Every season brings its own joys and challenges. On some days, the weather might be too hot or cold for the family to go outside and explore.
No worries, we have compiled fun activities you can enjoy indoors instead!
Let’s break out the boredom busters and get busy with indoor activities for toddlers.
What makes Great Indoor Play For Toddlers?
We like to look for fun indoor activities that are easy to set up, use things found around the house, and keep your toddler’s attention for more than a minute!
Many of the following activities are versatile and perfect for indoor and outdoor play.
Indoor Physical Activities For Toddlers
Try one of these indoor activities for your high-energy toddlers.
Bean Bag Toss
Bean Bag TossUse bean bags that can be easily made or purchased and toss them into laundry baskets, recycled cardboard boxes, small wastebaskets, or other containers for fun activities with toddlers and the whole family.
Paper Plate Toss
Try this easy game made from paper plates and empty paper towel rolls. Cut the bottom out of several paper plates and paint or color the edges. Then, tape an empty paper towel tube to another paper plate. Now you’re ready to start tossing! It’s a simple and creative way to have indoor fun with your kiddos.
Indoor Scavenger Hunt For Toddlers or Treasure Hunt
Create a simple list of items to look for around your home. For example, focus on a theme like finding all the red things or specific items like flowers. This activity can also be incorporated into a holiday like Easter and hiding plastic eggs with treats. For a fun twist, give your toddler a flashlight for treasure hunting.
Parachute (blanket or sheet) Play
This activity helps shake out the sillies and is excellent for gross motor development. You can shake the parachute fast or slow, put a ball or stuffed animal in the middle, and bounce it around. For added enjoyment, let your child sit in the middle while you bounce the ball or shake the parachute.
Play Physical Games
Remember the classic childhood games you used to play? For example, “Follow The Leader,” “Simon Says,” “Ring Around the Rosie,” “Red Light, Green Light,” and “Hide And Seek” can be played indoors or outdoors.
How about a fun twist on hide and seek? If you have leftover glow sticks from a previous dance party, hide them around the house. Then, turn off the lights and let the kids loose to find them in the dark. It’s a cool way to make hide-and-seek even more exciting!
Are you looking for more ways of keeping toddlers busy indoors? Try these easy gross motor activities!
Indoor Sports For Toddlers
Many outdoor sports may be adapted for indoor play. Set up one of these for some fun indoor activities for busy toddlers.
Indoor Bowling
Stack or set up recycled plastic water bottles, cups, or empty boxes for a quick and easy bowling game. You can create bowling lanes with painter’s tape for a more detailed approach.
Balloon Badminton Or Volleyball
Blow up some balloons, then bounce them back and forth over a net (create a line on the floor with painter’s tape.) You can also use a timer to see how long they can keep the balloons off the ground.
Indoor Mini Golf
Build a course using empty toilet paper rolls, boxes, and blocks. Build it according to your child’s abilities, including tunnels, walls, and obstacles to bounce the ball off. Then, let your little one try pushing a ball (ping pong balls work great) through the course with an empty paper towel roll.
Indoor Basketball
You only need a waste paper basket or bin (laundry basket) and some balls for your toddler. If you do not have any balls that you can use to “shoot” baskets, roll up sheets of newspaper into balls. Let them try shooting baskets from different lengths. Have them see how many baskets they can make in a timed period.
Rainy Day Activities For Toddlers
Build Cardboard Box Creations
Do you have leftover shipping boxes and wonder what to do with them? Let your toddler use them to create houses, roads, cities, zoos, parks, trains, planes, and ramps. You can also add boats, toy people, animals, and cars for your toddler to get busy playing.
Create A Mural
Let your toddler choose a theme: under the sea, outer space, or someplace completely imaginary. Then, roll out a large piece of white paper and add washable markers, crayons, paint sticks, and other art supplies you have around.
Make A Lifesize Portrait
Trace your toddler’s outline on a large sheet of paper. Then, let them create and decorate their self-portrait.
