and kids – active littles, emotions for toddlers – active littles, shaving cream letters activity – active littles, outdoor game for toddlers – days with grey,  number tunnels – toddler approved , soap foam sensory bin – active littles, easy fish sticky wall kids activity – active littles, easy contact paper activity – active littles, summer window art – active littles, fine motor activity using paper straws – active littles, a tasty activity for toddlers – happily ever mom, edible sensory play – kids craft room, glow in the dark sensory bottles – active littles, related products, looking for free printables and activities.

Need a simple and effective set of hands-on, low prep printables? Here is one of my Early Learning Freebies just for you!

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June 14, 2021 at 11:38 am

While I was looking or toddler fun toys and how to make toddler happy then I found your this blog topic. You have added great amount of list here. I like Puzzle Unwrap and Scooping Pom Poms. Great stuff !

June 17, 2021 at 2:30 am

Thank you! 🙂

June 29, 2021 at 9:43 pm

I’m happy you found it helpful 🙂 Thank you!

March 23, 2022 at 11:21 am

I enjoyed in this post! Great for kids to learn Really Pretty colors! Good work

April 13, 2022 at 4:06 pm

Hey, I was looking for toddler fun toys to make my sister’s baby happy. You have created a great list. Thanks.

April 14, 2022 at 12:59 am

thank you! 🙂

March 5, 2023 at 8:59 pm

Great work, i really enjoyed this post, it good for kids to learn Really Pretty colors as it will help them

March 24, 2023 at 3:31 pm

August 23, 2023 at 12:57 pm

Thanks for this toddler activities guide.

August 30, 2023 at 4:15 pm

You’re very welcome! 🙂

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20 Best Learning Activities for Toddlers: Making Every Moment Count

Lets’ explore the best learning activities for toddlers , how they can benefit their development, and some easy-to-implement ideas for at-home activities.

Toddlers are at a crucial stage of development where their curiosity is at its peak.

It is important to provide them with engaging and educational activities that will not only keep them entertained but also enhance their learning abilities.

Keep reading to find out the 20 Best Learning Activities for Toddlers! Let’s dive in!

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What are Learning Activities for Toddlers?

Learning activities for toddlers are engaging tasks or games designed to teach young children basic skills, concepts, or knowledge, often through play or hands-on experiences.

20 Best Learning Activities for Toddlers

Ah, the boundless curiosity of toddlers! Dive into this curated list of the 20 Best Learning Activities for Toddlers, each one designed to nurture their budding intellect and boundless energy.

1. Sensory Play with Rice and Beans

Sensory play is crucial for a toddler’s development. Fill a tray with rice and beans, allowing toddlers to feel the textures.

This activity enhances their tactile senses and can also be used for color recognition if you dye the rice.

2. Shape Matching Game

Using cardboard, cut out various shapes and create matching slots for them.

This game helps toddlers recognize different shapes and improves their fine motor skills as they fit each shape into its corresponding slot.

3. Finger Painting

Unleash your toddler’s inner artist with non-toxic paints. Finger painting is not only fun but also boosts creativity and enhances motor skills.

4. Play Dough Exploration

Provide toddlers with homemade or store-bought play dough. They can mold it into different shapes, enhancing their tactile senses and sparking their imagination.

5. Water Play

Fill a basin with water and provide cups, spoons, and toys. This simple activity can teach concepts of volume and cause-effect while refining motor skills.

6. Simple Puzzles

Introduce your toddler to basic jigsaw puzzles. This challenges their cognitive skills and teaches patience.

7. Nature Scavenger Hunt

A scavenger hunt in your backyard can be a fun way to introduce toddlers to nature.

Give them a list of items to find, enhancing their observational skills.

8. Dancing to Music

Play different types of music and let your toddler dance around. This activity is great for gross motor skills and introduces them to different rhythms.

9. Building with Blocks

Stacking blocks can teach toddlers about balance, shapes, and colors. It also improves hand-eye coordination.

10. Storytime with Props

Reading to your toddler is always beneficial. Add props or puppets related to the story to make it more interactive and engaging.

11. Sorting Game

Provide objects of different colors or sizes and let your toddler sort them. This activity enhances cognitive development and understanding of categories.

12. Bubble Play

Blowing and chasing bubbles can be a delightful activity that also aids in developing gross motor skills.

13. Animal Sound Game

Play or make animal sounds and let your toddler guess the animal. This fun game enhances listening skills and knowledge about animals.

14. Simple Cooking Activities

Let your toddler help in making a sandwich or a salad. This introduces them to different textures and tastes and can be a precursor to understanding healthy eating habits.

15. Tracing Shapes

Using thick cardboard shapes and crayons, let your toddler trace around them.

This activity is great for hand-eye coordination and understanding shapes.

16. Color Mixing

Using primary colors, let your toddler experiment with mixing them to create new colors.

This is a fun way to introduce the concept of colors.

17. Hide and Seek

A classic game that never gets old, hide and seek can teach toddlers about object permanence and improve their observational skills.

18. Musical Instruments

Introduce your toddler to simple musical instruments like tambourines or maracas.

This can enhance their auditory senses and rhythm recognition.

19. Collage Making

Provide old magazines, safe scissors, and glue. Let your toddler cut out pictures and make a collage, enhancing their creativity and fine motor skills.

20. Pattern Making

Using colored beads or buttons, teach your toddler to make simple patterns. This activity can lay the foundation for understanding more complex patterns and sequences later on.

Learning Activities for Toddlers 1-3

Ah, the boundless curiosity of toddlers! Dive into this curated list of the best learning activities, each one designed to nurture their budding intellect and boundless energy.

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What is Learning Activities for Toddlers?

Learning Activities for Toddlers are structured or unstructured play-based exercises designed to engage toddlers in skill-building and knowledge enhancement.

These activities cater to the developmental needs of toddlers, fostering cognitive, physical, social, and emotional growth.

They often incorporate play, exploration, and creativity to make learning enjoyable and effective for young children.

Learning Activities for Toddlers

Every moment is a learning opportunity for our little ones. Here’s a collection of activities that will spark joy and knowledge in every toddler’s heart.

Why are learning activities important for toddlers?

Learning activities play a vital role in a toddler’s development. They provide opportunities for cognitive, physical, and social growth.

Toddlers learn through exploration and play, so incorporating learning activities into their daily routine can keep their minds engaged and help them develop essential skills.

What are some popular learning activities for toddlers?

There is a wide range of learning activities suitable for toddlers. Some popular options include:

• Fine motor activities like threading beads or using clothespins
• Shape recognition games
• Color recognition activities
• Pom pom play
• Scavenger hunts
• Finger painting

How can learning activities benefit toddlers’ development?

Engaging in learning activities can have numerous benefits for toddlers. These activities promote cognitive development by improving problem-solving and critical-thinking skills.

They also enhance fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and creativity. Furthermore, learning activities encourage social interaction and language development as toddlers often engage with others while participating in these activities.

What are Toddlers Learning Activities?

Toddlers’ learning activities are interactive exercises that stimulate a toddler’s cognitive, physical, and emotional growth, often incorporating play and exploration.

Toddlers Learning Activities

Our tiny tots are always eager to explore and learn. Let’s embark on a delightful journey with activities tailored just for their inquisitive minds.

What are some of the best learning activities for toddlers?

Here are some of the best learning activities that you can try with your toddler:

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How can you make learning activities fun for toddlers?

Learning activities should be designed in a way that is both educational and enjoyable for toddlers.

• Incorporating elements of play, such as using colorful visuals, incorporating music, and incorporating sensory experiences, can make learning activities fun and engaging for toddlers.
• Creating a positive and supportive learning environment is also crucial in making these activities enjoyable for toddlers.

Are there any learning activities that can be done at home?

Absolutely! There are many learning activities that can be easily done at home. Here are a few ideas:

• Scavenger hunt: Create a scavenger hunt in your home, where your toddler has to find specific objects or clues.
• Shape scavenger hunt: Hide various shapes around the house and have your toddler find and identify them.
• Fine motor activities: Set up activities that involve using small objects like pom poms and clothespins to develop fine motor skills.
• Finger painting: Allow your toddler to explore and create with finger paint, which not only develops their creativity but also enhances their fine motor skills.
• Color recognition activities: Plan activities around color recognition, such as sorting objects by color or creating rainbow-themed artwork.
• Gross motor activities: Set up an indoor obstacle course or play active games to promote the development of gross motor skills.

What is a Scavenger Hunt for Toddlers?

A scavenger hunt for toddlers is a simplified version of the traditional game where young children search for specific items or complete certain tasks, often using picture clues or physical objects.

Scavenger Hunt for Toddlers

The world is a treasure trove waiting to be discovered by our toddlers. Join us on a playful scavenger hunt, perfect for their adventurous spirits.

How can you organize a scavenger hunt for toddlers?

Organizing a scavenger hunt for toddlers is a great way to engage their problem-solving and observational skills. To organize a scavenger hunt, you can:

• Create a list of items for your toddler to find.
• Hide the items in various locations around the house or garden.
• Provide your toddler with clues or pictures to help them locate the items.
• Encourage your toddler to search for the items independently or with the help of an older sibling or caregiver.

