Fun Toddler Activities for Busy Kids

Have a two or three-year-old? – You need these fun toddler activities for busy kids. Here, you will find ways to entertain your toddler as they improve their fine motor skills, relax in a sensory bin, and discover ways to improve their hand-eye coordination. Ditch the flashcards! I am a former kindergarten teacher who knows exactly what to share to prepare your child for Kindergarten.

Table of Contents:

1. Easy toddler activities
2. What makes a good toddler activity?
3. Indoor activities for toddlers
4. Toddler sensory play
5. Seasonal Toddler Activities
6. Toddler painting ideas
7. Frequently Asked Questions

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Easy toddler activities

Toddlers and preschoolers love to move their bodies. Prep time for each activity is less than five minutes. Remember, Simple (and the best) activities shouldn’t take long to set up.

Word of caution: Always stay close and watch as your toddler plays to ensure their safety.

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What makes a good toddler activity?

A good toddler activity is low-prep, engages a child’s interest, and uses supplies families are likely to already have in the home. And if you have older kids at home, check out my Big Kid Activity Cards.

Exploring Textures

• Discovering new colors with paints
• Exploring how markers and crayons work
• Listening to new sounds
• Touching new textures

Motor Skills

See the entire list of gross motor skills activities here.

• Climbing
• Encourage dumping
• Grasping objects
• Moving and transporting objects
• Problem-solving and taking ownership of how the play progresses
• Small fine motor movements
• Stacking and watching what and when objects fall
• Throwing
• Twisting and rotating objects

Problem-Solving and Communication

• Having conversations
• Making predictions
• Pretending
• Sing nursery rhymes
• Sorting by size and color

I know, I know. This is a big list of toddler activity ideas! This is where I come in. I understand child development and how to take the big ideas and bring them into your home to help your toddler explore play. Here, fun ideas are kept simple.

If you want to learn more about the subject, read Healthy Children’s article on Development in Two-Year-Olds.

RELATED: Looking for birthday themes? Here are adorable party ideas for a 2nd birthday party!

Indoor activities for toddlers

These educational activities are anything bu boring. These low-prep indoor activities for toddlers keep kids busy as they learn through play.

1. Bears on a Ladder: (Contains small parts.) Create a tree with ladders, and ask your kids to place toy bears on each ladder step.
2. Breakfast Invitations: Discover my Start-Up Guide for Breakfast Invitations and everyday toddler activities.
3. Color Caves: Draw some caves using different colors and watch your kids place the same-colored toys inside. Use counting bears, pom poms, or colored toys to play.
4. Drive and Drop: Cut a box slot and watch your little ones drive and drop toy cars inside.
5. Duplo Color Match: See if your child can match up with different Duplo colors. Easy!
6. Fly in Your Shapes: Draw out shapes, then ask your child to ‘fly’ mini airplanes made from popsicle sticks into the right ones. Genius!
7. Indoor Painting with Two-Year-Olds – who doesn’t love painting?! Check out how to start it indoors with your little one.
8. Move and Learn Shapes: Outline shapes with painter’s tape and ask your child to roll the ball to the right shape.
9. Pick a Color: Color some craft sticks and slot them in a cardboard box. Watch your kids pull them out and learn colors!
10. Primary Color Hunt: Scribble primary colors inside boxes on a sheet of paper, then see if they can sort the same color toys into the boxes.
11. Primary Color Match: Use primary color stickers and ask your toddler to match up a colored toy with the same sticker!
12. Seeing Two: Write down the number 2 and have your toddler color it.
13. Shape People: Draw out different shapes, then give them arms and legs. It makes it more fun! Put a number next to each shape person and see if your child can place the same number of stickers in the shapes.
14. Size Sorting Box: Cut holes of different sizes to fit different–sized objects and see if your tiny toddler can match the right shape to the hole.
15. Snowflake Crafts: Make paper snowflakes with your kids – perfect for the holidays.
16. Sticker Pairs: Grab your sticker sheets, cut them up, and then ask your kids to match the same ones.
17. Tape, Toddlers, and Toys: Use painter’s tape to make different rows of squares and place a sticky note nearby with the number of squares on it.
18. The Best Toys for Two-Year-Olds: Use this list of toys for toddlers.
19. Toddler Sock Match: Separate different pairs of socks into squares, then ask your little one to match them up. This activity is great for helping them learn about laundry, too…
20. Toddler Tape Roads: Make roads using painter’s tape to see if they can drive the cars.
21. Wash the Socks: Make a washing machine out of a cardboard box with a slot in the top. See if they can post the socks inside.

Toddler sensory play

How do you encourage sensory activities for toddlers? Read: How to Introduce Sensory Play if you’re new to sensory toddler activities. It’s a great place to start.

Sensory play is important because engaging the senses stimulates the brain to learn new things and builds upon existing knowledge. Read about sensory play’s importance in toddler activities.