Make And Play With Playdough
Make Edible Pudding Slime
Check out this incredible recipe for pudding slime that is also taste-safe! It’s like a mix of slime and playdough and smells almost good enough to eat. Many kids love making and playing with this slime, so try it with your family.
Cook Or Bake With Your Toddler
Seasonal Themed Crafts
Toddlers enjoy simple crafts, so why not gather up some supplies and let your toddler get engrossed in the season? For Spring, think Easter, Passover, Earth Day, May Day, Cinco de Mayo, Mother’s Day, or Father’s Day. Or how about the best fall activities for toddlers?
Make Sock Puppets
Grab some old socks and materials from around the house to make your own puppet. Create their faces using markers, paint, stickers, or paper cutouts. Make a few puppets and then put on your very own puppet show!
Create Shadow Puppets
Don’t have any old socks? Grab a flashlight, your dolls, stuffed animals, or your fingers to make characters come to life on the wall.
Put On An Art Show
If you’ve been stuck inside for a few days, your kids probably have created lots of artwork. Why not display it for an art show? They will beam with pride. You could even invite family and friends to stop by to check it out. At the very least, take photos to capture the moment!
Tell Jokes
Have fun telling jokes! These short, sweet, and silly puns will make your little ones laugh. We’ve got 101 jokes to get you started, complete with answers. So grab your kids and get ready to giggle!
By their very nature, fine motor activities make great inside activities for toddlers. Check out these Fun Fine Motor Activities.
Musical Activities
Music brings a level of joy that not only kids love but adults, too. So, turn on some music and enjoy these indoor activities for toddlers.
Dance Party
Dance parties are one of our favorite activities. They require no prep—just put on some music and let the moves begin. For a special treat, add some glow sticks or homemade musical instruments.
Try These Other Versions
Freeze Dance
Put on lively music and encourage your kids to dance around as much as possible. Then, randomly stop the music and watch them freeze in place. This game is great for both their bodies and listening skills.
Mimic Dance
This one is simple: have your child start dancing while everyone copies their moves. Kids enjoy being the leaders in this game, so make sure each person has a chance to lead. Let’s turn on the music and get ready to show off your best dance moves!
Musical Chairs
You can easily incorporate this classic game into indoor toddler activities. Kids walk around chairs while the music plays. When the music stops, they quickly find a chair to sit in. But there’s always one less chair than kids! The one left standing is out. The game continues until one player is left, and they’re the winner!
Sing Along
Sing silly songs together, like “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” or “The Wheels on the Bus.” Clap your hands, stomp your feet, or use simple hand motions. It’s a great way to have fun; your toddler will love the interaction. So grab your favorite songs and let the singing begin!
Block Activities
Blocks offer some of the best indoor activities for toddlers. Below are just a few. For more, see this post on simple block activities.
Obstacle Course With Giant Building Blocks
Create an obstacle course with giant building blocks and other items found around the house. For added fun, you can use a climbing triangle, chairs, pillows, hula hoops, or cones.
Wooden Building Blocks Tower Competitions
Wooden Building Blocks are a household classic. Use your blocks to engage in fun block tower competitions. Try to build the tallest, the most creative, or the one that uses the most blocks. Use a timer and see who can make the tallest tower before the timer goes off.
Playing With Magnets
Playing with magnets or magnetic building toys is a fun thing to do with toddlers. Enjoy these 8 Fun Activities For Toddlers.
Edible Engineering Activities
What toddler doesn’t enjoy playing with their food? Set up a workspace with round food items like grapes, marshmallows, seasonal gummy candy, dry spaghetti noodles, or toothpicks, and let them build away. For more easy STEM activities for toddlers, take a look here.
Imaginative Play Activities
Pretend play or imaginative play is one of the best indoor activities for toddlers. You can light up their world with the following indoor play ideas. Fortunately, there is no “right way” for dramatic play to take shape; just let your toddler take the lead.
Indoor Camping
Do you have a small tent you could set up in your family room or your toddlers’ bedroom? If not, you could use the fort you created above to pretend you’re camping. Get out a sleeping bag, make smores (in the oven or fireplace), and tell stories around the “campfire.”