What are some ideas for scavenger hunt items?

When organizing a scavenger hunt for toddlers, you can choose items that are familiar to them and relevant to their interests.

Some ideas for scavenger hunt items include favorite toys, household objects, or themed items based on their favorite characters or animals.

How can a scavenger hunt help develop toddlers’ skills?

A scavenger hunt can help develop various skills in toddlers. It promotes problem-solving abilities as toddlers have to search for and locate specific items.

It also enhances their observational skills, as they need to pay attention to their surroundings to find the hidden items.

Additionally, a scavenger hunt can improve their vocabulary and language skills as they discuss and describe the items they find.

What is a Shape Scavenger Hunt?

Shape scavenger hunt.

Shapes are everywhere, and our little ones are natural detectives. Let’s guide them on a shape-filled quest, turning everyday moments into geometric discoveries.

How can you create a shape scavenger hunt for toddlers?

A shape scavenger hunt is a fun way to introduce toddlers to different shapes and help them recognize and identify them. To create a shape scavenger hunt:

• Select a variety of common shapes such as circles, squares, triangles, and rectangles.
• Hide or display the shapes around the house or designated play area.
• Encourage your toddler to find and name each shape.

What are some common shapes that can be included in the hunt?

In a shape scavenger hunt, you can include common shapes such as:

What are the benefits of a shape scavenger hunt for toddlers?

A shape scavenger hunt helps toddlers develop shape recognition skills. It enhances their visual perception and cognitive abilities as they learn to differentiate between various shapes.

This activity also promotes their vocabulary and language skills as they interact with you by naming and describing the shapes they find.

What are Fine Motor Skills for Toddlers?

Fine motor skills for toddlers refer to the coordination of small muscle movements, primarily in the hands and fingers, used for tasks like picking up objects, drawing, or buttoning clothes.

Fine Motor Skills for Toddlers

The magic is in the details, and our toddlers are just beginning to master those tiny, intricate movements. Dive into activities that will refine their dexterity and coordination.

What are some fine motor activities suitable for toddlers?

Fine motor activities are essential for toddlers as they refine their hand-eye coordination and develop control over their smaller muscles. Some fine motor activities suitable for toddlers include:

• Threading beads onto a string
• Using clothespins to pick up objects
• Building with small blocks
• Playing with playdough and using cookie cutters
• Filling and pouring activities with water or sand
• Sticker or stamp art

How can you encourage toddlers to develop their fine motor skills?

Encouraging toddlers to develop their fine motor skills can be done through various strategies. Some tips include:

• Providing age-appropriate materials and toys that require manipulation
• Offering praise and positive reinforcement when they successfully complete fine motor tasks
• Engaging in activities together and demonstrating the correct way to perform fine motor tasks
• Creating a calm and comfortable environment for fine motor activities
• Allowing toddlers to explore different textures and materials with their hands

What are the benefits of fine motor activities for toddlers?

Engaging in fine motor activities helps toddlers develop dexterity and control over their smaller muscles.

It prepares them for writing and other important tasks that require precise hand movements.

Fine motor activities also enhance hand-eye coordination and concentration, allowing toddlers to focus on a task for an extended period.

What is Pom Pom Play?

Pom Pom play is a tactile activity for children that involves using small, fluffy balls known as pom poms. It can help develop fine motor skills, color recognition, and sorting abilities.

Pom Pom Play

The joy of tactile exploration comes alive with Pom Pom Play! Let’s immerse our toddlers in a world of color, texture, and endless fun with these fluffy little wonders.

How can you use pom poms for toddler play activities?

Pom poms are versatile and can be used in various play activities for toddlers. Here are some ideas:

• Sorting: Provide different colored pom poms and encourage your toddler to sort them according to color or size.
• Counting: Use pom poms as counting tools, asking your toddler to place a certain number of pom poms in a circle and count them.

What are some fun toddler play dough activities?

Play dough is a staple in the world of fun activities for toddlers. Let your toddler explore their creativity by making different shapes and characters.

You can even use food coloring to make vibrant play dough colors. It’s a super fun activity that doesn’t require fancy toys, and it’s perfect for rainy days.

Plus, play dough activities are great for both toddlers and preschoolers, helping them hone their fine motor skills.

Which sensory activities are best for 2 year olds?

Sensory activities, especially for 2 year olds, often involve exploring textures, temperatures, and colors.

A popular sensory activity is to fill a tray with different materials like rice, beans, or sand and let the kids play.

You can also use squirt bottles with colored water on construction paper for a fun and messy activity.

These activities are not only super fun but also help in developing fine motor skills and color recognition.

How can kids activities for 2 year olds incorporate finger paint?

Finger paint is a fantastic way to get kids excited about art. Spread some paper on the wall or table, and let your child use their fingers to create.

It’s a messy activity, but kids love the tactile experience. You can introduce shapes and colors, making it an educational experience too.

It’s a great way to introduce preschoolers to the world of colors and let them mix the colors to see the magic unfold.

What are some easy crafts for 2-3 year olds?

For 2-3 year olds, easy crafts often involve basic materials found around your home.

Toilet paper rolls can be transformed into cute characters, or a colander and pipe cleaner can become a fun threading activity.

Simple activities like these not only keep your child busy but also work on their fine motor skills. Plus, they’re perfect for both indoor activities and outdoor fun.

How can a clothespin activity enhance color recognition?

Clothespin activities are a fantastic way to practice color recognition.

You can color the ends of clothespins and have your toddler match the colors to corresponding colored paper or objects.

It’s a super simple yet effective activity that not only enhances color recognition but also strengthens little hands as they open and close the clothespins.

What are the essential gross motor skills for year olds?

Gross motor skills for year olds involve larger movements using the arms, legs, and entire body. Activities like jumping, running, and dancing are essential.

Setting up an obstacle course at home or playing a fun game like “Simon Says” can be a perfect way to get kids moving.

These activities not only keep toddlers active but also help in their overall physical development.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some frequently asked questions about the Best Learning Activities for Toddlers. Get some quick answers to everything you need to know.

What is a good activity for toddlers?

A good activity for toddlers is sensory play, such as exploring textures with play dough or finger painting, as it stimulates their senses and fosters creativity.

What activities should I teach my 2 year old?

For a 2-year-old, focus on activities that enhance fine and gross motor skills, like stacking blocks, simple puzzles, and dancing to music.

What are play based learning activities for toddlers?

Play-based learning activities for toddlers include role-playing with toy sets, building structures with blocks, and interactive story sessions using puppets.

What do you teach a toddler in the classroom?

In the classroom, toddlers are taught basic shapes, colors, numbers, and letters through interactive games, songs, and hands-on activities.

What is the best activity for toddlers?

The best activity for toddlers is one that combines physical movement with learning, such as a nature scavenger hunt where they identify and collect different objects.

What activities are appropriate for 2 year olds?

Appropriate activities for 2-year-olds include finger painting, playing with water and sand, simple matching games, and singing nursery rhymes.

What indoor activities for 2 year olds?

Indoor activities for 2-year-olds can include building with blocks, creating art with crayons and paper, playing hide and seek, and engaging in imaginative play with toy sets.

What are creative activities for toddlers?

Creative activities for toddlers encompass crafts like making collages, drawing with chalk, molding shapes with play dough, and creating simple musical instruments with household items.

Wrapping Up the Best Learning Activities for Toddlers

In our journey of discovering the 20 Best Learning Activities for Toddlers, we’ve seen that every easy activity counts in shaping our little ones.

From printable resources to simple activities at home, you don’t need fancy tools to engage a busy toddler.

• Whether it’s a fun toddler learning activity that helps with number recognition
• Or a colorful tray activity that lets them explore colors and shapes, toddlers will love every moment.
• This list of toddler activities is tailored for various age groups, from age 2 to older toddlers, ensuring fun for kids of all stages.
• It’s heartwarming to see older kids helping their younger siblings, showcasing that learning is a collective effort.
• With a bunch of different fun ideas, these activities are easy to set up and are a great way to work on essential skills.

Remember, while they may not understand everything immediately, with a lot of practice and your loving guidance, they’ll grasp these skills as well.

So, let’s help our kids make the most of these formative years, making every activity count.

If you enjoyed this article about Best Learning Activities for Toddlers and would like to learn more, please leave a comment below.

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Resources for Learning Activities for Toddlers

• Zero to Three This website offers a wealth of information on early childhood development, including activities that can help toddlers learn and grow.
• PBS Parents PBS Parents provides various articles, videos, and activities designed to help parents teach their toddlers new skills.
• Toddlers and Twos This blog focuses on activities specifically designed for toddlers and offers a range of ideas that are both educational and fun.

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11 Activities To Improve Your Toddler's Development

Encourage cognitive and language development with these fun, everyday learning activities for toddlers.

One of the most important things your child does is play. Not only is play fun, but it's also a way for toddlers to learn by exploring the world around them and developing new skills. Caregivers can actively participate in toddler learning by organizing fun, educational, and interactive activities at home.

