20 SIMPLE Toddler Activities

It’s no secret that toddlers can be a busy bunch! My current tot {at 2 years of age} has been no exception. She is into everything…and has been the moment she became mobile, making it difficult to homeschool, fold laundry, empty the dishwasher, take a shower, answer an email; you name it, really.

I’ve had to be particularly creative with her to keep her engaged {and occupied at times}. Being a busy mama of four children, I’m not a fan of activities that take a half an hour to prepare or set up. No. No. No. I need SIMPLE activities or I’ll never implement them. Today, I’m sharing 20 of our favorite and SIMPLE toddler activities for those busy tots.

Disclaimer: All of these suggestions are ideas that my toddlers have loved. Please use discretion with these toddler activities to avoid chocking or other safety hazards. All of these activities may not be appropriate for your toddler.
*This post contains affiliate links.

 

20 SIMPLE Toddler Activities

1. Give toddlers a box of socks, shoes, pants or shirts {over-sized} to play dress up.

2. Re-use an old tissue box or wipe container. Fill it with scarfs, scraps of fabric, or other items. Your toddler can pull out the items and explore them and put the objects into the box.

3. Pull out pots and pans and let the drumming begin! Give your tot a rubber spoon/spatula or use the bottoms of coffee canisters and oatmeal boxes to keep the noise down, but this is one that toddlers simply love.

 

4. Puzzles. When toddlers age and begin to outgrow the easier puzzles, combine the puzzle pieces together into one bin, like I did with our Melissa & Doug puzzles. Toddlers have to figure out which puzzle the pieces go into, making it a step harder than just working one puzzle.

5. Match tops with bottoms. Give toddlers several sets of  Take and Toss containers. Place the lids and bottoms in a large bowl or container. Toddlers have to match the lids with the bottoms. You can make this as easy or difficult as your toddler can handle.

 

6. Take simple objects from around your house and combine them to make quick activities for toddlers. We have a whole bin of re-purposed objects for learning that my toddler uses quite a bit. In the image above, we combined a no-spill Melissa & Doug paint lid and a washed out mayonnaise jar for a quick pom-pom drop activity. {My total prep time= less than 1 minute. Her total play time= 15 minutes.} 

7. Make edible playdough. All of my toddlers have enjoyed playdough, but have been very eager to eat it. Try an edible playdough recipe that your toddler can play with for a while herself. You can find more playdough and sensory recipes here.

 

8. Rotate books in a bin. All of my toddlers enjoyed the sensory-type books and would look at them longer than a regular board book. Some of our favorite sensory books for toddlers are lift the flap books, Pat the Bunny, & Touch and Feel books by DK Publishing.

 

9. Re-use tall containers, such as Gerber Puffs, cylindrical chip containers, or paper towel tubes for bowling pins. We have an entire bin of the Gerber Puffs. My kids {all of them} like to bowl with them and stack them different ways.

 

10. All toddlers like big boxes, right? Let your toddler use the box in her play. Recently, my toddler played basketball with our big box. Don’t limit your toddler by telling her how she has to play with the box at first. Let her explore and play. When she gets bored, introduce another toy to go along with it {like balls}.

11. Pillow and blanket play is fun for toddlers. Take pillows off your couch or the bed. Find a fun blanket as well and let them explore with play. You can even build a simple fort with the blanket and add the pillows inside.

 

12. Water play. This one can get a little “messy”, but also serves to mop the kitchen floor {and my kitchen floor could always use a good moppin’…ahem}. I suggest placing a towel or two down on your floor first to keep the area less slippery. Find a plastic container, add a drop of dish detergent or baby bath soap and some favorite toys and you will have one happy toddler. {Our most recent water play experience included large buttons, Learning Resources’ family counters, a measuring cup and funnel.}

13. Have older siblings? Why not let them read to your toddler? It makes for some GREAT reading practice for struggling readers and some great bonding time between siblings. {You may have to do a little training for the older child, if reading to a toddler doesn’t come so naturally.}

 

14. If your toddler wants to color, no mess coloring products are PERFECT for toddlers. You can find some of our favorite no mess products here.

15. Stacking cups. Toddlers can stack Take and Toss cups/bowls, styrofoam cups, or plastic disposable cups.

16. Plastic spoons. My toddler likes to pull out all her plastic toddler spoons, so sometimes, I’ll pull them all out for her while I’m working on dinner, put them in a big bowl and just let her play. Sometimes I’ll add a tiny big of water or oatmeal, just for kicks {but not too often}.

 

17. Rotate out open-ended kinds of toys {toys that can be played with many different ways}. Some of our favorite open-ended toys for toddlers are WEDGiTS, wooden blocks, bristle blocks, Magnetos, stacking pegs, Magformers, and Little People sets. {These make GREAT Christmas or birthday presents!} Rotation can mean that you simply move them from one location to another in your home.

18. Bring out the “rainy day” toys. We have a few items that I bring out mostly on rainy days, when we can’t go out to release our energy. Two of these are our ball pit and tunnel. {These also make GREAT Christmas or birthday gifts from relatives, by the way.} Instead of holding out for that rainy day, bring them out to occupy an antsy toddler.

 

19. Sorting. Toddlers may enjoy sorting/matching socks or sorting objects by color and by size. Some toddlers just like putting things into small spaces, like you see in the image above. Use a muffin tin or any container with compartments, like an ice tray.

 

20. Integrate them into what you’re already doing. For example, during a recent Word Bump! game, NSis wanted to play with the dice. So, I gave her the dice and an old {washed out} parmesan cheese container. She dropped the dice in one at a time. When all the dice were in, I emptied the bottle and she did it again {and again and again}.

The same can be done with chores. NSis likes to be the “bulldozer” and push the clothes in the dryer for me. She also likes to “help me” mix the batter when I make muffins.

 

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Follow This Reading Mama’s board Toddler Activities on Pinterest.

 

~Becky