5 Things to do with a Toddler
Are you looking for things to do with a toddler? If you want ideas that are fun, easy and inspire your child's thinking skills, this will give you inspiration to get intentional with spending time with your toddler so you both enjoy your day!
1: Sensory Play activities
Sensory play involves learning and play which appeal to the senses-a few or all at a time.
Here are some ideas for play and which senses they appeal to:
- Playdough involves touch, sight-and by adding essential oils you can include smell to this, which is why playdough is such a popular sensory play activity for young children.
- Food 'play' is great fun if you can incorporate a few different shapes and textures in a food plate for morning tea. This involves sight and taste, and is also a great way to allow your child the space to try things they otherwise wouldn't try!
- Wish Stones and other manipulative materials like pom poms, kinaesthetic sand and lentils are wonderful for hearing, touch and sight. Try popping some lentils or sand on a play tray with diggers and trucks and watch your child play!
Jump over here for how to make gorgeous sensory play paint bags!
2: Treasure Hunt/Scavenger Hunt
Take your child on a treasure hunt! We all love discovering things, and this is a wonderful way to get your child's interest and natural learning juices flowing!
Hide a few toys around the house, or go looking for a bent leaf or 3 black stones outside.
You can draw your child a map and help them look for things, or you can just go with them to find the items and make it fun for them!
Did you know that as children get more interested in exploring and discovering, that they are building more neural pathways, and therefore making their learning a little easier than it would have otherwise been?
So by inspiring your child to discover and be amazed at their environment, you are giving them a little insight into how learning can be fun-and this can REVOLUTIONISE their attitude to learning for life.
3: Learning about Animals
Animals are usually so engaging for small children (and people in general). While you can find out a lot about animals through searching and finding (think magnifying glasses and a walk to the park, looking for animals big or small), this is a wonderful thing to do with your child on a rainy day.
Choose an animal or 2 that your child likes.
Even a favourite elephant toy is a great place to start. Then, try some of these ideas to learn more about that animal:
- Talk about it's features. Big ears, fuzzy body (point out that normal elephants aren't fuzzy, that's a difference to discuss!), and why on earth does an elephant have a trunk?
- Look up a short video on Youtube about elephants. There are any number! Watch 1 or 2 and talk about your child's favourite parts. It's so much fun-and your child will like it too!
- Draw a picture of an elephant with your child-you can even colour an label it if you like!
4: Outside Play Ideas
Outside play is an essential part of every child's day-as much as possible.
But when you have your first small child and they are suddenly big enough to go outside with supervised play, it can sometimes be hard to know some things to do with a toddler!
Try a sandpit, going to a park, or even just playing ball!
One of our family favourites for playing outside is riding bikes.
For my free training series with Emotional intelligence strategies, watch on Youtube here!
However, by far the BEST piece of solid play equipment we have ever invested in was a trampoline.
It had all the safety gear on it of course, so we could put our little one into it and let them bounce for as long as they wanted.
Extra bonus: It is an excellent, safe and entertaining device for having your toddler entertain themselves for a minute while you hang out the laundry!
Getting your child outside is a good move, especially for your own (and their) mental health, too. Sitting in the sunshine is very important!
Watch my quick video on IGTV here, all about self-care and being aware as a Mama in these times.
5: Free Community Fun
The final addition to my list of things to do with a toddler is free community fun!
Depending on your location, you can access free community activities for small children.
Places to look for this include:
- Local libraries
- Shopping centres, especially on school holidays
- Local community centres
- Open days at childcare or kinder
Regular community events that aren't free but are very affordable often include children's musical play classes and playgroups, which are wonderful resources for first-time mamas especially.
These also give your child some excellent opportunities to learn social and emotional skills!
Learn more about how to manage your child's emotions with this online program!
Conclusion
These activities are all wonderful things to do with a toddler-and will inspire both the toddler and yourself to spend time together. Using a combination of these ideas will mean you and your toddler are rarely bored, and can fill your days with enjoyment and fun!
This is so important to do regularly as building that connection with your child is integral to building a foundation for connection as they grow older.
Which activity have you tried before? Which one would you like to try?
