150 Free Activities to do With Your Toddler
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150 Free Activities to Do With Your Toddler
Keeping your toddler entertained can feel like an uphill battle some days. And some days I just don’t have the mental fortitude to think of something to do. On those days, I like to have an ace up my sleeve, and now, you can too!
Today I’m sharing 150 FREE activities to do with your toddler. I’ve broken them down into different categories and many are great for passing short windows of time until the next part of your daily schedule.
Supplies
In order to make the most of these free ideas, I like to keep a few things on hand. You can collect them over time, so no need to spend money. If you don’t have all of these supplies on hand already, start saving them. You can start with the free activities to do with your toddler that don’t require supplies first, and get to the others later.
- Empty containers – Think yogurt tubs, spice canisters, soda bottles, etc…
- Old sheets – If they’re worn out, give them a second life as a drop cloth for crafts, or to accentuate the awesome fort your kiddo builds.
- Leftover Mail/Magazines
- Oddly sized wrapping paper
- Cardboard boxes
You can also scrounge secondhand stores for items at low cost such as:
- Small pitchers
- Inexpensive toys
- Art supplies
- Plates or cutlery
- Storage such as baskets, wooden boxes, etc…
Indoor Play
- Build a pillow fort
- Have a “dance party” with kid-friendly music
- Play hide and seek
- Sort toys by color
- Bake something simple together (more on that here)
- Play “I Spy”
- Make a toy car wash in the sink
- Create obstacle courses with chairs and cushions
- Do a pretend grocery store with pantry items
- Play dress-up with grownup clothes
- Create a car ramp (use a cardboard box, a lid, whatever is on hand) and race toys cars
- Have a tea party with stuffed animals
- Build towers and knock them down
- Trace each other’s hands
- Play with bowls and wooden spoons like drums
- Create a scavenger hunt for shapes or colors
- Read books in a cozy “reading nook”
- Make a hallway bowling lane using plastic cups
- Stack cups or containers
- Play “Simon Says”
- Sort socks from the laundry
- Have a pretend picnic indoors
- Monster Stomp (pretend to be monsters and instruct your little one to ‘roar, creep, stomp, etc.. like a monster’
- Tape roads on the floor for cars
- Play follow-the-leader
- Make a blanket hammock (adult supervised)
- Have a silly-face contest
- Pretend phone calls
- Play restaurant
- Indoor “snowball fight” using balled-up socks (we also have these and they’re so fun!)
- A “quiet time basket” with books and soft toys
Outdoor Fun
- Collect nature treasures (sticks, rocks, leaves)
- Go on a nature walk
- Blow bubbles
- Draw with sidewalk chalk
- Play at a local park
- Have a backyard picnic
- Make shadow puppets on the sidewalk
- Watch ants and bugs
- Cloud watching
- Play in the mud (mud kitchen!)
- Water painting on the sidewalk with a brush
- Roll toy cars down a small hill
- Race leaves in a puddle
- Build a stick fort
- Play hopscotch
- Kick a ball around
- Make a flower or leaf collage
- Fly paper airplanes
- Look for birds with pretend binoculars
- Jump in leaf piles
- Visit a splash pad
- Go to a free community event
- Dig in the dirt with spoons (buy a whole kitchen set at a second hand store for tons of fun!)
- Play “follow the leader” outside
- Look for shapes in trees or clouds
- Do an outdoor toy wash
- Hunt for shapes or letters on signs
- Play red light/green light
- Collect rocks and wash them
- Balance-walking on curbs (with supervision)
Simple Crafts
- Finger painting
- Make a collage using scrap paper (remember those old magazines I mentioned?)
- Sponge painting
- Pipe Cleaner Puppets (twist pipe cleaners around your finger and then shape the top half into puppets. Add googly eyes if wanted)
- Draw with toy cars (tape a marker point-down to the back of the car and let your kiddo drive and draw!)
- Make paper plate animals masks
- Rip-and-stick paper art in the shape of a rainbow and glue cotton balls to make clouds
- Q-tip painting
- Crayon rubbing with leaves or coins
- Thread beads onto pipe cleaners to make ornaments or keepsakes
- Make a handprint or footprint keepsake
- Paint with watercolors
- Make toilet paper roll binoculars
- Create cereal necklaces (if you have cereal already)
- Make a rain shaker using a recycled bottle
- Crayon shaving melted art (for older siblings too!)
