Kids love activity, no doubt; they want to play, scream at the top of their lungs, expend energy, and they could do this every day so you need to be informed on indoor activities for toddlers.
However, keeping a bunch of kids indoors to have fun is something you need to be really good at. Without the right ways to engage kids, spending time indoors with your kids would be boring.
So, aside from the regular reading, telling stories, or watching movies, that kids do indoors, I have outlined 50 indoor activities for toddlers in this post.
You can use these activities to engage your kids, keep them entertained and make them have premium fun when they are indoors during a rainy or snowy day, during the holiday.
To start, let’s list some indoor activities for toddlers.
Active Indoor Activities For Toddlers
If you have a really active child, below are some active indoor activities for toddlers that would drive their energy:
1. Hide and seek
2. Egg and spoon race
3. Dance party
4. Obstacle race
5. Hide and seek
6. Karaoke
7. Sack race
8. Bowling
9. Scavenger hunts
10. Play with balls
11. Freeze dance
12. Pillow fight
13. Hallway soccer
14. Tape-shape game
15. Backhand balloon balance
Fun Indoor Activities For Toddlers
Here are some indoor activities for toddlers that are super fun that can keep you and your kids fully interested for a long time. They won’t want to miss any of these
1. Use sticky tapes of different colors to create a Web design
2. Crabwalk
3. Tug of war
4. Potatoes drop
5. Play Cater
6. Hide and seek
7. Little toddlers can practice climbing up and down the stairs in your direction
8. Work out exercise with a ball
9. Make tapelines and let them jump each line
10. Make a car race track and practice car racing on it
11. Balloon games
12. Balloon foot balance
13. Toss and catch ping pong ball with a cup
14. Lego hunt
15. Piecing puzzles.
Indoor Activities For Toddlers When It Rains
While it rains, your kids can try some of these indoor activities at home to help them have fun.
1. Build a fort and tell stories
2. Watch a movie
3. Make tie and dye
4. Paint rainbow crafts
5. Make a lava lamp to brighten the day
6. Paint on the face
7. Make a pancakes
8. Make a memory box
9. Make a day-dream catcher
10. Paper Mache
11. Make Paper hats
12. Spa Day
13. Play a family board game like chess
14. Bake pancakes
15. Use cups to fill up buckets.
Indoor Water Activities For Toddlers
If your kids love to play with water, let them try out these indoor activities for toddlers that involves playing with water.
1. Make ice art
2. Bath the bath toys
3. Fill up an empty bucket with small cups and spoons
4. Make paper boats and let them swim in a bowl of water
5. Put different ornaments in water, freeze them then poke them out
6. Use glitters tiny seashells, a jar, and transparent oil to mimic the ocean scene in a bottle
7. Teach them about floatation and density by putting heavy and light objects in a bowl of water
8. Give their toy cars a car wash.
Indoor Water Activities For Older Kids
Below are some indoor activities your older kids can try in the winter to keep them engaged when they are tired of being cooped up.
1. Make a snowman using white playdough
2. Make a snowman using white marshmallows and skewers
3. Make snowflakes with paper
4. Knit a cap for the winter
5. Draw and paint Olaf
6. Make ice-salty paint
7. Build forts
8. Make hot coffee together
9. Bake cookies together
10. Tell stories
Indoor Activities For Toddlers You Should Try
We have listed some really fun activities without going in-depth about them. In this section, I will explain some of the points I highlighted above to help you understand them better.
So, let’s discuss how your kids can carry out these creative indoor activities for toddlers as you supervise.
1. P.E. Practice
Get a tape or video showing simple exercises and P.E. lessons for kids. Dress them in their sports outfit and let them do great exercise. It will be both fun and entertaining.
2. Find The Alphabet
For your pre-scholars and young schoolers, this indoor activity for kids would be a great way to learn the alphabet.
Use a flashcard to write the 26 letters of the alphabet or hide large alphabets in different corners of the home. Let your kids find where they are.
You can give them clues on the location, and anyone that finds the alphabet will have to call out the name. See if your kids can find all 26 alphabets. Reward them for getting at least an alphabet.
3. Sack Race
If you have old sacks, you and the kids can have fun doing this game. Put your kids inside the sack, halfway to their upper arm and tie it loosely or leave it free.
Draw a track and the finishing line. Let’s see which kid could be the fastest-time runner. You can be the referee to know if anyone is cheating.
4. Balloon Tennis Game
Blow lots of balloons and let your toddlers use their hands to push them up or down, right or left side, like a tennis track. Children always love this, and it will be more fun when you join them in doing this.
5. Balancing Activities
It is a fun indoor activity for toddlers. . It helps to check the balance in your kids. Attaining balance is one developmental milestone your kids should start acquiring at this age.
So, make them stand on one foot, then change position, pick pins, sit in the air, do like a statue, and deep freeze. All these are great ways to make the child have fun indoors.
6. Talent Show
Most kids love showing what they can do, so talent shows are an active indoor activity for kids. To make it so real, prepare them before hands so that you all can plan how it will go.
