25 things to do with a busy toddler! or 2...

Sometimes it is hard to find an activity that will keep your toddler engaged for a longer period of time. I know with my two, activities usually don't last longer than 5 minutes! But I found a few activities that seem to keep their interest for a little longer. (NOTE; I said little!) So I thought I would share with everyone else! I by no means have come up with all of these ideas, I will admit, when it comes to google I may be a wee bit addicted. But that is the beauty of the internet, sharing our ideas & creativity, and for some like myself, keeping mommies sanity! ;)






25. Take a new garbage bag, cut it down one side and the bottom to make it larger, and use tape to tape it to your kitchen floor. Strip your toddler down to his skivvies and put some whipped cream in the middle! You could also use food coloring to mix some bowls of whip cream in different colors. Best part is, when you are done you just take all four corners and dispose! Less messy. hopefully.

24. Empty your kitchen sink of dishes, (and remove any dish soap or anything dangerous near the sink out of the way). Fill the sink 1/4 full with some warm soapy water, and add some plastic dishes or toys. Pull up a kitchen chair, and let them go at it! This works well right after the messy whipped cream activity ;) PLEASE make sure to be by your child's side at all time of this activity, small children can still fall into water or off of chair and get seriously injured or killed!

23. Print out some free coloring pages online and color together. Print out their favorite cartoon character or print out some learning sheets to help them learn their ABC's and numbers! There are a ton of resources online that are all free for you to print out and use for your personal use. Just google; "Toddler Coloring Pages"

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22. Take some sheets and create a fort in your living room or playroom! My boys will have hours of fun when we do this. We just make sure there is an entrance and an exit and they will go in one end and out the other for hours chasing eachother! =)

21. Rinse out a empty milk jug real well, and secure the lid tightly! Cut a small hole near the top and show your child how to insert a small toy. Encourage them to find a toy themselves and fill up their jug! This should keep them busy for awhile ;)

20. PLAY DOUGH! As you might have guessed from our photos, play dough is a huge hit in our home! It is a lifesaver when needing to get stuff done in the kitchen too like cooking, dishes, sweeping. Just have them sit at the table where you can keep a close eye on them! I like to also give my boys "tools" like plastic spoons, forks, or toys like hot wheels so they can make tracks and be creative. Just make sure they don't decide to have a little snack! If you are worried about that, you can always try making your own home made play dough.

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19. Read together. Have your toddler pick out their favorite book or two and just read. Make sure to ask lots of questions, getting them to point to colors, shapes, ect. And if they feel the need to interrupt you and tell you something about the book, let them! They need to know their voice is heard too.

18. Go outside! Bundle up if its really cold outside, but just get out there! Kids go stir crazy too. If its nice, load them up in the wagon and go for a walk. Collect some stones, leaves, sticks, whatever they notice and fill up a box. Talk about the items you collected, what color they are, shapes, texture.

17. Take some masking tape and tape out a car track on your living room or play room floor, all over the couch and wherever you want to go. Give them some hot wheels and have fun! (This can also be done in the summer time with some sidewalk chalk outside.)

16. Make some memories by making up a batch of salt dough. Have your child imprint their foot our hand, or even have them make something with it. Once it dries, your child can paint away. Also makes a good activity near Christmas time to make some tree ornaments!

Recipe can be found here!

15. Download a toddler pack from HERE! Best part is they are free for personal use, and are a great educational tool for your little ones!

14. Grab one of their favorite soft toys, (for us its those tiny creepy rubbery spiders from the $ store,) and play a game of fetch. Make sure to emphasis the game by making lots of noises or saying "spider goes WHEEEE!". This can go on for hours.

13. Play hide N seek with their favorite toy! Ask them to cover their eyes, and go into the other room and hide their toy. Tell them "It's time!" and help them find their toy! If your child is older, you can even give them hints by saying warmer or colder.

12. Have your child "help" you when cleaning. Give them a clean, un-used rag with some water and have them wipe down the floor/walls/coffee table.

11. Strip your little one down to their diaper, put them in the bath tub, and give them a paint brush and finger paints! Easiest clean up EVER If you are worried about them eating the paint, check out this homemade recipe HERE ;)

10. Bake something together! Doesn't have to be fancy, a cheap cookie mix will do. Make sure to get them involved with the measuring, mixing, dumping ect. Best part is you will have a yummy snack to enjoy together after!

9. Give them your cell phone and call a relative or friend and let them jabber away! I do this with my boys all the time and the love talking to Grammy or Nana, and there is nothing more special than a loved one receiving a call from little one!

8. Give them a few small plastic bowls/cups and fill them with some water. Have them sit on the floor and have some paper towels ready for spills! Let them have fun pouring it from one container to the next.

7. Take some zip lock baggies, add some shaving cream and a drop or two of food coloring. Let your toddler smoosh and play with it!

6. Make some squeezable paint and let them paint! There is a great tutorial HERE that also tells you where you can purchase the bottles!

5. If you have snow on the ground, (which we have had hardly any of this year!) you can take some water and fill a squeeze bottle and add a little food coloring. Let your child go outside and squeeze all over snow to create a work of art!

4. Make a ball pit by purchasing a big bag of balls from walmart and dump them in your play pen or use an inflatable pool! And when they are sick of that, why not have a snowball fight inside?

3. If you have a video camera, or even video capabilities on your phone, video your children doing something funny! Then let them watch it! Kids have a weird fascination with watching themselves.

2. Blow up some balloons and play keep away or volley ball, or even "don't let the balloon touch the floor!"

1. Spread out pillows or small blankets on the living room/ play room floor and play a game of, "Don't fall into the shark tank!" or whatever else you call it.





And I just had to share with you some shots I got of my own two little monsters the other day when we had some play dough fun! =)












Hope everyone is having a fantastic week!