Parenting Toddlers

Indoor/Outdoor Fun

Indoor Fun

Color
Do Fingerplays
Sing a song
Blow Bubbles in the bathtub
Peek-a-Boo
Make an obstacle course out of cushions and/or furniture
Make a fort out of cushions and sheets
Make a Car out of a box
Read a book
Fingerpaint
Play with Play-Do
Toss Bean bags into a Bucket
Play the shell and pea game
Dance to music
Download games for toddlers from the Internet
Practice putting things in & out of boxes and bags
Roll a ball back and forth on the floor
Put on a puppet show
Go fishing with a yard stick and yarn
Make a Shape Puzzle
Play paper basketball
Play with a bucket of water and a sponge
Make a Drum out of an oatmeal box
Play with a kazoo
Brush each other's teeth
Play dress-up with stuffed animals & your child's clothes
Stack canned or boxed food on top of each other
Let child stack mixing bowls inside each other
Make a playhouse out of a large box
Let child play with a sticker sheet
Put stickers on fingers for finger puppets
Play a musical instrument together
Go on a Smelling Hunt
Frost Cookies
Roll a tennis ball into an empty trash can or bucket
Draw on a mirror with dry-erase markers
Play hide and seek together- finding a stuffed animal
Have a splash party together in the bathtub
Put a leash on a stuffed animal & walk around the house
Record each other on a tape recorder
Make and try on paper hats

Disconnect your phone & pretend to make phone calls
Let your child really make phone calls to family & friends
String large beads onto or along a shoelace
Cut things out of flyers, catalogues and group them
Make a fashion doll & cutouts out of an old pattern book Make a camera and go on a Safari
Glue shapes onto paper
Make sock puppets
Make paper puppets
Fill an old purse with toys
Use a paper towel tube as a megaphone
Make binoculars and go  "Stuffed Animal Watching"
Put snacks in different fun containers
Act out a story from a book
Walk on a balance beam- use a 2x4 placed on the ground
Paint child's palms with tempura paint and blot on paper.
Put lipstick on child and kiss a mirror
Let child decorate and eat an open peanut butter sandwich
Make a toilet paper barricade to go under, over or through
Do the Hokey Pokey
Make a super-hero costume out of household items
Do Knee-Bouncing Rhymes
Make a shoebox train for stuffed animals
Make a pillow pile to jump on
Make an easy puzzle with felt and velcro
Make jewellry for stuffed animals from pipe cleaners & bells
Learn numbers from a deck of cards
Play the matching game with a deck of cards
Make a domino chain
Play dress up in Mommy or Daddy's clothes
Make a tin cup telephone and talk to each other on it
Mirror each other
Make a "Mummy Mommy" with toilet paper
Make and walk along a toilet paper trail
Bake something together
Talk into an electric fan (it distorts your voice)
Play tug-of-war with a blanket
Give a piggie back ride
Play "Horsie"

TAKE A NAP!!

Outdoor Fun

Play Hide-and-Seek
Play Chase
Collect rocks in a basket
Go for a Walk
Go to the park
Scoop sand into a child's bucket (or a serving spoon & bowl)
Make a Horseshoe game
Run through a Sprinkler
Wash windows together
Bang on Pots and Pans with a spoon

Plant a flower or vegetable plant together
Squirt each other with squirt bottles
Draw with chalk on the sidewalk
Sketch an outline of your child on the sidewalk with chalk
Make a puddle on cement and splash barefoot in it
Play "Red Light, Green Light" saying "Go" and "Stop"
Have a picnic in the park, backyard, or living room!
Make a nature collage
Make a collection of anything: stones, sticks, leaves etc.
Go to the library
Ride a bike/trike
Go for a wagon ride