Need some inspiration? Check out our round-up of 11 developmental activities for toddlers. All of these activities support their physical, cognitive, and emotional growth . They also promote parent-child bonding, which strengthens your relationship.

As a bonus, most of these learning activities can be completed with everyday household items, such as painter's tape, cotton balls, drawing supplies, and paper. With these playtime pursuits, your toddler will be entertained while enhancing their growth and development!

kate_sept2004 / Getty Images

Explore Textures

Toddlers are sensory learners who touch, smell, and taste to understand the world around them. Use a dark marker to trace letters and numbers onto poster board. Then, have your tot decorate the letters with textured items such as cut-up sandpaper, cotton balls, and pipe cleaners (avoid items that could be choking hazards ).

Touching the letters allows kids to feel how a letter is formed. For little ones learning to write, their fingers can experiment with the shape of a letter before grasping a writing utensil.

Say the letters and the sounds they make aloud as your child runs their fingers over them. Later on, extend the activity by creating a poster that spells out their first name. Soon, your child will notice these letters on signs, posters, and billboards.

This toddler developmental activity uses everyday items to teach them how to measure. Although a ruler is the most common measuring tool, experiment with other forms of measuring to make the learning process more interesting.

In the fall, have your child lie down on the grass and then line up leaves next to them to measure how many "leaves tall" they are. Or determine how many "Legos tall" the couch is or how many "wooden blocks wide" the refrigerator is.

For extra fun, discover how many of your child's books it will take to cover your bed. Count as you place the different objects, and soon your child will be counting and measuring in all different ways!

Label Your House

Pick a few items to label in your house—such as the refrigerator, windows, and chairs—and rotate the labeled objects every few months. Make labels the same size and use a basic font so kids can identify them easily. Cut out each word and use blue painter's tape (which allows for easy removal) to stick them to the objects.

If your child is old enough to recognize letters, ask them what letter "lamp" begins with and ask them to find the label with the word that starts with "L." Then they can stick the label to the lamp.

If your child isn't quite ready to pick out letters and their sounds, point out different letters from your labels and introduce them to the sounds they make. For example, you can say, "Lamp starts with 'L.' This is an 'L.' Can you stick this to the lamp?" Over time, your child will be able to identify the words independently.

Introduce Organization

Nurture your child's helpful spirit by getting them involved in putting things away in their place. Try to embrace your toddler's desire to be involved even though it may slow down activities and chores. While inconvenient in the short term, kids as young as 3 can help with basic tasks, and kids who do may grow in self-esteem and responsibility.

Tie in the "Label Your House" activity by keeping toys, clothes, dishes, and household items in specific places. As you put things in their labeled bins and drawers, turn the process into a guessing game.

Ask your child where certain items belong ("Where do your toys go? Where should your shoes be stored?"), or place forks in a sock drawer or a toy in the refrigerator and challenge toddlers to fix the mistakes. They will love to reorganize for you when you can't seem to remember where the cups belong!

Arrange a Scavenger Hunt

Children are natural investigators, and they love to explore. Scavenger hunts lean into this interest and can be planned or invented on the spot. For example, search for foods with a specific color (like purple) at the grocery store or look for objects of a certain shape (like a circle) around the house.

If your child needs assistance, gather three objects to choose from while asking, "Which object is red? Which object is a circle?" Expand on the "Label Your House" activity by arranging a scavenger hunt for different labeled items, or ask them to search the bookshelves for a specific letter, word, or number.

You can also pretend you can't find the orange juice carton or a pair of socks. Send your child on a fun mission to locate the items in the house.

Take on the Town

Get familiar with your town by pointing out the supermarket, fire station, gas station, and other places of interest. As you pass each place, discuss the details of these neighborhood staples including who works there, the purpose of your visit, and what items you find inside.

Then draw or print pictures of these places and put them on index cards along with their details. The next time you're out with your child, refer to these "neighborhood" cards.

For example, if you stop by the dry cleaner, ask your child to find the matching neighborhood card and ask them questions: Do you buy dry clothes or pick up clothes that are cleaned? Who works there, a cleaner or a firefighter?

Sing Vocabulary Words

For this developmental activity for toddlers, create funny tunes about rhyming words and counting to 10, or sing classic songs such as the "Alphabet Song" and "The Itsy Bitsy Spider."

"During the pre-reader years, children learn an average of nine new words a day," says Eugie Foster in Your Child's Writing Life written by Pam Allyn. Parents can support their child's word development by using different words and sounds to enhance their child's expanding vocabulary, says Allyn, who is also the executive director and founder of LitWorld.

Encourage singing in the car, while playing at home, and during bathtime. If your child attends daycare or preschool, ask the teacher for the class's favorite songs and reinforce them at home.

Teach songs to grandparents and babysitters so that all of the important people in your child's life will be involved in this lighthearted activity. Your child will start learning through song as they recite letters, numbers, days of the week, and body parts to melodic tunes.

Number Your Mornings

On a piece of poster board, create a calendar grid and leave space at the top to add signs that represent each month. Write the days of the week across the top and number 31 cards with numbers one to 31.

Attach Velcro to the back of each card and to each of the boxes on the poster. Hang the calendar at your child's eye level, and on the first day of each month, add a monthly sign and the number one card under the correct day of the week.

The next day, challenge your child to find the number two card and figure out the day of the week. Singing the "Days of the Week" song can also help. Your child will begin to understand the calendar and numerical system. Plus, according to Allyn, routines like this one provide comfort to kids.

Pin Up Pictures

Keep pictures of friends and family on a bulletin board in your child's room to develop word association and improve memory. Write people's names on sticky notes (include titles such as "aunt," "uncle," and "cousin") and put them at the bottom of each photo.

Remove the sticky notes from the pictures as your child becomes more familiar with everyone. Also, read books about brothers and sisters or aunts and uncles, and ask your child to identify each family member mentioned.

As your child grows, extend the activity by creating a family tree with names and pictures. Make this an ever-changing piece of artwork in your home.

Set Up a Weather Windows Wall

Help your tot become a junior meteorologist by creating a weather window. Take a piece of blank white paper (8" x 11") and have your child draw a picture of the day's weather.

Then cut three long strips (11" x 1") from brown construction paper and three short strips (8" x 1") to represent a window frame and panes. Help your child glue two long and two short pieces around the paper edges to create borders for a window.

The last two strips (one long and one short) should be placed in a cross shape and glued in the middle of the paper to create a four-pane window. Add a word to the window frame that describes the weather such as "cold," "snowy," "rainy," or "sunny." You can also add the date to compare the weather patterns over time. Choose a weather corner to hang the "windows" and change them every month!

Encourage Pretend Play

Toddlers learn about the world around them through pretend play or make-believe . Not only can they emulate some of the adults they see in their lives (like doctors, nurses, firefighters, and police officers), but they also get the opportunity to use their imagination and creativity.

Equip your little one with simple clothing to dress up in. Look for basic items around your home, like different hats and accessories. You can also purchase an inexpensive doctor's kit or other dress-up items like a chef's hat and apron.

As you interact with your little one, let them lead the way. When they're pretending, they will develop their social skills and learn to master basic actions like putting on a hat or pulling an apron over their head.

You also can use pretend play to prepare for things, too. For instance, use the doctor's kit to prepare your child for an upcoming visit to the pediatrician.

Learning activities are great but don't forget to allow time for unstructured play . Not only does unstructured play give your child the opportunity to explore, use their imagination, and develop confidence, but it also plays a key role in their cognitive development.

The Power of Play: How Fun and Games Help Children Thrive . American Academy of Pediatrics . 2023.

Cognitive development and sensory play . Michigan State University Extension . 2016.

Chores and Children . American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry . 2018.

Safe Exploring for Toddlers . Nemours KidsHealth . 2021.

Pretend Play: Ways Children Can Exercise Their Imagination . American Academy of Pediatrics . 2023.

Power of Play in Early Childhood . American Academy of Pediatrics . 2021.

The role of play objects and object play in human cognitive evolution and innovation . Evol Anthropol . 2018.

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The Imagination Tree

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20 Activities for Toddlers

June 10, 2014 by Anna Ranson

Here are 20 fun and simple activities for toddlers that will keep them engaged and busy with sensory, fine motor, problem solving and curiosity!

If you, like me, have a busy 2 year old in your home or work setting, you’ll already know how much they like to get their hands into everything, investigating how things work, what you can do with them, what something feels like and how much mess and noise they can create! This is the absolute bursting point of discovery and their development is so rapid at this stage of their busy little lives. They need to find out about the world as much as possible by doing, moving and handling, and they need to do that by trying it for themselves.

Aside from the usual (and very necessary) trips to the park, supermarket, play ground and other day to day activities in the home and out and about in the neighbourhood, this collection of 20 activities have all been tried and tested with my 3 children and proven to be easy to set up, engaging for them to test out and great for those busy little hands and brains!

