Being stuck at home for COVID “quarantine” has left me desperate for new ideas of what to do with a toddler! So if you have ideas to share, PLEASE DO in the comments below. 😂🙈 (Also, when is a toddler mom NOT desperate for more fun & easy things to do at home??)
Here are a few activities I’ve been using with our 18 month old!
- Watch videos from the San Diego Zoo’s Facebook page! My daughter LOVES animals, so getting to see live animals in action is a dream come true for her.
- Color cards for others. That could be for grandparents and relatives, or for people in nursing homes.
- Take a drive. Just for a change of scenery. Don’t even need to get out of the car!
- Cook together! My husband turned one of our old chairs into a “learning tower” and my daughter loves to stand on it and play in the sink while I make dinner. She also loves when I pour raw rice and/or cornmeal in a bowl and let her mix it with water.
- Make Bandaid art! Or you could use normal stickers. You know; whatever’s on hand. Just stick them all over a piece of paper! Honestly, my daughter was thoroughly entertained just pulling Bandaids out of the box.
- Throw a balloon. Try to keep it in the air!
- Watch Virtual Science Story Time by WonderLab! This is put on by the hands-on science museum in Bloomington, IN. They’re doing live story times online on Friday mornings for ages 0-6!
- Break out the bubbles! We use these both outside and inside (just have a towel handy).
- Learn new dances and hand motions to songs. Our current favorites include walking in a circle to “Ring Around the Rosie” and sitting feet-to-feet while “rowing” and singing “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.” I also want to teach her how to do Patty Cake. And, of course, a generic “dance break” to fun music is always a good option.
- Break out the sidewalk chalk! Need I say more?
- Decorate the house! Pull out those party paper streamers and hang them on the walls, just for fun! You could even put Christmas lights up on the windows.
- Go camping inside! Pull up a couple chairs and drape blankets over them to make a fort. Then you could even make a pretend “sleeping bag” out of another blanket, and tuck her stuffed animals into it.
- Go for a nature walk! If you have nature trails or creeks by you, take some time to explore them.
- Play a musical instrument! I had a keyboard and guitar in storage and have broken them out for my daughter to play on.
- Take a bath. This is an evergreen life-saver option, especially with some good bath toys.
- Play in each room of the house, as well as outside. I’ve tried to build little play stations in each room of the house, to give her a change of scenery (and change of toys) throughout the day. Some of the play stations include toys, but some just have items like my hair stuff (in the bathroom), or baby-safe dishes (in low cupboards of the kitchen), etc.
- Give her time for independent play while listening to music. My daughter LOVES music, and is currently obsessed with the playlists of kids songs on the “Super Simple Songs – Kids Songs” YouTube channel.
- And, of course, plan FaceTime “play dates” with her baby friends and grandparents. And then, bonus: I get to talk to the other moms / my parents, and that helps keep me sane too!
Lastly, check out this amazing book: “Busy Toddler, Happy Mom.”
That book is a treasure trove of 280 easy, at-home activities to do with your toddler(s)! It also has a whole chapter dedicated to kid books that you can “act out” with your child. My daughter loves those!
And again, share your ideas in the comments below! I’ll definitely be stealing some. 🤣
XOXO,
That Allergy Mama
That Allergy Mama 