Activities for toddlers that will help them learn

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Activities for toddlers

Toddlers are busy bees and are always up to something. Getting them to sit in one place is almost an impossible task. However, sometimes they want your attention and you try to come up with ideas to keep them busy. Although it's good to keep time aside for your child, you also need time out to do and finish your work. So it is a good idea to keep a list of activities for toddlers handy and prepped to play with or hand over to your toddler.

Why toddlers need activities?

Toddlers are a bundle of energy and they need to work off all that energy. Toddlers love repetition. They will do what they know over and over again. For this reason too we need a list of activities for toddlers so that as parents we can guide their energy into learning some skills.

List activities for toddlers

Toy wash

This activity is famous as a car wash. Your little boy probably loves playing with cars. You can help him wash the cars in his own car wash. This activity as you have already guessed uses water and is messy. This can happen in the bathtub or the sink. You can also use two buckets. Fill the bathtub or sink or one bucket with soapy water. Fill another bucket with clean water. Toy cars, trucks or any other vehicle can go in one by one. Please avoid using electric / electronic / battery operated toys. Once they have been cleaned thoroughly they should go in the bucket with clean water. Once washed the toys can be thoroughly dried. Kids love to see the clean toys and the result of their efforts. Kids who do not like to play with cars, usually girls, can do this activity with other toys

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Painting Ice

This is one of the sensory activities that toddlers will love to play. Take some water in the ice tray, pour food coloring in the cubes and as the water turns to ice put in some popsicle sticks or toothpicks. Once the water has turned to ice, give the colored ice cubes to your child with some paper to paint on. The ice cubes color looks like water paint and kids love the cold sensation of the ice cubes.

Hand painting with edible paint

Take some flour and add water. Add edible colors or food coloring. Give this to your toddler along with some drawing paper and let her make her own masterpieces.

Tubes and pom poms

Take tall cylindrical cardboard containers (e.g. Pringles) and make a long tunnel. It doesn’t have to be straight, and can have bends in it. Stick this tunnel vertically to a wall and let your toddler put poms poms through it one by one. The poms poms can be collected at the end of the tunnel in another container and the process can be repeated till the toddler feels bored of it. Alternatively you can make more such tunnels and label them with colours. Your toddler can match the colours with the pom poms when putting in the tube.

Button snake

A button snake is one of the activities for toddlers that keeps children busy for quite some time and it is easy to create. This little activity is also good for the motor skills of your child. Take a ribbon and sew a big button on each end. Create squares of felt that are bigger in size to the ribbon’s width. Make button holes in the felt and give them to your toddler to poke the snake through the felt. It may take some time before some children get the hang of putting the snake through the buttonhole and collecting the felt on the ribbon.

Painters tape car track

Boys love playing with cars. They play with cars, trucks, JCBs and anything with tyres. They love to race or imagine they are driving around town. In either case making a race track or road will help them take their vehicles and go around the room or house. Get some painters’ tape and make a race track or road that goes around the house or a big room. You could use boxes and label them as office, cinema and hospital so that your child can park the vehicle for a brief stop over before continuing the journey. For a race track there can be pit stops and finish lines.

Paper tunnels with balls or even to cars

This is one of the easiest to make activities for toddlers. Take rectangular shaped chart papers so that you can make small tunnels. Tape these tunnels to the floor in a line. You can also make a track with painters tape. You could have a race with your toddler while aiming carsthrough the tunnels. Alternatively one can use small plastic balls or pom poms.

Big box

Which kid doesn't love a big cardboard box. If the child can get into it, then it will keep him occupied for hours. A bigger box will make a fort and a smaller box becomes a cabinet to keep things or a little cot for the dolls.

Conclusion

You never know when your toddler will want something new to keep busy. This list of activities for toddlers can be a great reference in those times. Get a couple of activities prepped and ready to use anytime.