Great, it’s raining. Or, your kid is feeling under the weather. Or… there is a truck-load amount of laundry waiting to be done. Life happens! Check out these 5 super easy DIY toddler activities to do at home!
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I cannot even tell you how many times I’ve had to resort to some form of stay at home activities for toddlers. Since I have two of them with me 24/7, keeping them happy can sometimes feel like an impossible job.
Not only life happens (which it does), but when you live in an apartment with limited “outdoor access”, thinking of ways to entertain energetic, eager-to-learn toddlers while still making it fun for them can be a hard task for us mamas.
I will let you in on a little secret of mine: I cannot stand sensory bins indoors. There, I said it!
I just can’t! They make a mess in the house, kids dump it all on the floor and then proceed to walk on it and carry it all over… I just can’t do it.
I’ve tried them all… and while they are fun for the first few minutes, I find that they bring more headache than anything else. I honestly don’t want to be having to micromanage my kids while they are playing.
Things like “no, you can’t eat it!“, “please don’t smush it over and spread it on the sofa!“, “honey, that colorful rice is not intended to be thrown around like confetti!” is simply not MY definition of a kids’ fun time.
I love watching my kids have fun and get dirty, but I much prefer to save those moments for outdoor time. Usually, when I think about stay at home activities for toddlers, I want to find something that will keep them happy and entertained while also allowing me to keep my sanity.
These toddler activities are insanely easy to do, they are mess-free, and I kid-you-not: your kids will think you are the coolest mom in all the world!
5 DIY stay at home activities for toddlers
I got everything I needed for these activities on Amazon! This pack of craft pom-poms is so affordable and can be used for almost all activities here! Along with that, you’ll need a baking sheet, animal figurines, sharpies, post-its.
1: Homework!
Stay at home activities for toddlers
I don’t know if your kids are the same, but my almost 3-year-old is obsessed with the idea of homework.
Maybe it’s because she doesn’t actually “need” to do them, but every time I ask if she wants some homework to do, the response is always the same: she jumps up and down screaming “yesssss, yaaaaaay!”.
While there are many, many “homework books” at the store, I found it easiest for me to just print out a few pages of activities from the internet, that way I could choose exactly what I want and what I think will be the most fun for her.
That quickly became a pain! I had to go through different websites to find multiple pages of activities for her to enjoy.
So… I created this simple and easy “Homework” set for her and now I am sharing it with you! It contains 10 activities that will for sure make your toddler happy to learn. Download for FREE by signing up below:
Let’s just say, I’m hoping and praying the enthusiasm continues through the schooling ages, right?!
2: Post-it Alphabet Board
Stay at home activities for toddlers
Materials: 1 poster board, large sharpie pen, Post-its
I couldn’t even tell you how many times this activity has saved me mid-afternoon when I have a bunch of chores to complete around the house or it’s a rainy day and the playground is a big no-no.
My daughter, who is almost 3 years old, has known most of the alphabet letters for about a year now, but she still loves matching them on this board!
It keeps her busy for a long while which makes this busy mama very happy!
*Tip!
I keep the post-its on one side of the room, and the board on the other side, that way she needs to walk back and forth to get them and match! I’ve found that it makes it even more interesting for her!
How to:
On a poster board, white the alphabet spaced out. Then, write the letter on separate post-its and display it on the other side of the room. Have your toddler match them! You can choose to do caps/non-caps or all caps (which I personally do for now).
You can also check the wall version from Busy Toddler here.
3: Color Assorting Sensory Bag
Stay at home activities for toddlers
Materials: Gallon zip-lock bag, pom-pom balls, large sharpie pens (in matching colors to the pom-poms)
Seriously, how have I not thought of this before?
Ever since I’ve done it the first time my toddler requests it constantly.
How to:
On a gallon-size ziplock bag, draw circles or fun shapes with the sharpie pens (make sure you match the circle colors to the foam/pom-poms balls). Fill the ziplock bag with clear hair gel (heads-up: you can find large bottles at the Dollar Tree!). Put some colorful buttons or pom-pom balls in it. I seal the opening with tape so she doesn’t open it.
That’s literally it! Teach your toddler how to squish it around to get all the right color balls into the circles.
4: Free the animals!
Stay at home activities for toddlers
Materials: Painter’s tape, baking sheet, animal figurines.
Once again, Busy Toddler coming to my rescue!
I got this pack of little animal figurines, and they are perfect for this activity.
*Tip!
You can adapt the “level” to your kids’ age and capabilities. I usually make two boards: one for my 1-year-old and one for my almost 3. His board has one piece of tape on each animal that is easy to remove, and hers has multiple pieces of tape securing the animals so that she needs to work her way through it.
How to:
On a baking sheet, tape some animal figurines with painter’s tape. Ask your toddler to free the animals!
5: Memory Game with plastic cups
Stay at home activities for toddlers
Materials: Plastic disposable cups, matching items (pom-pom balls, figurines, buttons, etc).
I wish I could find whoever invented this because I’m sure it exists somewhere! It’s so easy to do, yet so entertaining and rewarding for kids!
I actually started doing this when I found a package of disposable cups in my pantry that didn’t get used for my son’s birthday. We are a “Thermo” kind of family so we don’t use anything other than our own cups, and I wanted to find something to do with the ones I found.
Using some of the pom-pom balls I had leftover from my sensory bag, I created this memory game for my daughter!
She looooves finding the colors and assorting them. It’s such a rewarding game for her, and brings out the biggest smiles!
How to:
This is so easy, it’s not even fair to add it to this list. Simply hide a pair of matching colored pom-pom or foam balls under non-see-through plastic cups. Teach your toddler how to play a memory game! You can also add rewards when they find matching sets!
Have fun with these stay at home activities for toddlers!
I hope you and your toddler love these activities as much as I do! Let me know what you think!