Enjoy now or pin your favourites for later (by clicking through to the individual post then pressing Pin It):

Threading with giant cardboard beads

Play a hide and seek game to find the matching pairs

Construct towers with hair rollers

Drop coloured pom poms down the rainbow coloured tubes

 Set up one of these simple Discovery Boxes to explore new materials and how they can be used together

Sort coloured pom poms into rainbow egg cartons

Make pictures and patterns on the window with foam and water

Make a colour themed sensory tub to play in

Try painting with Jello finger-paints. (They smell amazing!)

Mix potions and natural materials in the water table

Print shapes using cardboard tubes

Make our best ever no-cook play dough recipe  and use it to make birthday cake, roll out snakes, push in twigs and buttons etc and explore!

And here is our full Toddler Play archive   for more browsing when you have some time! There are literally dozens and dozens of ideas, so I was only able to select a few for this collection.

Are you looking for Baby Play Ideas ? We have those too! See a collection in this post :

I hope these are helpful! Let me know which are your favourites if you try any.

June 11, 2014 at 9:46 pm

Thankyou for all of your hard work on all of your amazing posts. Your children are so lucky to have so many wonderful activities set up for them.

June 13, 2014 at 2:44 pm

Awww thanks so much Jessica!

June 14, 2014 at 12:33 pm

Absolutely loved looking through the 20 activities & will try them out on my almost 3 year old grandson ASAP. There is one activity I don’t understand – the one involving pom poms (drop & shoot) – the “drop” part is obvious, but I can’t work out the “shoot.” When you have time, would you mind explaining it please? Thank you Ros

June 23, 2014 at 4:30 pm

Hi, My name is Tiffany, I am currently in school to become an Early Educator. I have an assignment that I need a little assistance with. I am to name/describe a creative art activity for toddlers(18-36mos) and then modify that same activity for children 6-8y/o. I am having a time coming up with an activity that I can morph for a young child.

Thank you for any help,

Tiffany Faulk

[…] 20 Activities for Toddlers […]

[…] right, he’s playing quietly. You see, the night before I had been inspired by this list of activities to keep toddlers busy. So to buy myself some uninterrupted dinner-making time, I set up a pile of coloured pom poms with […]

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Hands On As We Grow®

Hands on kids activities for hands on moms. Focusing on kids activities perfect for toddlers and preschoolers.

Top 10 Indoor Activities for Toddlers at Home

Activities Winter Toddlers Indoor Activities Resources 34 Comments

These are my top 10 indoor toddler activities for that I’ve done at home when my kids were young.

Download an Active Indoor Week of Activities

Since its winter time, I’ve got to have a handful of these up my sleeve.

Indoor activities are great to have on hand for any age this time of year. But toddlers  especially seem to get antsy and need some extra hands-on attention.

Every one of these indoor activities for toddlers is easy to do. Easy to set up. And uses materials that you should already have on hand (they’re all pretty common items).

And if you don’t have the items, I’m listing a bunch of other options you could do instead!

Do you have favorite indoor activities for toddlers ?

My top 10 indoor activities for toddlers:

1. cardboard box train.

Get out the cardboard boxes and create! Let the imaginations flow. A box can be anything: a train, ramps for cars, an airplane, a house.

2. Sticky Spider Web

Tape up the doorway and throw some newspapers (or cotton balls!) at it to see if you can stick them. A great indoor activity for gross motor practice!

3. Shaving Cream Sensory DIY

Shaving cream is a wonderful indoor sensory activity that toddlers love . Squirt some on a pan and just let them have fun. Add food coloring if you like. You might want to put them in an old shirt and maybe put a towel down, too. It does get messy (You can keep messy play clean too, I’ve got 10 ways !)

4. Pop Bottle Bowling Indoor Toddler Activity

Bowl indoors ! Grab one of the kids’ balls. Set up a few items for pins. Lots of things will work for these, pop bottles, paper towel tube, or toilet paper works too!

5. Straw Threaded Shoestring Necklace

Create a necklace , toddler style! Use a piece of string (a shoestring works well because of the hard end) and something to thread on it. Big beads would be great. But other items such as straws or large pasta noodles work too. This would be a great fine motor activity.

6. Indoor Energetic Newspaper Throwing

Dig a newspaper out of the recycling bin and have a ball throwing them! You can add a target to the mix with this indoor toddler activity and practice counting too. All great gross motor practice.

7. Slimy Eyes Indoor Activity for Toddlers

Here’s a sensory activity that’s easy and clean! Squirt some hair gel  (lotion would work too) into a baggy and zip it up! Add some odds and ends craft items to the mix too for added fun.

8. Lines of Colored Tape

Tape a line on the floor in different ways  (zig zag, curvy or straight) and have a toddler walk along it, trying to balance their best. Can they do it forward, how about walking backward? Another fantastic gross motor activity that can be done indoors.

9. Practice Fine Motor Skills with Pom Poms

Have your toddler poke pom poms through an opening in a small bottle, or cut a small hole in a container. Pom poms and other small items can be used for fine motor practice, but always be careful with small kids and watch them closely.

10. Sparkle Cloud Dough

A play dough alternative  (although its great, its fun to throw in something else sometimes) is cloud dough . The texture is awesome and the kids will love to explore it.

Need more easy indoor activities for your toddler to do at home?

If you’re itching for more toddler activities, here’s 50 of them to be inspired by. Many of these can be done indoors too!

Get The Toddler’s Busy Book for everyday activities.

Quiet time activities for preschoolers  are great indoor activities for these kind of days too!

How do you like to keep your toddler busy indoors?

About jamie reimer.

Jamie learned to be a hands on mom by creating activities, crafts and art projects for her three boys to do. Jamie needed the creative outlet that activities provided to get through the early years of parenting with a smile! Follow Jamie on Pinterest and Instagram !

More Hands on Kids Activities to Try

Reader Interactions

34 comments.

Ale Norris says

June 8, 2023 at 11:42 am

FINALLY a very practical collection of play ideas. Can’t thank you enough mama for making this ❤️ big giant hug from another mama who is currently struggling to keep a 13-month-old busy. I can help my son play geometry dash 2.2 game – one of the most exciting running game.

June 27, 2021 at 10:57 pm

Love these ideas!

aria wetherell says

January 9, 2021 at 10:56 am

these really work

February 1, 2019 at 10:41 am

My almost three year old is coming to visit for a full week and although I’m looking forward to her visit I’m quite apprehensive about what to do. I want her visit to be memorable and lots of fun. I am looking forward to doing some of the activities found here. All of the items needed are commonplace around the house. Thanks so much.

August 12, 2018 at 7:13 am

Great ideas, especially for those days when it’s too cold and wet outside.

Margot Robbie says

January 15, 2018 at 1:41 am

Wow! Amazing idea! Really nice thought to keep kids busy in rainy day. Thanks for sharing such a lovely rainy day activities for kids in rainy day. I am trying to follow this for my kids fun. They must love it.

Carol Kauffman says

January 30, 2017 at 12:08 pm

My 2 year old grandson is staying with us this week. For safety’s sake, i took everything off the coffee table and covered it with a soft velour blanket. Who knew this would be an endless source of fascination- with zero mess!! He realized very quickly his hand made an impression on the fabric. This was followed by all kinds of shape making- we got out cookie cutters, magnetic letters, cups- anything that would make impressions on the blanket. A quick sweep of our hand, and everything was “erased” and smooth again. What an easy way to have fun and provide a sensory and learning activity as well!

May 31, 2015 at 7:57 pm

Thanks for your sharing, That great for me http://chuyenphatnhanhviettelhcm.blogspot.com/

Benefits Playing Sports says

January 7, 2014 at 11:34 pm

Thanks for sharing this type indoor activity. I will try them with my child at home.

Jenny Portem says

September 26, 2013 at 10:54 pm

These are cool ideas! Mostly my toddler plays with boxes and with his elder 5-year-old sister :)

Expert of Games in Brisbane At Salisbury Super Sports says

September 6, 2013 at 11:31 pm

Toddlers get so bored easily! Thanks for this list of outdoor activities I can try with my child.

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42 Easy Indoor Activities for Toddlers

Keeping your toddler busy when you are stuck at home can be a challenge. I selected these indoor activities for toddlers specifically because they are simple, easy, and quick to put together. Use them on rainy days, when it's too cold or hot outside, or even when you are just too tired to get out!

We live in a small apartment with no yard so I have lots of experience with indoor activities for kids . Every parent knows how hard it is to keep a toddler occupied for even a few minutes, no need to spend 30 minutes designing a complicated activity!  I always felt if I could keep my toddler busy for at least 10 minutes, it was a lucky day. Some of these ideas may even give you a chance to drink a cup of tea. (Note: this post contains affiliate links.)

Some of these ideas are self-explanatory, but you can always CLICK on any of the ORANGE LINKS below to find out more.

NOTE:  Supervision of your child is your responsibility. Not all activities are right for all children. Use common sense and ALWAYS supervise your children, especially if they still put small objects in their mouthes.

Active Indoor Activities for Toddlers:

The under 3 crowd needs lots of active play time. Living in an apartment, I've found lots of ways to make active play work. Some may seem a bit unconventional to you, but we don't have a large ( or any ) play room so we have to be flexible.