Get them the different costumes or instruments they will need for the show. You will be glad you did, and the kids will so love you for it because they will have so much fun
7. Read Stories Together
Reading stories or books is a great indoor activity for toddlers at home on a rainy day. Get them to read any of the favorite bedtime stories, and it would be so calming. Soon, they would fall fast asleep.
8. Pillow Play
Grab lots of pillows, divide the team into attackers, and some defenders, depending on the number of kids you have. Use pillows for the attack and defense. They shouldn’t hit too hard so that it doesn’t spoil the fun.
9. Face-Painting
Grab different colors of paintbrushes and use the brush to do some paint art on their faces. Take tons of pictures of your kids while you do this for keepsake.
10. Use The Feet To Pick Up Marbles
Instead of using the hands, get to see which of your lads can pick up marbles or beads faster with the toe. This activity teaches balance.
Pour marbles on the floor, you can use beads or soft cotton balls if you do not have marbles. Give each kid a small basket, and let’s see which kid feels it up first with his leg
11. Picking Up Game
You can get your kids to clean up the messed-up house in a few seconds with this game. Tell them that you want the house cleaned up in 30 seconds, and let’s see who does it faster.
You may even play a piece of action music and set the alarm to set them in the mood. Once you say start, everybody zooms around the house, picking up toys, papers, and anything that litters the house.
12. Laundry
Get the kids to help you do laundry. Younger children can help you sort out colours from dark to white, and older toddlers can wash socks and pants or squeeze smaller clothes.
13. Let Them Do Cooking
Cooking can be fun and messy with toddlers, but it’s worth it. Let your toddlers assist you in peeling bananas, washing fruits, cutting/picking veggies, etc.
You can also make their meals by giving them a small cooking set or kitchen; it would be a great indoor activity for your toddlers.
14. Play Hide And Seek
Hide and seek is a great indoor activity for toddlers. I am yet to see a kid who does not love this game. Make your kids hide in strategic places while you or one of them is blindfolded and after counting to ten, look for the others.
15. Play With Play Dough
Let them use Play-Dough to create different shapes and models of people, cars, etc. This will develop their creativity.
16. Build An Indoor Fort
An indoor fort will be a perfect place to tell stories, eat a picnic, or watch a movie with the kids. Grab some chairs, a large but light blanket, or dark-colored bed sheets.
Position chairs in four corners and use the blanket to cover up the chairs to give a dome-cave-like shape. Roll up the entrance to the fort and use a clip to clip it to serve as the entrance.
17. Use Finger Puppets To Tell A Story
You can get finger puppets for your kids or let them use colorful socks as the puppets.
Let them take up different characters and imitate the voice of their favorite characters in the story they are acting.
18. Teach Them To Make Paper Toys
There are a lot of toys and crafts your kids can make with paper. You can teach them to make them, so it becomes a fun indoor activity.
Get colorful papers and some crayons, scissors, glue, etc., and teach them how to make paper dolls, butterflies, canoes, etc. If you do not know how to do these yourself, check on YouTube for crafts and videos for kids.
19. Make Them Re-organize Their Rooms
If your kids want a new theme for their rooms, make them a part of the decoration process. Get posters of their favorite cartoon characters, baskets, and bed sheets in choice colors.
They could sort the toys in different baskets, arrange shoes, help fix new designs and make crafts to organize the room
20. Stack Up
If you have washed lots of plates and dried them, let the kids help in stacking up the plates, cups, and spoons according to their sizes.
Please, they shouldn’t stack up breakable plates if your toddlers are still very young.
21. Stringing
You can use beads – for older toddlers who know that beads are not edible – or colorful cereals, for your younger toddlers who will want to put everything in their mouth.
Give them a thread or fishing line and let them make colorful bracelets or necklaces.
22. Play With Building Blocks
You can make so many things out of building blocks. And let your toddlers spur their creativity. Let them build houses, trains, automobiles, robots, and anything possible with a building block.
It would be a nice indoor activity for toddlers. If your kids are clueless about what to do, you can give them a few tips or use the manual with the building block or google instructions online.
23. Have A Dance Battle
Play music for the kids and let them show off their dance skills. It would become fun.
24. Play Musical Chair
Place 2 or 3 chairs at the center; if you use two chairs, 3 of your kids should stay around the chairs. Play nice music for a while and see who cannot sit on the chair when the music stops.
In the next round, remove another chair and play the music again. Do this on and on till the last man standing.
25. Sam Says
It is a perfect game for kids to know how fast they carry out an instruction. They can do it among themselves, or you may give instructions and see how they follow the commands.
Give out commands like touch your toe, hop, walk, run, etc.
26. Obstacle Run
Set up pseudo obstacles around like pillows, bags, and chairs, and let your kids wiggle through and see who first gets to the finishing line.
27. Sumo Wrestling
The boys would love this one, and you should be the one to do it for them. To be safe, place pillows all over the floor and try to throw each one down. I bet they would love it
28. Hand Wrestling
Let them show whose muscle is ‘stronger’. Get two chairs and a stool in between. Let them interlock their hands together while they rest on the stool or table.
Let them use their strength and see which one hand would overlap the other. Closely supervise this so they don’t hurt themselves.
