10 indoor activities
It is SO hard to keep busy toddlers entertained when stuck inside, let alone get their energy out. Here are some fun activities to do with your toddlers that are both mentally and physically stimulating. Enjoy!
Activity 1: Potato Sack Races – in pillow cases
How To:
- Use pillow cases to have your toddler hop across the room!
Tip for older kids: For older children learning their numbers have them roll dice and hop the amount of numbers they rolled. You can join in or have another child play and see who gets to the other side of the room first!
Items needed:
Activity 2: Rain clouds – indoor weather
How To:
- Fill the jar to the top with water.
- Use the shaving cream to make a mound on top of the water.
- Have your child drop the food coloring on top of the shaving cream cloud and watch it move through the cloud to the water.
- Talk about weather and how clouds get saturated with rain (food coloring) and then it will rain (food coloring flowing into the water).
Items needed:
Activity 3: Popsicle Stick Colors – matching
How To:
- Lay out the colored popsicle sticks (or make your own using markers).
- Option 1: Draw on a piece of paper with straight lines of corresponding colors to the popsicle sticks for easy level matching.
- Option 2: Create shapes and have children match with the popsicle sticks.
Items needed:
Activity 4: Snow Fun – shapes & colors
How To:
- Put some snow in a bowl and then spread it on the cookie sheet.
- Let your child flatten the snow out and add some food coloring (however many colors you would like!)
- Then use cookie cutters and let them cut different shapes out of the snow.
- You can read your favorite snow themed book as they play.
- Version 2: Let them put some waterproof figurines in the snow for more imaginative play!
Items needed:
- cookie sheet
- food coloring
- cookie cutters
- activity mat
- waterproof figurines
- snow
- book: The Snowy Day
This one can get a little messy but having a mat down and using a cookie sheet will help!
Activity 5: Science Balloon – fun and easy science
Experiment with household items!
How To:
- Fill an old water bottle with vinegar and a few drops of food coloring of your child’s choice.
- Add 3 tablespoons of baking soda and a balloon to the top of the water bottle.
- Watch what happens!
Items needed:
- water bottle
- white vinegar
- food coloring
- baking soda
- balloons
- book: Curious George and the Hot Air Balloon
Activity 6: Caterpillar Button Counting – cute, brain stimulating activity!
How To:
- On a piece of poster board, paper or cardboard.
- Use markers to draw circles increasing in number by one as you go down the paper.
Ex: circle for the face & 1 circle, next line- circle for the face & 2 circles, next line- circle for the face & 3 circles for the body, etc. - Have your child place a button in each circle to make the body of the caterpillar.
- Count the number of buttons as they place them.
Items needed:
Activity 7: Tube Sensory Tree
How To:
- Have your child help you make a “tree” with branches out of the tubes (using paper towel rolls, toilet paper rolls or buy cardboard tubes),
- Cut when necessary, and tape it together.
- Once you have your tree assembled, tape the bottom opening inside a plastic bin.
- Next have your child scoop your sensory item (rice/beans/seeds/pasta) and pour it into a branch of the tree and listen and watch as it goes through the tubes and into the bin.
Items needed:
Activity 8: Cookie Jar Counting
How To:
- Use markers to draw 10 circles on the piece of paper and in each circle draw dots (1-10) to represent your chocolate chips. Draw a “jar” around the “cookies”
- Use scissors to cut 10 circles out of the brown paper and number them 1-10
- Have your child pick a cookie in the jar and count the number of chocolate chips on the cookie. Next, have them find the corresponding numbered cookie and place it in the jar
Items needed:
Activity 9: Pin the Face on the Circle
How To:
- Using markers, draw a large circle in the middle of the poser board.
- Using scissors, cut two smaller circles below and to the left and right of the large drawn circle (big enough for your child’s arm to fit through).
- Have them stand on the back side of the poster board.
- Take a face sticker, and without peeking, properly place it on the circle to make a face.
Items needed:
Activity 10: Noodle Counting & Stacking
How To:
- Have your child make a wide snake with the play-doh and flatten the top.
- Stick some spaghetti noodles or dowels into the play-doh.
- Then have your child thread the noodles/ cheerios onto the spaghetti noodle and count as they do it.
- Version 2: Color coordinate- color your noodles with food coloring beforehand and coordinate it with the play-doh
- Version 3: Make it a game! Roll dice and have them place the amount of noodles/ cheerios that they roll onto the spaghetti noodle!
Items needed:
- play-doh
- spaghetti noodles or wooden dowels
- ziti or penne noodles (any noodle or cereal with a hole in the middle)
- cheerios
- food coloring (if you are going to dye your noodles)
- dice
- book: Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs
**Checkout our Amazon store page for more of our favorite indoor activity items!
Other blog posts you may like:
- 5 easy DIY crafts for toddlers
- 5 alternatives for trick-or-treating
- 5 DIY crafts for fall
- family traditions
- 5 at home date night ideas
**Bumblebaby makes a small commission on some of the items listed above.