• Prop up a baking sheet on a stack of books and roll toy cars or round blocks down it .
• Outline a rectangle on the floor with masking tape and have kids jump in and out of it, bounce balls in it, zoom their toy cars in it, fill it with blocks , etc.  It's quite surprising how entertaining a simple tape shape can be!
• Bounce ping pong balls around the house. Really!
• Play indoor balloon tennis with paper plate paddles.
• Do you have a piece of styrofoam left over from packaging? Pound in golf tees with a toy hammer, or poke toothpicks into it.
• Put on some music and dance with scarves.
• Set up towers of empty plastic containers or cups and bowl them down!
• Cut a hole in the top of a tall cardboard box and drop blocks or other toys into it.
• Use plastic yogurt lids as frisbees.  Seriously! My kids loved it when I let them do this. Little kids love to throw things and the lids won't damage anyone or anything. You can still let your kids do this while teaching them it's not appropriate to throw whatever they want, whenever they want to!

Art and Craft Activities for Toddlers:

All of these are so easy to set up and don't require much clean up, either. Clean up, however, is a great way to keep little ones occupied. Toddlers love to help.

• Paint on the windows ! Washable tempera paint is perfect for this. You can add a little squirt of dish soap to make clean up even easier.  Your child can even wash the windows  after everyone has has had a chance to admire his artwork.
• Let the smallest toddlers create easy, super simple collages .
• Spread big paper across the floor to draw from a new perspective .
• Set up an invitation to paint on the wall ( really! ).
• Cut out magazine pictures of your toddler's favorite subjects ( diggers, dinosaurs, etc. ). They can use a glue stick to apply them to paper, or why not let them exercise their muscles and squirt glue all over the paper.
• Learn about coloring mixing and squirt two different colors in a plastic baggie . Your child can smoosh it around to create a new color without getting messy!
• Make play dough.
• Do you have a chalkboard? Paint on it with water.
• Make colored cellophane "glasses" and explore the house with a new view!

Fine Motor and Sensory Activities:

Toddlers love to work on their fine motor skills. It's so fascinating to see them concentrating so hard. They are learning so much, too!

• Create sensory paper out of sticky paper and differently textured materials.
• Set up the easiest color sorting activity ever.
• Drop popsicle sticks, pom poms or bottle caps into a yogurt container with slits in the top.
• Thread cheerios on a pipe cleaner and then set it outside for the birds!
• Pour bean or rice on a tray and add construction toys.
• Use  egg cartons for sorting items such as pom poms  by color or quantity.
• Engage in a little  free play with egg cartons, paper rolls and pom poms .
• Give your toddler a spare wallet filled with old credit cards and business cards. They love to put them in and pull them out of the pockets.
• Punch holes in an index card and have your toddler poke pipe cleaners through it.
• Poke toothpicks through the holes in a colander .
• Use tongs or kid chopsticks to transfer items such as pom poms or small blocks to a muffin tin. Older kids can even try beans.
• Make a  toddler-friendly lacing bead activity  out of ribbon and cut up paper roll.
• Repurpose games , like Boggle or Scrabble for fine motor play.

How to make an easy toddler toy:

Water Play Activities for Toddlers:

It seems like my toddlers never got bored of water play! Even now, at the ages of 5 and 9, they still love it. It definitely deserves its own category!

• Give the toys bubble bath in a shallow bucket. Provide a sponge or a small brush to make it extra fun.
• Blow drops of water across wax paper with a straw.
• Sit them down on a towel and let them play with water, cups and spoons . Simple but very effective!
• Play with baking soda and vinegar. Place a series of cups on the floor filled with a bit of baking soda. Give your toddler a bowl of baking soda and let them spoon it into the cups. Watch their joyous reaction!
• Scooping! Place a bunch of small toys in a large bucket and give your child a big kitchen spoon to scoop them from one container to another. For added fun, fill the toy bucket with water and use a slotted spoon.
• If you want to get fancy, check out this awesome collection of sensory sink ideas .

Quiet Activities for Toddlers:

A lot of the above ideas will keep your toddler quietly busy, too.

• Reading aloud is a great sanity saver and toddlers often like to look at books on their own. Try one of these multicultural books for babies and toddlers , my favorite toddler books , or my 8 essential board books .
• Turning and shaking this  float and sink sensory bottle  will provide a quiet distraction.
• During nap time, set up an unusual play prompt with blocks and their favorite toys to provide an  easy way to tame the post-nap crankies .
• Use office supply stickers to create a toddler dot to dot .

Many of these ideas, and more, can be found on my  giant list of indoor activities for kids . How do you entertain your toddlers?

Reader Interactions

Kelly at Little Wonders' Days says

December 14, 2013 at 8:57 am

This is such a wonderful list of ideas! Really, many of them are great for preschoolers and elementary kids too.

Erica MomandKiddo says

December 16, 2013 at 6:36 am

I agree, Kelly. My older son ALWAYS wanted to join in.

PramgaticMom says

December 15, 2013 at 3:02 pm

What great ideas you have Erica! I needed this ten years ago!!

December 15, 2013 at 11:32 pm

These are great ideas for when baby is having a mega nap and toddler and I end up having an impromptu afternoon indoors. Thankyou!

December 16, 2013 at 6:35 am

Glad you found them helpful, Holly!

katepickle says

December 19, 2013 at 5:21 pm

Great ideas! These will come in handy for our crazy summer days that are too hot to get outside much! thank you!

Alison at NOVA Frugal Family says

December 29, 2013 at 8:50 pm

Searching for these things right now 🙂 We have 8 days still left before going back to school!!!

December 30, 2013 at 6:54 am

That's a long break! My kids return on the 2nd.

January 04, 2014 at 8:12 pm

This is great! One that my son and I do is a dance party. We just put on some music and dance like crazy 🙂

January 05, 2014 at 10:13 am

A dance party is always fun and has the bonus of exercise for mom. : )

December 26, 2014 at 5:48 am

thanks for all the fun ideas of things to do with kids I'm going to print it out for my fridge for the holidays.

December 26, 2014 at 6:18 am

Yay! I'm glad it's a helpful list.

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40 activities for toddlers you can do at home.

Hunting for something fun to do with your toddler at home? Check out these 40 fun ideas for toddler activities that will keep your little one busy and happy both indoors and outdoors. Included are all kinds of things to do with toddlers like arts and crafts projects, educational activities, and indoor adventures for a rainy day.

Toddler Activities for a Rainy Day

When your toddler’s stuck in the house on a bad weather day, the following indoor activities can be a lifesaver:

Educational Toddler Activities

Your toddler is always learning while playing, so strictly speaking any activity or game is educational. Still, we’ve collected some toddler activities that are especially focused on encouraging learning through play:

Activities to Keep Your Toddler Busy

If you need to keep your toddler busy for a short period of time, such as on a day when you happen to be working from home , the following ideas can help occupy his hands and mind for a while:

Toddler Arts and Crafts Activities

Bring out your toddler’s creativity with the following arts and crafts ideas :

Interactive Toddler Activities

Although all of our toddler activities require adult supervision, the following activities may involve some additional adult help:

The Bottom Line

Trying to keep an active toddler occupied can be challenging. Fun activities that you can do at home are the key, whether it’s an indoor sport for a rainy day, an absorbing arts and crafts project, or just something to keep your little one busy for a short time while you cook dinner, for example. What seems like a simple idea to you can be a magical experience for your little one. Let your and your toddler’s imagination run wild and you’ll find there are tons of things you can do together. Enjoy!

How We Wrote This Article The information in this article is based on the expert advice found in trusted medical and government sources, such as the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. You can find a full list of sources used for this article below. The content on this page should not replace professional medical advice. Always consult medical professionals for full diagnosis and treatment.

• Book: Caring for your baby and young child birth to age 5, Sixth Edition Paperback – November 2, 2014 by American Academy of Pediatrics (Author)

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7 Best Learning Towers for Kids in the Kitchen

Give your toddler a boost with one of these, even if you have a small space.

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SDADI Kids Kitchen Step Stool

Best Foldable

As part of the parenting trend toward all things Montessori (like Montessori toys for 1-year-olds and Montessori-inspired baby toy subscription boxes ) parents are investing in learning towers. These structures are sturdy stepstools with guardrails, and they're meant to boost toddlers and preschoolers high enough that they can watch parents work in the kitchen and even participate in safe "assisting." "My boys, ages 2 and 4, love to help me stir, add ingredients and taste-test," said a mom who told us she owns two towers, one for each kid. Another said, "Our 23-month-old stands on one and we give her things for pretend-cooking, like a sweet potato and some chopsticks." A kid stays busy and close, and maybe picks up new skills and vocabulary.

The Good Housekeeping Institute interviewed parents and tested top-sellers. Regardless of which tower you choose, parents should supervise their child on one of these at all times. It takes some patience to teach kids to not climb on the sides of their tower or rock back and forth, which could tip a tower over. You also want to be sure they don't use it as a way to get to the stovetop.