Indoor Picnic
Another simple but easy way to make your toddler’s day is to spread out a blanket and let them have a special “picnic” lunch or snack.
A Tea Party
Grab your BFFs (Best Furry Friends), some finger foods, and set the table for an afternoon tea.
Put On A Puppet Show
Let the kids use those adorable puppets they made to create a puppet show. It’s a great way to get creative and have some family fun.
Build A Fort
Nothing is more fun than a secret fort. Place a sheet or blanket over a table to help your toddler build their own special hideout. It’s so simple but so memorable!
Try a few of these other imaginative play ideas for your toddler.
Bakery, Coffee, Pizza, or Ice Cream Shop
Kids love pretending to make and eat their favorite foods. Use the cookies you baked earlier, make some “coffee,” and set up shop. Let them use different-colored playdough to build ice cream cones. Cut up some cardboard circles for pizzas and decorate them with “toppings.”
Grocery Store
You can create a grocery store using pantry items or let them make their own groceries out of empty boxes. You can also create a grocery list and have them shop for the items to bake cookies.
Let them choose, but what about a Doctor, Veterinarian, or Dentist’s Office?
How about other community places like the Dad’s Office, Library, Hair Salon, Post Office, or School?
They might like to pretend to be pirates, fairies, princesses, superheroes, astronauts, mermaids, or other animals.
Whatever their fancy, help them find a few household items to start their imagination and creativity.
Quiet Activities For Toddlers
You have had a busy morning and are now looking for quiet indoor activities for toddlers. Here are the ones we use regularly.
Sensory Bin Ideas For Toddlers
Important Safety Note: If your toddler still puts things into their mouth, please do not attempt this activity. Should you choose to engage in this activity, please supervise your toddler the entire time to ensure that nothing ends up in your toddler’s mouth, as it could pose a choking hazard.
These are wonderful activities to keep on hand for both indoor and outdoor play. You can make the bins in various themes and bring them out just when you need them most! Sensory bins can be messy, so cover the play area with an inexpensive shower curtain liner or an old tablecloth. Pick up the corners and pour any spills back into the bin when finished.
- Try collecting toddler-safe items from around the house, all in one color, such as a red building block, a red spatula, and a red ball. Then, encourage play and exploration.
- Fill one with cotton balls, spoons, and cups, then let them create a white wonderland.
- Fill with dried beans, pasta, rice, oats, or cereal. Add a variety of spoons, cups, and kitchen tools, then let your toddler play.
- This one requires pre-planning. Prepare ice cubes and pour them into the bin with water, spoons, and bowls to make “soup.” You could also freeze little surprises into the cubes so that the container has some fun toys to enjoy when they melt.
Puzzles, Board, or Card Games
Keep a few special puzzles or games you only bring out for those much-needed breaks. Then, spend quality time together, winding down before nap or bedtime.
Reading and Storytelling
These are some of our favorite easy indoor activities for toddlers. We love to read stories, and even more fun is creating our own. Let your toddler choose the subject, for example, dolphins. Then you start; after a few sentences, ask your toddler what happens next. Continue building by using questions to prompt your toddler.
Family Movie Day Or Night
Gather together with comfy blankets, pillows, and yummy snacks. Pick a movie everyone will enjoy, turn off the lights, and enjoy spending quality time together.
Looking for additional activities that support language development? Explore these simple language activities for preschoolers.
Indoor Water Activities For Toddlers
Water is always so soothing for toddlers and can occupy them for quite some time. Fill the bathtub or a large sensory tub (remember the shower curtain liner underneath), and the possibilities become endless.
- Include some bubbles and let them wash their “toys.”
- Drop in some containers for pouring activities.
- Add water-safe blocks and see what they build.
- Tape pool noodles to the wall and let them pour water through.
- Add glow sticks for an extra memorable experience.
Being stuck inside all day or even for days on end can be challenging for a busy toddler. Use one or more indoor activities to keep them happy and occupied.
So, which of these fun things to do indoors with toddlers will you try today?
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