The Best Indoor Activities for Toddlers

Inside: Discover simple, practical ways to burn energy and spark the imagination. Keep your toddler happily occupied and not just bouncing off the walls with these fun indoor activities, from sensory play to homemade crafts.

You’ve come to the right place if you’re looking for fun indoor activities for your toddlers on a hot, cold, or rainy day!

We’ve gathered some great ideas to keep your kids entertained, from arts and crafts to games and puzzles. So, prepare to have a good time!

Play is our brain’s favorite way of learning.

~Diane Ackerman

Benefits of Active Play for Toddlers

You can initiate active play early in life as part of your little one’s everyday amusement. It is integral to a child’s development, and the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights has declared it a right of every child.

Play (especially active play) has numerous advantages for toddlers. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics:

• Play allows kids to create and explore a world they can comprehend, overcoming fears while acting out responsibilities, sometimes with the assistance of other children or caregivers.
• Unstructured play teaches kids to collaborate, share, bargain, settle disputes, and grow their self-advocacy abilities.
• When adults control play, kids adhere to adult standards and lose some of the advantages that play presents them, especially creativity, leadership, and teamwork.
• Play interactions show children that caregivers are attentive to their needs and help build long-lasting relationships.

Stimulating and Fun Indoor Activities for Your Toddlers

Nurture your toddler’s cognitive and social development while helping them de-stress with these indoor activities.

There may be tons of indoor activities out there to choose from, but nothing intends to empower more than this valuable collection.

Here are the most appealing indoor games your young children can surely enjoy:

Play with Playdough

Getting your toddler’s hands on playdough has various benefits you might not know. Playing with playdough is one great way to support your little one’s learning and development.

It can hone their fine motor skills as well as encourage imagination.

If your toddler is set to start preschool, this will help them advance in school because it is an essential activity for preschoolers.

While they can mold, shape, or squeeze playdough themselves, experts urge them to share playdough adventures with others (such as a sibling or playmate) to help them foster their social skills.

You can find plenty of these here. This affordable playdough right here is our favorite brand.

Kimberly at The Best Ideas for Kids has a simple homemade playdough recipe that you can use if you’re resourceful. Just don’t forget to thank her!

You can even let your little goober help make it! Fun!

Related Article: 5 Home Remedies to Constipation in Toddlers

Jello Sensory Play

For some, this messy play is a no-no. However, if you are brave enough, you will never regret it.

To save time on cleaning, cover your floors with a waterproof splat mat or (to be frugal) a shower curtain liner. You can also use a tarp or a paint drop cloth to cover a bigger space.

Jello sensory play can benefit your toddler’s overall mental and physical development.

This home entertainment is also one activity that improves your baby’s overall sensory skills.

Plus, he will love squishing that jello without a doubt!

Check out Mary of The Mom Friend‘s post down below:

Related Article: Fever in Babies and Toddlers: Everything You Need to Know About

Stepping Stones

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Kate of High Chair Chronicles suggested this activity, and I couldn’t agree more. Stepping on these stones can help your busy toddler gain body control, develop gross motor skills, and lengthen concentration.

Make it more educational for your child by asking about the colors and sizes of each stone, if you please.

Stepping stones can also be an accessory in the game “The Floor is Lava,” made famous by the film Inside Out. They can even be a component of an obstacle course.

The options are limitless!

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Play with a Beach Sensory Bin

Make your own beach sensory bin and let your little one enjoy some outdoor elements in the comfort of your own home.

Every child needs to immerse in sensory play. We must allow our kids to engage in such activities as much as possible.

Karen of Practical Frugality unselfishly shared her recipe for the “beach sensory bin” so we can do it ourselves. Check it out here.

Do Crafts with Pipe Cleaners

My kindergartener brought home a spider craft from school today.

They appeared to have used black construction paper, four pipe cleaners, and other art supplies. They cut the construction paper into a spider’s body shape, split four pipe cleaners in half for legs, pasted wiggly eyes, and glued everything together to make a spider.

Now the younger kids might find it all too complicated, so you will need to REALLY get down with them and help them do the work.

Paper plates and popsicle sticks can do the trick if you don’t have construction paper lying around at home.

Baking Cookies

It may sound a little overwhelming, but baking and cooking with your toddlers have incredible benefits for them.

Think of eye-hand coordination, spatial perception, and math skills!

The possibilities are endless!