This is the OG, the original learning tower, a classic that's been around since the 90s when a Montessori-trained educator and mom designed it with her daughter in mind — and likely coined the term "learning tower." We gave it an early Good Housekeeping Parenting Award for its straightforward assembly and solid construction . This is the largest learning tower on our list. In fact, the brand has tested it to hold up to 500 pounds, not that we'd recommend trying that at home.

"I like that you can attach other Montessori-inspired functional learning objects like the Learn N’ Share Easel or Climbing Ladder and that it has an adjustable height," said Rachel Rothman , former Chief Technologist and Executive Technical Director at the Good Housekeeping Institute and a mom who used one of these with her three kids.

Four adjustable heights helps it grow with your child. This one is tall — over three feet high — which helps if you have a high kitchen island. The footprint is large and this can't be folded down, so be sure you have the space to accommodate it. (There's now also a small-space, foldable version for ages 2 to 6, which we have yet to test in our Lab.) The Learning Tower comes in white, dark brown, olive green, red and natural wood finish.

Footprint: 23" x 33" | Height: 38" | Ages: 18 months+ | Weight limit: 500 lbs | Item weight: 28 lbs | Foldable: no

This smaller step stool tower is under $100 and can fit in narrow spaces, but it doesn't have any special functions — it's not foldable nor does it adjust to different heights. It's also only age-graded for 1- and 2-year-olds, so your toddler will outgrow it at age 3. That said, if you don't want to spend more than $100 and have a toddler, this is a good value choice with more than 5,000 five-star ratings on Amazon.

While testing, our experts found that it was more wobbly than our best overall choice. We'd solve the problem by adding a felt furniture pad to one leg to even it out. It also helps to place the learning tower against the counter for extra stability while in use.

This comes in natural, black, gray, dark brown and white (shown).

Footprint: 18" x 18" | Height: 34.8" | Ages: 18 to 36 months | Weight limit: 150 lbs | Item weight: 14.5 lbs | Foldable: no

RELATED: The Best High Chairs for Babies

While wood gives a tower more of a Montessori feel, the fact that this is steel and plastic is pretty genius because it easily wipes clean. It also folds up flat very easily so you can store it out of the way when you're not using it. The footprint is large, so you want to be sure your kitchen can accommodate its size when it is unfolded, but it's nice to know it can hide away between uses.

"We use the Boon one with our 18-month-old," a parent told us. "We needed one that folded up since we have a tiny kitchen. We use it for a mixture of him 'helping' us cook and just playing." You can get this in gray or white (shown).

Note that this has the lowest weight limit on the list, it's only for kids up to 50 pounds. Don't make the mistake of trying to use this as an adult stepstool!

Footprint: 22" x 23" | Height: 35" | Ages: 18 Months to 4 Years | Weight limit: 50 lbs | Item weight: ‎21.6 lbs | Foldable: yes

Guidecraft Classic Kitchen Helper

Guidecraft's version is a nice compromise of wooden structure with the ability to fold accordian-style. Rothman tested this one at home sand said that, when folded, it easily fit in the narrow gap between her fridge and cabinets and even a cramped pantry. This feature isn't just ideal for small spaces — it's also great for those who simply prefer a more streamlined look in their kitchen.

There's a non-slip mat and two Kitchen Helper Keepers (a.k.a. clip-on safety nets for the sides) designed for additional security. They're nice add-ons that you don't get with other learning towers.

The platform adjusts to be either 15" or 18" off the ground. One downside is that kids may need assistance climbing into it as there isn't a bar for them to grab onto to hoist themselves up. It's sold in gray, white and natural (shown).

Footprint: 23" x 23" | Height: 36" | Ages: 2 to 5 years | Weight limit: 125 lbs | Item weight: ‎24.8 lbs | Foldable: yes

Piccalio Mini Chef

Piccalio makes their tower hinged in the middle, so that it can quickly convert to a table with a stool seat for snacks, drawing or Kindergarten homework when not being used to give your kid a boost.

The platform is at a set 18 inches off the ground but you can adjust the step your child uses to get up to it to any of three different heights. It's sold in white, black, light green and natural (shown).

This comes with a free mini cutter kids' knife , a $19 value. Use it to teach your 2-year-old how to cut their own banana slices!

Footprint: 16" x 16" | Height: 36" | Ages: 18 months to 6 years | Weight limit: 175 lbs | Item weight: ‎15.7 lbs | Foldable: yes

Sprout Kids Sous-Chef Toddler Tower

Your little one gets two integrated steps with grip tape to use to climb into the Sous-Chef , making it a nice choice for small or young toddlers. It's age-graded for 12 months on, though you'll know best if your 1-year-old is ready to stand in this. Sprout includes height guidelines, which other brands do not: This is for kids from 28" to 44" tall.

This is another with a fairly small footprint if you are squeezed for space, but it does not fold up to be put away. It includes a guard plate for the back, but we found that a curious toddler can remove it so keep an eye on your child, as always. For babies you can also add the full plate to the back, sold separately, and then you drop your child in and life them out.

No tools are required to assemble or break down this tower, so almost anyone can build it on their own without too much struggle. We also appreciate the three adjustable heights that make it easy to customize the tower to your counter. This comes in natural or white.

Footprint: 17.5" x 17.5" | Height: 34.5" | Ages: 12 months+ | Weight limit: 150 lbs | Item weight: ‎20 lbs | Foldable: no

Lalo The Tower

A tester whose high chair converted into a step stool put that one away in favor of this one. "The Lalo seems more grounded and stable, which is really important for my 2-year-old who is wild about climbing," she told us.

"This was sleek and the design was so nice that I didn't mind it out in my home," another parent said. But the Lalo is the priciest choice on our list Footprint: 19" x 18.3" | Height: 33.4" | Ages: 18 months+ | Weight limit: 200 lbs | Item weight: ‎16.3 lbs | Foldable: no

How we test the best learning towers

The Good Housekeeping Institute tests everything parents need, including toy storage , crib mattresses and even more niche categories like toys for kids with autism . To select our favorite learning towers, we lean on our experts' collective expertise and spend hours reading through five-star reviews, looking at top-rated products and brands to decide on the best learning towers to consider.

Next, we query new moms on our consumer testing panel about their personal experiences. We then do rigorous testing on top models in our Lab and in testers' homes to gather both controlled and real-life data. We consider factors like ease of assembly, construction quality, stability and how simple it was to clean the unit. We also look at additional features and assess overall safety to ensure that each product we recommend is a high-quality option across the board.

What to look for when shopping for the best learning tower

✔️ Adjustable height capabilities allow learning towers to grow with your child, plus lets multiple children of various heights use it.

✔️ Foldability makes for easy storage in smaller spaces. It's also a great feature for those who prefer a more minimalist kitchen.

✔️ Footprint matters when you live in an apartment or smaller home, but bigger models usually mean extra features like a chalkboard or accessories to keep your child engaged.

✔️ Steps are nice to have to help the child get in and reach the appropriate height. Any grips on the treads are a bonus to help prevent mishaps.

✔️ Sturdiness is a very important safety consideration, say our Lab pros. Wooden learning towers tend to be more stable than plastic ones.

Are learning towers worth it?

Also known as a kitchen helper tower or Montessori tower, a learning tower is a unit with typically four sides and a step stool. "Inspired by the Montessori methods of teaching, the learning tower is designed to help kids learn and explore," says Rothman. That's because they allow your child to reach tabletop height alongside you while under your close watch. This way, you can encourage them to exercise their own independence and creativity without giving them too much independence for their age.

"In a busy kitchen, a learning tower can help children safely access the work surfaces and feel more on the level with adults, which is good for confidence," says Amanda Gummer , the founder of The Good Toy Guide and a Ph.D. in neuropsychology. "I love that learning towers allow my kids to more carefully watch as my husband cooks," Rothman says. "We use them for science experiments and hand-washing too."

What age are learning towers best for?

Always adhere to a brand's age and weight specifications. Many have a starting age of 18 months or age 2. "Every child is different, and parents know best whether or not a learning tower is intellectually and physically developmentally appropriate for their child," said Rothman.

Are learning towers safe?

It bears repeating: Watch your kid on one of these. One parent vividly described her 2-year-olds' first encounter with a learning tower for us: "My daughter got so excited about it that she climbed it wildly, all over, from every direction. She wanted to sit on the slender rim on top, she wanted to lean way out to one side and yank on it, she climbed up one side and down the other side. She did everything except enter carefully through the front like she's supposed to. I lowered the platform down to the lower level, which made it harder for her to climb. But it did fall over once while she exercised on her 'new playground.' After about a week she knew how to use it correctly."

Though these are designed to foster a sense of independence, they might also provide a false sense of security, Rothman said. They are not the equivalent of a highchair, which restricts movement with a belt. Also, your kid can try to push a tower over to something you don't want them to touch. So in other words, in order to raise your independent kid, you're going to have to watch them like a hawk with one of these towers and teach them the rules, over and over again.