Use the following activities to help your toddler engage in sensory play:

1. 15 Bubble Activities: Here is a list of good ideas for summer!
2. Apple Scoop and Sort: Invite your child to scoop the apples up and sort them according to color.
3. Bubble Wrap Runway: Discover new textures as your child moves body parts across the bubble wrap.
4. Cloud Dough Kitchen: Make a batch of cloud dough and store it in an air-tight container for later.
5. Construction Sensory Play: Add construction toys to encourage imagination and play!
6. Cut the Playdough: Cutting playdough is a great way to introduce scissors and have a sensory experience.
7. DIY Sound Shaker: Add beans or noodles to recyclable cans and shake for different sounds.
8. Dry Noodle Sensory Play: Offer your child some dry noodles to scoop in a sensory bin.
9. Filling Station: Add some rice or sand to a sensory bin and watch your kid scoop in into containers.
10. Finger Play Songs: Draw family members on your fingertips and whip out the tunes!
11. How to Introduce Sensory Play: This guide introduces it to your toddler.
12. Nature Goop Sensory Play: Using Goop in activities for 2-year-olds never gets old. Add a twist to your goopy fun with some nature accessories.
13. Neon Water Play: Add food coloring to squirt containers to strengthen small hands and explore colors.
14. Outdoor Color Hunt: Head outside to explore textures and hunt for colors in nature. This is a toddler activity that’s sure to be a favorite!
15. Playing with Gears: Grab some magnetic gears for a little science experiment.
16. Puzzle Find and Sort: Pop puzzle pieces in a sensory bin and ask your kid to match them to the right place.
17. Rainbow Oobleck: Whip up some oobleck and add different colors. 
18. Rainbow Rice: Color some rice, add some pots, and you’re away!
19. Rock Sensory Play: I found these small rocks at Target, and they make a fun sensory bin filler for all ages.
20. Sand Sensory Play: Make sand in a tray with scoops and utensils.
21. Scoop the Limes: Pop some limes in a water tray and watch your little one scoop to their heart’s content.
22. Shapes and Shaving Cream: Stick blocks with shaving cream or use whipped cream as an alternative.
23. Soap, Sponge, and Water: Add soap and a sponge to create sudsy fun!
24. Sticky Nature Hunt: Bring toddlers outside to find nature and stick it on contact paper.
25. Strawberry Sensory Bin: Create a strawberry sensory bin that is taste-safe and fun! 
26. Trucks and Oats: Tip dry oats into a sensory bin, add some scoop trucks, and off they go! Little fingers love this sensory bin!

Seasonal Toddler Activities

Stop searching for seasonal and holiday activities! I have everything in one place.

1. Easter Egg Water Bin: Bring the plastic eggs to soapy water for a sudsy sensory bin.
2. Fall Bubble Foam: Make foam in a bin and add some leaves so your tiny toddler can learn about fall.
3. Fall Tree Handprint Craft: There are so many ways to use handprints in activities for 2-year-olds. Make a handprint tree to celebrate fall.
4. Halloween Water Play: Halloween activities for 2-year-olds are always fun. Go wild with your imagination and make green, soapy water with Halloween extras.
5. Sticky Pumpkin: Outline a pumpkin on some sticky paper, tear up tissue paper, and voila! You have yourself a sticky pumpkin.

Toddler painting ideas

You are about to dive into painting with your little one and need to be reassured it won’t stain your new table. Am I right? There are many ways to enjoy painting and art activities with your child.

Start by reading Tips and Tricks: Painting with Your Toddler. You will see how to begin art projects in your toddler activities line-up in a controlled area that we can wash away easily.

1. 20+ Startup Supplies for Toddler Art: Create amazing activities for 2-year-olds.
2. How to Paint with your 2-Year-Old: Painting activities for 2-year-olds often seem more hassle than worth it. I promise you, they’re not!
3. No-Fuss Outdoor Painting: Try painting outdoor activities for 2-year-olds.
4. The Best Ways to Store Your Child’s Art: Use this guide to store your child’s artwork.

RELATED: Enjoy painting with your child? Here are 40 easy painting activities for kids.

Painting Play Activities

1. Block Painting: Use blocks and large Lego bricks in your activities for 2-year-olds to explore textures and shapes.
2. Bounce Paint: Cover the bouncy balls with string and add primary colors for color mixing.
3. Fireworks Painting: These activities are for 2-year-olds bound to go out with a bang! Cut the ends of cardboard tubes into strips to create fireworks. 
4. Freezer Bag Art Painting: Paint some marbles and place them on some paper in a freezer bag. Simple!
5. Giant Cardboard Doughnuts: Learning activities for 2-year-olds can be silly! Make giant doughnuts from cardboard with different colors and textures.
6. Heart Sponge Painting: Ease into painting activities with sponges and one color.
7. Holiday Fingerprint: Makes a great holiday gift for your toddler.
8. Let’s Paint Elmer: Retell a classic picture book by painting Elmer the Elephant. 
9. Paint the Ice: Clean out the freezer because it is time to paint the ice.
10. Paint the Shredded Paper: If you like messy play, this is the painting activity for you.
11. Painting in a Ziploc Bag: Watch your little one’s fascination as they try painting a Ziploc bag.
12. Painting with Rocks: Gather rocks and come inside to paint them for a double win.
13. Painting with Trucks: Grab some paint and trucks, and let’s go!
14. Sponge Paint: Add sponges to painting activities for extra texture.
15. Squirt Paint Color Mix: Add some paint to your squeeze bottles to strengthen small hands and explore mixing two colors simultaneously.

Phew! You are now ready to tackle the day with your toddler! Challenge accepted. You’ve got this. Which will you play first?

RELATED: Let’s get reading! Here are the best toddler books for toddlers.

Frequently Asked Questions