Simple Activities to Do At Home with Your Toddler
We’re in the transition season from spending as much time as we can outside to hunkering down with family at home. The winter months are a perfect opportunity to build connection with your child and turn small moments into meaningful memories. I’ve compiled a list of simple, free or inexpensive activities you can do with your child, as well as activities you can set up for your child while you focus on other tasks. Independent play is an essential part of child development, you don’t have to do everything with them!
For Ages 1 year to 3 years:
Sensory play with safe household items - Fill a container with dry pasta, rice, oats, or beans and let your child scoop, pour, and explore the textures with cups and spoons. Always supervise closely to prevent choking.
Simple sorting games - Use a muffin tin and different colored pom-poms, blocks, or balls for your child to sort by color or just practice placing items in the cups. This builds fine motor skills and early cognitive abilities.
Music and movement - Play different types of music and dance together or give them simple instruments or household items such as wooden spoons and pots to bang. This age loves rhythm and will enjoy moving their body to the beat.
Water play - Set up a basin with a small amount of water and let them splash, pour with cups, and play with floating toys. Set this activity up in the same room you’re in so you can supervise.
Reading together - Board books with simple pictures are perfect. Let them turn the pages, point at pictures, and repeat words. You don’t need to actually “read” each page, toddlers don’t need a full plot, they just want to point and hear/say the names of different things they see in the book. Remember that you don’t have to buy books, the library has an ample selection you can bring home for several weeks.
Stacking and knocking down - Simple blocks, cups, or even empty plastic containers can provide endless entertainment as they stack and knock them over repeatedly. Toddlers have a strong need for repetition. It helps them make sense of the world. Activities like this are essential to their development.
Nature walks - Explore your yard or neighborhood, letting them toddle at their own pace. Point out birds, flowers, and trees. They can collect safe items like leaves or pinecones. Put them on a tray or in a basket at home so they can revisit.
For Ages 3 years to 5 years:
Obstacle courses - Use pillows, tape lines on the floor, couch cushions, and chairs to create a course where they crawl under, jump over, balance, and climb. This burns energy and builds gross motor skills.
Pretend play scenarios - Set up a pretend grocery store, restaurant, doctor's office, or post office using household items. You don’t need to buy anything! Whatever you have around will work just fine. This age loves imaginative play and it helps develop social skills and creativity.
Simple science experiments - Try mixing baking soda and vinegar for "volcanos," floating and sinking tests in a tub or bowl of water, or planting seeds to watch them grow. These spark curiosity about how things work. See if you can mix in the use of measurement. How long did it take? How much did it weigh? How far did it go? This helps them develop a foundation of how numbers work in everyday life and it’s an early introduction to the scientific method!
Art projects - Provide materials like construction paper, crayons, child-safe scissors, glue sticks, and random craft supplies (cardboard tubes, cotton balls, buttons). Let them create freely without worrying about the end result. For children this age, the process matters much more than the product.
Cooking together - Let them help with age-appropriate tasks like stirring, pouring pre-measured ingredients, spreading butter, or decorating cookies. They learn math concepts and feel proud contributing.
Scavenger hunts - Create simple hunts around the house or yard. "Find something red," "find something soft," or hide specific toys for them to discover.
Building projects - Blocks, magnetic tiles, or even cardboard boxes can become towers, houses, or vehicles. Building activities develop spatial reasoning and problem-solving.
Story creation - Look at picture books together and have them tell YOU the story based on the pictures, or make up silly stories together taking turns adding details.
There are so many ways to get your child engaged in learning and connection while you’re at home this winter. These lists are a great start. Hopefully they inspire you to come up with some special activities of your own!
