Indoor Toddler Activities for This Busy Time of Year.

Indoor activities are great things to have on hand especially this time of year. More so for toddlers as they can get quite antsy and need a little more hands on. You may have many of these item already on hand at home, and if you don't, they can be fairly inexpensive to get. Check out these activities for some fun with you baby/toddler that are quick and easy, so you can get straight into the FUN part!

6-18 months

Rice Play

- Uncooked Rice (as much as you need to fill any tray you'd like to use about half way) 

- Baby's favorite smaller toys. (less nooks and cranny's the better)

The idea here is to bury babies toys and as they dig through, the rice is quite interesting to them and keeps them digging for more! (so simple but so fun!)

Sensory Discovery Bottles

-water

-empty plastic water bottle (BPA FREE of course, VOSS water bottles work amazing for this) 

-Small trinkets like beads, sequins, feathers, sand, glitter.

-Optional, baby oil, glycerin.

You can get super creative, or keep it nice n simple with this one. If you place the items in the bottle with out any liquid, baby can see and hear all the pieces as they rattle and slide across. Now, if you pour in some water and mix with baby oil, baby is sure to keep busy. The thicker the liquid the slower the items will float around. You might catch yourself playing with this one too! Note: If you do add liquid, we suggest sealing permanently with a hot glue gun to avoid spillage, more so where the cap meets the bottle, and you're set!

 

Crazy Yarn Maze

-Yarn

-Baby's toys

Any yarn you have laying around will do. Choose an open space you can put some toys into and simply tie one end of the yarn to a stationary item and wrap it all around the space. Cris cross and make it tight enough so it's snappable (baby will love this) but not too tight to hurt baby. Put it up to their eye level and watch baby try to crawl around in the space and be mesmerized by the string, while still wanting to get their own toys. Thsi also works great for older kids, just put up higher to their level and youre set! You can also make a game of how to roll it all back up into a ball.

 

Ages 2-5 years 

Scented Edible Yogurt

-Any white yogurt will do. Be mindful of any allergies to dairy and choose from soy, coconut or rice should you need to.

-Kool aid assorted flavored envelopes

-poster board

-tape

For this one, let the yogurt come to room temperature so it's easier to handle. Make as many colors as you want for this, you can even mix powders to create new colors. You can make as little or lot as you want. It doesn't take much powder to color. Set down a blanket or large towel yo don't mind getting messy and tape down plasterboard. you can add dollops in front of baby  or containers and let them go at it! Safe to eat and play. Playtime will vary on temperature of the room, as it may eventually spoil.

 

No Cook Gluten Free Pumpkin Clay

-1 can of pumpkin

-corn starch

-Optional pumpkin pie spice

take your pumpkin and stir it until it's smooth.  Add enough pumpkin pie spice that it smells delicious.  Slowly add cornstarch and stir.  Once the dough starts drying out, you'll want to switch to kneading.  You want the dough to roll into a ball, but it should not stick to your hands.  If it is sticking to your hands add a bit more cornstarch; if it is so dry that it won't form a ball and is crumbling instead, add a small amount of water.  The amounts of cornstarch will vary depending on the brand and quantity of canned pumpkin you use (we've tried a few different brands and found they vary wildly with moisture content!).   You can store in a seal-able bag in the fridge for up to 2 days. Use a couple of drops of water should you need more moisture.

 

Cornstarch & Water

-1 box of cornstarch 

-Tap water

Thats it!

To make this all you need is a box of cornstarch and some tap water.  Cornstarch itself is a really neat texture, so sometimes it's fun to play with just the cornstarch for a bit before you even add the water. Once you're ready to move on to the next step, empty the cornstarch into a dish (I find it easier to mix with water in a shallow dish like a baking pan, but really any pan/dish will work) and slowly add water.  Err on the side of too little water.  You want just enough that all the cornstarch is wet.  It should be very thick, as you can see in the pictures below.  You can mix the water in by hand yourself, your child can, or you can stir slowly with a spoon - keep mixing until the water is uniformly distributed.  Watch as your child is mesmerized by the texture and all the weird things it does in their hands. Another activity totally worth mom and dad getting dirty for with the kids too!

Should you want to pick up any already made activities, be sure to check out the links below on our site.

 How To Draw - Wild Kingdom

 Art Cards for Babies - Pet Collection

 Paint By Stickers - Under The Sea