Indoor Activities for Toddlers
“Beach Day”
“Beach Day” – Get your kids dressed in their bathing suits, get out the beach towels, the beach toys, and pack a picnic to have an indoor beach day! I do this with my kids and have them play in the bath with their beach toys while I play beach sounds on my phone and they have the best time. It is a fun way to feel like they are going out when they are stuck inside.
Superhero for a day
Superhero for a day – My son loves superheroes and he loves to pretend to be one. So, I get creative to help my son live out his superhero dreams. You can use construction paper to make a mask, shield, sword or any other pieces that will make your little one feel like they can save the world. You can also use things as simple as rain boots, a blanket tied around their shoulders and swimming goggles to create their perfect superhero look.
Playdough
Playdough – My son goes totally nuts for Playdough. There are so many different ways you can play with playdough. This week I busted out the beach toys we have to use as playdough toys. He loved it. You can also use cookie cutters and make it themed playdough time. Or, you can use things like leaves, rocks, branches, flowers ect. to make imprints in the playdough. The best part about playdough is you don’t need anything in addition to it just your child’s imagination. Or, you can make it more focused with various tools.
Send art to senior citizens
Send art to senior citizens – while we are stuck inside I am going to have my son’s draw, paint and color pictures to send to local nursing homes and assisted living facilities. These communities can’t receive visitors due to social distancing and these pictures will brighten their days and bring some happiness.
Culinary Creations
Culinary Creations– I love the Great British Baking Show and I will watch it with my sons every so often and it is fun to make it interactive. Let your child’s imagination run wild and let them create a culinary masterpiece all their own. You can make it structured where you follow a recipe and measure ingredients together, yay early math, or you can let them be the chef. Either way, it is a fun way to have some indoor family time. My son loves to decorate cookies so we will make sugar cookies, cut them out then decorate them together. You can also have a bunch of ingredients for them to make something totally unique. (For example, you can leave yogurt, granola, sprinkles, cheerios, berries, nuts, etc and let them make their own culinary concoction.)
Learn new songs to wash your hands to
As a boy mom to two toddlers, hand washing is a constant battle in my house. I am sure it is for girl moms too. Toddlers are just gross haha. But, something we have been doing to make social distancing and dealing with proper handwashing in our house is singing different songs and making hand-washing fun.
Songs you can sing:
- ABCs
- Happy Birthday x 2
- If you’re happy and you know it wash your hands x 2
- Top and Bottom x 2
- Twinkle Twinkle x 2
- This is the way we wash our hands
20 Oldie but Goodies
- make a fort
- have a dance party
- play dress up
- board games
- craft time
- hide n seek
- scavenger hunts
- eye spy
- puzzles
- reading
- coloring
- magnets
- color matching
- water painting
- bubbles
- sing-a-long
- obstacle course
- crafts
- tag
- pretend play – pretend to be favorite animals, characters, people, etc
No matter the reason you’re stuck inside, for today it is social distancing due to COVID-19, it doesn’t have to be hours of mindless screentime to keep your toddlers happy and entertained. What are your favorite indoor activities for toddlers?
