Top Activities to Do at Home With Toddlers

Post

Subscribe

Facebook Group

Mothers feed. They rock. They dress. They clean. They hush. They mend. They soothe. They sing. They rock some more. They calm. They find. And then they have to invent. Invent things for busy toddlers to do at all hours of the day to keep their overactive minds stimulated and their thirst for something different, quenched. Yet mothers can get tired and inventing is sometimes the last thing they have any energy for. Well, let this article be your friend.


As a mother of three children born in close succession, toddler activities have been happening in this house for what seems like forever. I am definitely no inventor but will give myself credit for being resourceful. I also prefer to do things with my children which don't involve huge amounts of money or constant trips to the craft store. I like to recycle and repurpose. I like to see smiling children and find things that can stimulate my one-year-old as much as my five-year-old. I also like to change things up so that mummy doesn't have to do the same thing every day.

I thought it would be great to share some ideas on what to do with your toddlers. Hopefully, you can print and save this list on the fridge for the next time you are searching for something to keep them busy. Here are my top seven.

1. Make a series of treasure boxes. Fill empty shoe boxes or any boxes you can find with abstract things (treasures) and store them away for a rainy day. When your toddler is bored, allow them to select a treasure box and explore what is inside. You can put shells, small toys, old plastic flowers, photographs, magazine pictures, the front of old birthday or Christmas cards, scrunched-up foil, anything. Kids love exploring the treasures and making up stories around what they are.

2. Allow your toddler to draw all over some paper towel with felt tip pens. Then have them paint over the drawings with water and a brush. The colors will run and make interesting blends and designs.

3. Grab a white ice tray. Fill four of the cubes with water and food coloring in red, blue, green, and yellow. Pop your little one in clothes that can get stained or cover them with a painting smock. Then take an eye dropper and show your child in the other cube spaces what happens when you mix various colors. Allow them to experiment and mix.

4. Grab five coathangers. Fold a small piece of paper in half for each coat hanger and place it over the hanger with the numbers one to five on them. Then ask your toddler to clip pegs representing the number on each coathanger to the hanger. Increase to ten as they develop.

5. Hot day? No worries. Freeze a block of ice in an ice cream container (or any suitable container). Buy a series of plastic animals that represent creatures who live in cold regions of the world. Turn the ice out onto an old towel in the backyard and allow your toddler to explore this structure with the creatures. Ask them to name the creatures and talk about what they might eat and how they stay warm. By the time the ice melts, the kids will be sick of the activity.


6. Make a photo album using an old or unwanted display folder. Place photos of family members and friends in the compartments. When your kids are bored, ask them to grab the album and 'read' it with you. Discuss who each person is and why they love your children. Talk about special moments the kids have shared with each person.

7. Colour pieces of A4 paper in different colors. Place the pieces of paper ten centimeters apart on the floor (i.e. relatively close together). Then play 'twister' with your child/children by asking them to place various body parts on each color (left foot on red, right elbow on green). Help them work out the body part and their left and right. This is also a great activity to increase their problem-solving skills and get them moving about. Lots of laughs to be had.

Next time you are thinking "what can I do to keep them entertained?", I hope this list might trigger some new and low to no-cost moments of pleasure for everyone. Until next time....

%brisbanemums
%goldcoastmums
#kid
#family