Here’s a great cooking and baking set complete with measuring spoons, cups, tongs, nylon knives, and cookie cutters for your junior chef:

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Read Books and Tell Stories

Reading is paramount for your toddler’s brain development. It enhances communication skills as well, so it should be part of your little kid’s daily activities no matter what.

Learn Colors with Colorful Sticky Notes and Coloring Pages

Begin by sticking the first sticky note to a picture window or floor mirror while saying the color aloud. Then have your little one repeat the process with a different color.

Toddlers will attempt to do things for themselves as their cognitive abilities develop. So sorting and matching colors will pique your toddler’s interest in trying new activities.

Get these animal coloring pages for 50% off! Just enter code “COLOR50” at checkout.

Some Benefits of Coloring for Toddlers

• Enhances fine motor skills
• Relieves stress
• Promotes relaxation
• Develops handwriting
• Amplifies the appreciation of color
• Helps with school preparation
• Improves self-esteem

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Solve Mazes

Introduce them to the art of problem-solving by assisting them in completing mazes created with kid-friendly worksheets. Let them practice holding a pencil by connecting the dots you draw to finish the maze.

Help your children develop fine motor skills with this kayaking-themed maze from Education.com!

Complete Puzzles

Puzzles are a fun way to keep toddlers entertained. They can help with hand-eye coordination and cognitive development as well.

Choose a puzzle that is challenging but not too difficult for your toddler. You may need to assist them with the more complex puzzle pieces at first, but they should eventually be able to complete them all on their own.

These wooden puzzles are perfect for children aged 1 to 5 years. They are decorated with non-toxic, water-based paint, and each puzzle has between 4 and 6 pieces.

Play Ball

You can create a makeshift basketball hoop with a few cardboard boxes and a wire hanger. Then start shooting some balls with your little tykes.

If you prefer the easy route, use an empty laundry basket instead and throw plastic balls into it!

Find these fun things on Amazon for less.

Play with Pom Poms

With a few empty toilet paper rolls, assorted pom poms (or maybe some cotton balls colored with food coloring to be safe), and some other art supplies you can find at home, you can make these Pom Pom Poppers.

Little Bins for Little Hands can show you how to make them.

A word of caution: Pom poms can be a choking hazard. Keep your toddlers within reach when they are playing with pom poms.

Play a Classic Game

Classic games like peek-a-boo, rock-paper-scissors, Simon Says, and Red Light Green Light have been around for centuries. Use them to your advantage.

Try Out Some Musical Instruments

If you’re a musician or play as a hobby, go ahead and teach your toddlers to play. If not, hammering on the toy piano is fine too.

Have a Dance Party

Turn on some child-friendly tunes and dance the whole day away with your 2-year-olds. Your older kids (if you have any) can even join in the fun! If you have a hula hoop, you can utilize it to boost your dance party.

Think about how funny it would be to freeze as the music stops and the hula hoop drops. There will be laughter all around! That’s music to Mama’s ears!

Set up a Scavenger Hunt around Different Themes

A treasure hunt can be a fun game for your toddlers. Most of them don’t know how to read yet, so you can organize a simple scavenger hunt in your living room using only a piece of paper with animal drawings, letters, numbers, and shapes.

Final Say on Toddler Activities for the Indoors

I cannot stress enough the importance of active play to every parent with toddlers. There will be days when the weather prevents your kids from frolicking outdoors.

Indoor activities can be your best friend on days like those. They allow you to protect your little ones from the harsh environment and the illnesses that come with it.

While it is true that toddlers prefer routines and a plethora of the best indoor activities may overwhelm them, gradually introducing these exercises can help in more ways than one.

If you’re feeling sluggish, I’m sure there are plenty of indoor play areas nearby you can visit with your babies and big kids! It will be a great time for some old-fashioned family bonding!

No matter what time of year it is or how simple the activity is, they will relish every second of it as long as they are with you.

Now it’s your turn!

Do you have some exciting indoor activities for toddlers to share?

Head to the comment section and leave them there for all the mamas to see!

Remember to share these enjoyable indoor activities with your babysitter or childcare provider.

See you in the next update!

Talk to you soon,

P.S. Start a fun (yet powerful) way for your toddlers to learn the basic shapes by tracing straight lines and curves or allow them to practice writing the letters of the alphabet with themed worksheets like these. (They’re free to download, by the way! How generous of Education.com!)