- DIY bookmarks using whatever supplies you have on hand
- Trace family members’ shadows outside
- Make puppets with socks or paper bags
Sensory Play
- Water play with cups and spoons (add pompoms or sea creature toys for more fun!)
- DIY sensory bins (rice, pasta, bean, whatever you already have and mix in animal or action figure toys)
- Bubble foam (soap + water + mixer)
- Paint with ice cubes. Simply freeze a few drops of washable paint into an ice cube tray and top with water. Once frozen, your kiddos can ‘paint’ the sidewalk
- Explore a basket of household textures (safe items such as scarves, felt, strings, clean makeup sponges, etc..)
- Pouring station using cups and funnels
- Homemade play dough
- Shaving cream “snow” on a tray
- Nature sensory tray (sand, bark, leaves, rocks, etc…)
- Sensory bottle with water and glitter
- Pom-pom push (push pom-poms through cut holes in a lid)
- Mud play outside
- Animal Line Up (tape painters tape in various patterns and have your kiddo line up all of their small animals on the lines)
- Oobleck (cornstarch + water)
- Spaghetti sensory play (colored or plain) simply cook and let cool. If you want to make different colors, put some in a ziplock bag with a few drops of food coloring and mix. Let dry before playing
- Water bead alternatives like tapioca pearls
- Smelling jars using pantry scents (cloves, cinnamon, herbs, etc..)
Learning Activities
- Counting with snacks or toys
- Letter scavenger hunt
- Color sorting with clothes or toys
- Practice shapes with tape on the floor (try this activity)
- “Which one is missing?” memory game
- Matching lids to containers
- DIY flashcards (you can do letters, numbers, or even pictures of loved ones!)
- Reading books aloud with voices
- Name tracing with help
- Alphabet hopscotch
- Simple science: sink or float
- Exploring magnets
- Counting steps on the stairs
- Learn body parts with a mirror
- Practice pouring water
- Talk about weather each morning
- Listen for neighborhood sounds and identify them
- DIY puzzle from a magazine picture
- Sorting utensils
- Singing learning songs such as the alphabet song or you can make up a song that spells their name
Active & Gross Motor Play
- Jumping on pillows
- Animal walks (bear, crab, frog)
- Marching around the house
- Jumping from tape line to tape line
- Rolling a ball back and forth
- Crawling through tunnels made from chairs
- Follow-the-beat clapping
- Toddler yoga
- Freeze dance
- Beanbag toss with socks
- Parachute play with a bedsheet
- Balancing beanbags on heads
- Throwing rolled-up socks into laundry baskets
- Mini “gym class” with stations
- Stair climbing (supervised)
- Catching bubbles
- Pretend to be vehicles (zoom, beep, vroom!)
- Balloon volleyball
- Balloon Tennis (use fly swatters or rolled up magazines)
- Jump over stuffed animals
- Cut holes in a cardboard box and take turns throwing balls through the holes
- Agility bowling (roll balls continuously towards your toddler as they try to jump out of the way and avoiding getting ‘tagged’ by a ball)
- Mini scavenger hunt with movement tasks
Activities That Work for Siblings (Younger + Older)
- Storytime circle with everyone “reading” their book
- Family obstacle course
- Sidewalk art gallery (older kids can draw, toddlers scribble)
- Bug hunting and identifying
- Big-kid leads a yoga class
- Family nature bingo
- Build a block city together
- Dance party with “everyone chooses a song”
- Chalk roads for bikes, scooters, and toddler push toys
- Sibling “show and tell” with toys
When you’re a busy mama, you have to manage your time wisely. Be sure to save this post so you can find it when you’re in a pinch.
These free activities to do with your toddler are fun, engaging, and easy to put together! What is your favorite free activity to do with your toddler? Let me know in the comments below!
These are such great ideas! It can be so hard to come up with ideas with a toddler, but I want to keep this handy and try to plan some fun activities.
These are all really great ideas! Thank you for sharing this!