How to keep kids safe in a learning tower

To maximize security when using a learning tower, Rothman recommended the following:

• Regularly inspect the unit to make sure all parts are appropriately fastened and screwed tightly and that there are no splinters or visible damage. We don't blame parents for looking for used learning towers but be extra careful you're not getting one with wear and tear.
• Sign up for recall notifications of children's products.
• Be be mindful of what is near or within reach — knives, a hot pan or anything you don't want them to touch.
• Remember that parental supervision is essential. "We remind our children they can’t move the learning tower," said Rothman, "But they still try!" Learning towers are not designed for a child to use alone.
• Follow all maximum weight and height specifications. Also, if you have a tall kid and their knee is above the frame of the tower, they could fall out and you should discontinue use and switch to a simple step stool.
• Be careful when it comes to DIY. "In general, we recommend purchasing juvenile-specific products from reliable brands that do appropriate testing," said Rothman. The internet is full of DIY ideas and IKEA hacks for learning towers, but you'll be gambling with safety when you're making one yourself unless you're handy and knowledgeable about making children's furniture.

Why trust Good Housekeeping?

The Good Housekeeping Institute provides expert reviews and advice on everything a parent needs, including learning towers.

This article was written by former Products & Reviews Editor Shanon Maglente with expert advice from Rachel Rothman , the former Chief Technologist and Head Engineer at the Good Housekeeping Institute. Rothman has a B.S.E. in mechanical engineering and applied mechanics with a mathematics minor from the University of Pennsylvania. She has been evaluating juvenile products (kids products like highchairs, strollers and car seats) for 15 years. She has been a judge for the Good Housekeeping Parenting Awards since its inception as well as other industry awards, including the Best of Parenting at CES and JPMA Parenting Awards. Plus, as a mom to three kids under six, she's personally tested many of the products we recommend in real life. She has vetted and tested most of the products in this guide.

Parenting & Pets Reviews Analyst Jamie Spain most recently updated this guide to reflect our latest learning tower testing information. She brings years of experience to the Institute, having reviewed products for Good Housekeeping like the best new toys and humidifiers for your baby's nursery .

Jessica (she/her) is a freelance writer with several decades of experience writing lifestyle content and evaluating home and parenting products. A mom of two teens and two cats, her previous work can be seen in American Baby and Parents .

Jamie (she/her) is a parenting and pets reviews analyst at the Good Housekeeping Institute , where she spends her time testing, researching and writing about pet and family products. Prior to starting at GH in 2021, she worked at BuzzFeed and People , covering a combination of product reviews and lifestyle content. She's a graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and psychology and a master’s degree in journalism.

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Family-Friendly Activities in the Finger Lakes: Fun for All Ages

• September 6, 2024 10:11 AM / Updated: September 6, 2024 10:11 AM

The Finger Lakes region of New York offers a multitude of family activities that can really accommodate anyone, regardless of age or personal interests. Be it a weekend retreat or the entirety of a week’s vacation, natural beauty, historic landmarks, and overall availability of things to do mark this as a prime location for a memorable family getaway.

Outdoor Activities

The Finger Lakes region is teeming with natural beauty. If your family loves the outdoors, there is a treat for you there. Without any doubt, it is recommended to visit the Finger Lakes National Forest. There is a lot of greenery here, and this national forest extends its area for miles through hiking tracks, ranging from mere easy walking to other challenging tracks.

The variety of wildlife in the forest will allow you to see deer and wild turkeys while you hike. If the family is eager to camp, there are numerous grounds to pitch up a tent and sleep under the stars. And for those who enjoy a little excitement after a day of exploring, you can always take a moment to place a bet on your favorite sports team or event on this website , adding a touch of thrill to your outdoor adventure.

Educational and Interactive Museums

Learning is fun, especially if it’s interactive. In the Finger Lakes area, several museums offer informative but entertaining activities for both adults and children.

You should visit the Corning Museum of Glass. Besides having the most beautiful glass art, it is also a place to be creative. The museum demonstrates glassblowing in live form, and families may try their hand at making glass pieces. This will mix art, science, and history into one experience, surely becoming one of many highlights of your journey.

Another place that you might want to visit is the Sciencenter in Ithaca. An interactive museum that creates curiosity for science in young and growing minds. From physics to astronomy, there is something that every budding scientist would enjoy. Undoubtedly, the most fun part of the museum is the Science Playground, which is situated outside; children can learn there and have fun at the same time.

To get your family a taste of history, head on to the closest museum, the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester. Though technically just outside the Finger Lakes region, it is well worth the short drive. It’s committed to the history of play, full of interactive exhibits that celebrate toys, games, and fun. Be sure not to miss the Butterfly Garden, where, in a tropical setting, hundreds of free-flying butterflies flutter above.

Water Fun and Boat Tours

Getting acquainted with the Finger Lakes without boat riding is impossible. If you want something more adventurous, you can rent a paddle boat or a pontoon for an hour or two. Many lakes have various rental facilities where one can easily access the water. It’s an amusing activity to spend a sunny afternoon that allows you to explore the lakes at your own pace.

Festivals and Seasonal Events

The Finger Lakes has many annual events, which are mostly family-oriented festivals. During the Fall, the most popular festival among the residents is the Naples Grape Festival, where they offer grapes from the area, food, music, and many things to do for children. In winter, holiday events called Holiday Traditions are held in towns throughout the region, featuring holiday lights, parades, and festive holiday markets.

The Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance in Trumansburg will be equally enjoyable during summer. This four-day festival provides different live music, dance workshops, and activities suitable for children, so you can spend a great time in a lively atmosphere.

Plan Your Trip

Planning your family trip to the Finger Lakes, be sure to check out the operating hours and availability of certain activities, as some of them run seasonally. Furthermore, wear layers since the weather can quickly change around the lakes.

The Finger Lakes have activities galore that suit families. Whether you’re in nature, at the museum learning something, or just eating some sweet treats, it’s all here. So pack your bags, round up the family, and prepare for a fun, action-packed, memorable trip.

This content is brought to you by the FingerLakes1.com Team. Support our mission by visiting www.patreon.com/fl1 or learn how you send us your local content here .

• 4 September, 2024

Top 10 IEP Accommodations for Students with Autism

Students with autism often face unique challenges in the classroom. To give them equal opportunities to succeed , Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) outline specific accommodations tailored to their individual needs.

This article will explore ten essential IEP accommodations for autism that can significantly improve the learning experience for students with ASD. We’ll explore practical strategies and use real-world examples to guide you in creating inclusive and supportive learning environments for students on the spectrum.

Visual Supports

Visual supports are key communication tools for many students with autism. They can include pictures, symbols, or written words that help explain information or routines. For students who struggle with spoken language, visuals can be a lifeline.

There have been some concerns that visual supports affect a child with autism’s ability to learn language, but no evidence of this has been found in studies. On the contrary, many children on the spectrum have been found to start using more language soon after visual supports are introduced in a school or home setting.

The types of visual supports used depend on the child’s individual needs. For instance, they may benefit from a visual schedule that shows them what will happen next. Or, they may need help understanding social situations, and visual stories (which break down social interactions into easy-to-follow steps) can be incredibly helpful here.

Using visual supports can make the world a bit more predictable and understandable for children with ASD, making them a key component of IEP accommodations for autism.

Flexible Scheduling

Routines are also often essential for children with autism , especially during their fast-paced, progression-focused school years. Unexpected changes can be overwhelming and stressful. That’s why flexible scheduling is a key accommodation for many students with autism, to make school life easier and less anxiety-inducing.

Allowing for flexible scheduling by, say, adjusting class times or break periods, can help create a learning environment that better suits the needs of students with ASD.

For example, a student might find it difficult to concentrate after lunch, and a short break or a change of activity could help them refocus. Or perhaps a student needs extra time to transition between classes. Building in a few extra minutes can make a big difference.

A great way to effectively implement flexible scheduling in middle school is to create individualized daily schedules with visual supports. This can help students anticipate changes, reduce anxiety, and gain independence. A study in Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders found that participants began transitioning between classroom activities more independently after being exposed to two types of visual schedules.

See what Ori Learning can do for your school or district.

Social Skills Training

Social skills can be a challenge for many students with autism, which is why social skills training is often included in an effective IEP for these students. Teaching students how to interact with others can help them build friendships and improve communication with their peers, in turn increasing their confidence.

Social stories are a great way to start. These simple stories break down social situations into easy-to-understand steps and have been proven effective at addressing inappropriate behaviors and improving outcomes when used in general education settings.

Peer mentoring and group activities can be beneficial IEP accommodations for high-functioning autism. These students often have strong cognitive abilities but may struggle with social interactions. Group work provides students with opportunities to practice their social skills in a structured environment, while peer mentoring allows them to make one-on-one connections. The desired outcome is that the student develops their empathy, builds friendships, and is better equipped to handle social situations.

Remember, social skills are learned, and with patience and practice, students can make significant progress. This makes social skills training one of the key IEP accommodations for autism in middle school .

Chunking and Scaffolding

Tackling large tasks is another common challenge for students with autism due to their overwhelming nature. Breaking down assignments into smaller steps, or “chunking,” can make learning more manageable. Combining this approach with “scaffolding,” which provides support as students learn new skills, can be incredibly beneficial when used in the student’s IEP.