29. Let Them Wash Their Toys
Pack out all the washable toys that are dirty or dusty in a big bathtub. Add some soap, give your kids small brushes and sponges to wash their toys and rinse them in another bath. You can help them dry the toys outdoors.
30. Scribbling
A great indoor activity for toddlers of preschool age (1-5 years). Get some non-toxic crayons of different colors. Show them an example of how to use it in a drawing book, and let them practice independently.
31. Bake
There are simple, easy-to-follow recipes that your kids can follow under your guidance to make lovely baked goods like cakes, pies, etc., that they can enjoy as treats.
32. Science Experiments
Another exciting indoor toddler activity for toddlers that you should do with your kid is a science experiment. You can introduce lots of them to your kids that would fascinate and interest them.
For example, using a heap of baking sodas as a mountain, they should pour vinegar into it and enjoy the sight of the lava foaming out.
You could also make a heap of shaving sticks in a jar, add blue food coloring and after a while, let them see how it drips down like rain
33. Have A Game Of Brain Twisters
Let your kids take turns asking each other tricking brain-twisters questions. To know how wealthy they can utilize their critical thinking skills.
You can get them a kid’s brain twister book if they are short of ideas on what to ask
34. Let Them Listen To Audio Books
You can download an audiobook of their favorite stories, let them listen to it, and answer questions. This is also beneficial just as reading aloud
35. Make Them Write Letters To Grandma/Grandpa Or Santa
Yes, they may know how to write, but your toddlers may not know how to craft a good old-fashioned letter. Teach them how to do it
36. Watch A Movie
Download that movie that the kids have been raving about for weeks and let them watch, have fun and learn from it.
You don’t want to make watching T.V. or spending so much time on the screen a habit, so do not do this frequently.
37. Paint The Dots
This activity can help teach your kids fine motor skills, especially young toddlers two and above. Get a dot coloring workbook or make or print one for yourself from the internet.
Give them markers in different colors and let them color the dots. For older toddlers, they can connect the dots after coloring.
38. Use Marsh Mallows To Create Mini Figurines
Using skewers, little water in a cup, and white or colored marshmallows, your kids can try out these fun activities for toddlers. They can make a marshmallow snow house, sticks man and stick woman, etc.
39. Sensory Activity
Four kids can try out this activity to develop their senses. Fill up a zip lock back with different stuff like beads, sweets, spaghetti, corn, etc.
Next, blindfold one child’s eye, open up the Ziplock bag, let them feel, and then describe what he is touching.
40. Make A Paper Collage
Let the kid cut bits of tiny paper. Get glue to stick the papers together to form a collage. They can make simple and cute designs that they can use to decorate their rooms
41. Homemade Play Dough
It can be used to make different figurines for modelling mini animals, people, houses, etc., and use common household ingredients like flour, vegetable oil, salt, glycerin, cream of tartar, etc.
Check online for the recipe for edible playdough so your kids can eat whatever they create with the dough.
42. Fruit Print
Fruit prints and palm prints are pretty common. Let your kids try out this fruit-print activity. Cut up somewhat ripe or unripe oranges or lemons and paint on them.
Use them to create beautiful designs like wheels on cardboard, drawing sheets, or just random prints. Using bright colors on a white drawing sheet will sure do the magic
43. Let Them Make Edible Slime
Toddlers love to play with slime, so you can get your older kids to make some for the younger kids. They all need gelatin (3 packs), ¼ cups corn syrup, water, and the food coloring of choice.
You can help them boil the water and mix the gelatin into the boiled water to dissolve. Next, they add the corn syrup and food coloring, mix, and prepare the slime.
It would be a messy indoor toddler activity, so be ready for it, but your kids would have fun
44. Have a Karaoke Night
If your kids have a karaoke machine, let them take turns singing different tunes from the machine
45. Make Fruit Popsicles
Slice different fruits of your choice and ice them on a pop slice machine. Let them enjoy licking the fruit pops after that
46. Homemade Ice Creams
Kids love ice creams: It would be so fun when you tell them that they should make their own no-machine homemade ice cream.
With simple ingredients like condensed milk, sugar, flavor, edible coloring, etc. Check online for simple ice-cream recipes that won’t wear you out and involve them in the process.
47. Paint On Rocks
Get smooth flat rocks outdoors. Draw out simple shapes and do a cock-painting session. This would spark their creativity by mixing the right colors and developing their fine motor skills
48. Family Tree Fingerprint
Get your little ones to know their roots with this fun indoor activity for toddlers. You can get templates of the family tree online or draw one yourself.
Then make green thumbprints as the leaves. When the leaves are dried, you can start naming each family member right from Grandpa and Nana.
49. Make A Plastic Flute
Using some straws and washi tape, cut straws into different lengths and tape them together. Then, blow to create a beautiful sound.
50. Make Candy At Home
With some sugar, water, flavor, and edible food coloring, your kids can make some candy sticks at home, which they can enjoy.
Conclusion
Try out any indoor activities for toddlers with your toddlers this weekend. I assure you, it will be both fun, exciting and educative, plus you will create stronger family time together.
There’s nothing wrong with being a fun mom and your children will learn to enjoy being at home.
Don’t forget to save this for later!
