Click here to read Help! I’m Stuck Indoors with a Toddler on Hands On As We Grow®
Stuck indoors with a toddler and looking for some fun activities to do? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered with some fun toddler activities!
Having a toddler or two in the home is such a fun yet crazy season of life. If you’re in it, you think it will never end, but the precious moments pass all too quickly.
I really think it’s important to cherish those moments and make them as hands-on as possible.
For me, that’s how I really connected with my boys, and some of our most precious memories and moments occurred on cold winter days when I was stuck indoors with a toddler or two.
When the air is blustery and the thermostat makes you shiver, it’s the perfect time to try some of my absolute favorite indoor activities for two year olds.
Aside from my top ten faves, I’ve also created the most epic round-up ever with hundreds of indoor activities for toddlers and preschoolers. You’re going to love it!
Remember, hands-on learning activities are all about building memories together, engaging in your children’s learning through play, and encouraging them to branch out and be creative.
If the very idea of browsing hundreds of ideas overwhelms you, I’m going to help you narrow your search.
Since perfection is not key, it’s more about enjoying this amazing journey with your kids than finishing an activity or craft. It’s all about the journey, bonding, and making memories together.
Entertaining your brood at home is as simple as 1, 2, 3.
Choose your focus when stuck indoors with a toddler.
What’s your purpose in doing each activity or craft?
Yes, it’s to entertain and build relationships, but it’s also to achieve some kind of skill usually, whether you realize it or not.
So, first choose your focus. This is not a limited list by any means, but I find a lot of my toddler activities fall into these categories.
- Fine Motor Skills
- Gross Motor Skills
- Sensory Exploration
- Thinking, Planning, and Building
- Arts and Crafts
- Puzzles
- Mental Challenges
Once you’ve chosen your focus, pop over to my list of hundreds of ideas and use my categories to help narrow your activity choices.
Choose a theme.
While a theme for activities isn’t essential, it can certainly be a lot of fun, especially during the colder months. Sometimes activities take simple seasonal themes like my 40 winter activities for toddlers.
But don’t limit yourself to the current season necessarily. Who wouldn’t love an indoor “play at the beach day” while a snowstorm rages outside?
You could also use your child’s favorite book or movie to fuel ideas for a fun “themed” activity day.
For instance, if your child likes to watch Thomas the Tank Engine, plan a day to watch his favorite episodes, try making a train out of boxes, and construct sandwiches that look like boxcars.
After lunch, see if you and your child can make the entire Isle of Sodor on your table top out of things found in the house. Trust me, it’s a blast!
You could also snuggle on the couch in a cozy blanket as you read favorite books.
Maybe choose a certain theme for all the books you read…snowmen, super heroes, knights and castles. As you’re reading, think about what activities you could do together. J
ust the other day, I was thinking how fun my sticky spider web activity would be for a Spiderman-themed day.
Establish a time frame.
It’s important to keep in mind how long you want an activity to take.
I’m talking the full time from start to clean up.
While this time commitment can be flexible, you’ll feel less pressure if you know you’ve planned a short activity but have time to expand it if the kids want to keep doing it.
As a rule of thumb, most of my activities, arts, and crafts take only 15 minutes to do; however, flexibility is so important when doing any activity with toddlers or preschoolers.
They have the shortest attention spans, and because children learn in different ways, some activities (even on my site) may need to be tweaked to meet each child’s learning needs.
If your child isn’t up to the depth of a certain activity, change it.
Need examples of how to make activities suit multiple ages? Read the guest post Examples of Adapting Activities for Your Child on my site. It’s super helpful.
Last, don’t get stressed when clean up time comes. Knowing you’ll only have a few items or a ton of items to put away can help you better plan your clean up time.
And, Mom, don’t fall into the trap of cleaning everything up yourself, either. I know how hard it is for us all to do that, but even little ones can help clean up.
Check out my ideas on clean up activities to help make every chore a game.
As you anticipate your next snow day and the time you’re stuck indoors with a toddler, remember, these could very well be favorite memories in the making.
0 Commentaires