Chunking and scaffolding can be tailored to meet a student’s individual learning needs For instance, for a student struggling with a long math problem, chunking would involve breaking the problem down into smaller steps and providing clear instructions, helping the student understand the process better. If the teacher offered hints or examples to guide the student as they worked through each step, this would be scaffolding.

Chunking and scaffolding help students build confidence and independence, with proven benefits, especially in reading, literacy, and language development. A study referenced in Enhancing Reading Comprehension for Students with Autism examined the effectiveness of a program using the scaffolding approach along with software to teach various reading skills. The study authors concluded that the students’ ability to construct sentences “enhanced greatly” in a short period.

Individualized Instructional Strategies

Every student with autism is unique, so it’s essential to tailor your teaching methods to their specific strengths and challenges. Individualized instructional strategies, another key IEP accommodation for students with ASD, involve creating a learning plan that fits the student’s needs perfectly.

These strategies can vary from student to student, but they have one thing in common: they’re designed to support inclusive education for autistic students .

Possible strategies include using technology to provide extra support, such as speech-to-text software or visual aids, and adapting teaching styles to match the student’s learning style, whether it’s visual, auditory, or kinesthetic. The goal is to create an environment where the student feels engaged and motivated, and selecting the right strategies for the student in question is an important part of drawing up their IEP accommodations for autism .

Our Transition Planning Rubric is designed to support district leaders and educators in guiding their teams towards excellence in transition planning.

It provides comprehensive criteria that cover the breadth of transition planning, from gauging student engagement to evaluating post-secondary goals and services.

Why Use This Rubric?

• Tailored Feedback:  Utilize a structured scoring system to evaluate and enhance individual transition plans.
• Fillable Format:  Conveniently fill out the rubric digitally or print it for hands-on collaboration.
• Action-Oriented Guidance:  Benefit from a clearly defined path towards creating robust and legally compliant IEPs.

Expand your team’s capabilities and improve the success of IEP meetings.

Reduced Sensory Distractions

Sensory overload is common for many students with autism. When creating an IEP plan for a student on the spectrum, consider how you can create a calmer classroom environment to support their ability to learn and focus.

This involves reducing sensory distractions, such as noise levels, lighting, and even the feel of furniture, as much as possible. A 2023 review on acoustic conditions in classrooms even noted that high levels of reverberation and background noise could lead to a sensory overload in children with autism.

While there’s likely not a lot that you can do about the likes of classroom acoustics, you can still make a big difference by implementing small changes to support the particular student’s needs, like using noise-canceling headphones or providing soft seating.

IEP accommodations for autism in middle school may also include incorporating sensory breaks throughout the day to help students regulate their senses, feel calmer, and focus better. Some strategies to consider include:

• Short periods of physical activity, such as stretching or jumping jacks, to help release energy and improve focus.
• Sensory tools like fidget toys or stress balls to provide tactile stimulation.
• Playing calming music or using noise-canceling headphones to reduce auditory overload.
• Sensory-friendly spaces, such as a quiet corner with soft seating and dim lighting, to offer a retreat from sensory stimulation.

Peer Mentoring

Peer mentoring involves pairing students with classmates who can offer support and guidance, which has been proven to help improve social skills and overall well-being .

A buddy system can be a great starting point. With this method, you’ll assign a classmate to help a student with autism who may struggle to handle the school environment. You may choose to assign older students to mentor younger ones, offering advice and support.

Make sure you choose compatible pairs, and it’s best to “train” the mentors before you begin the system. It’s important that your selected mentors have the necessary knowledge about autism and communication strategies to support their peers effectively. The intended outcome here is that students with autism feel more connected and included in their school community.

Consistent Routines

A predictable school day helps students with ASD feel at ease. When you’re making an IEP for a student who struggles with change, consider how you can establish clear and predictable schedules to help the student feel safe and confident at school.

A structured learning environment has been proven to improve academic outcomes for students with autism ; in fact, the provision of structure was reported to be the strongest factor affecting academic attainment for students with ASD.

There are a few ways you can reinforce routines, providing a sense of security and reducing anxiety for students on the spectrum, including:

• Visual schedules
• Timers and countdowns
• Physical activities to mark transitions between exercises or classrooms

What’s important is that you’re consistent across different classes and teachers to avoid confusion, which could have the opposite of the intended effect and cause more instability and anxiety for the student. While some flexibility is necessary, you should aim to maintain a core structure—and when you do need to make changes, introduce them gradually.

Behavioral Interventions

Many students with autism have behavioral challenges, but with the right approach, these challenges can be managed in a school environment. An effective and supportive method of managing challenging behavior is to develop a positive behavior support plan.

This plan should focus on identifying the function of the behavior, rather than just the behavior itself. When you understand why a student is behaving in a certain way, you can develop strategies to address the underlying issue.

Positive reinforcement is an essential component of a successful behavior support plan. For instance, you could praise a student for staying on task, offer extra recess time for completing assignments, or use a token economy system can motivate positive behavior. A 2010 study, “Improving Motivation for Academics in Children with Autism” , found that children with ASD worked faster, and were more interested and less disruptive, when rewards-based motivational components were incorporated into their academic tasks.

Consistent reminders and feedback reinforce your expectations. For example, explicitly stating “stay in your seat during independent work time” and providing visual cues can clarify your expectations.

Additionally, consistent consequences help you set clear standards and effectively implement your behavior plan. If a student disrupts the class, a logical consequence might be a brief time-out or loss of a privilege. Consistency helps students learn that their actions have consequences and promotes positive behavior.

Regular Communication with Parents or Guardians

It’s important that you have open and frequent communication with the parents, guardians, or carers of the student you’re making the IEP plan for, to create and maintain a consistent approach that benefits the student.

You can keep everyone informed about the student’s progress and challenges through regular meetings (which can be conducted via a phone or video call if more convenient), and emails are a great way to share quick updates that don’t require a meeting.

It’s essential that you share information about the student’s behavior, academic performance, and social interactions with their guardians. Involving parents in the IEP development process will give you access to the insights and perspectives of the people who know the student best.

Building a strong partnership with parents will enable you to create a supportive and collaborative environment that promotes the student’s overall well-being and academic success.

Open communication is a two-way street. Encourage parents to share their observations and concerns, as this information can be invaluable in helping you to develop effective support strategies.

Implementing IEP Accommodations for Students with Autism: Next Steps

Implementing these IEP accommodations for autism should enable you to create a more inclusive and supportive learning environment for students with ASD. It’s essential to remember that every student is unique, and the accommodations on their plan should be tailored to their individual needs.

Remember, these accommodations aren’t just about helping students with autism; they benefit the entire classroom community. Providing the right support empowers students with autism to thrive in the classroom and beyond, and, importantly, fosters understanding and respect for individual differences amongst everyone in the school environment.

Ori Learning’s Transition curriculum has been intentionally designed to support students mild-to-moderate learning disabilities in transitioning beyond secondary school. It features built in accommodations like text to speech, text enlargement, and speech-to-text functionalities, ensuring that students can learn and communicate in a way that suits them. Get in touch with us today to take the next step in setting your students up for post-secondary success.

More on IEP Accommodations for Autism

Specific needs and accommodations for autism vary widely from one person to the next. However, common challenges faced by students with autism include difficulty with social interaction, communication, sensory processing, and executive functioning. IEP accommodations for autism focus on providing structure, predictability, and support. This might involve using visual aids, creating sensory-friendly environments, offering flexible scheduling, and providing explicit social skills instruction.

IEP strategies for autism involve creating a supportive learning environment tailored to individual needs. This includes using visual aids, flexible scheduling, social skills training, breaking down tasks, personalized instruction, reducing sensory distractions, peer mentoring, establishing routines, behavior management, and strong parent partnerships. Using the correct IEP accommodations for students with autism enables educators to help these students succeed in the classroom and beyond.

Accommodating a student with autism is about establishing an inclusive learning environment. This starts with understanding their specific needs, then delivering tailored accommodations to support their learning. Remember, each student is unique, so individualized approaches are essential. The goal is to work collaboratively with the student, their family, and other professionals, to create a positive and successful learning experience.

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Dr. Miriam Gayle (Director of Customer Success)

Dr. Miriam Gayle, a native Floridian born and raised in Broward County, holds four degrees from Nova Southeastern University, including a doctorate in Organizational Leadership with a minor in Human Resources, completed in 2017. With over 20 years of experience in education, she began her career teaching 3rd graders at a charter school and eventually became a district leader for the sixth largest school district in the United States, overseeing curriculum implementation, classroom instruction, and management for 33 high schools, and serving as a Union Steward for three years. Currently, Dr. Gayle leads the Ori Learning Customer Success team. Over the past four years, she has worked in edtech organizations, leading successful customer success teams and building processes to improve and streamline internal operations, enhancing workplace effectiveness and customer outcomes. A recognized subject matter expert in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, she also teaches courses for undergraduate and graduate students aspiring to become educators at a university in Utah. linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drgayle14/

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