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Every time I take a quick survey on Instagram I am blown away by how many people want to see play ideas for babies and toddlers! That is definitely the stage we are in at my house and I love sharing anything that EK enjoys and keeps us busy, especially now that we are spending a lot of time at home. Here are 25 simple toddler play ideas!

Toddler Play Ideas:

• Dig in the dirt or sand! Give your little one a shovel and don’t be afraid to let them get dirty! This is a great and sturdy set of garden tools.
• Set up a pouring station. Pouring is great practice for little ones. Put together a bucket like this with water. Add in pitchers of various sizes, measuring cups and some empty plastic containers from your kitchen or hit up the dollar store. Your little one will love practicing this life skill and learning about capacity as they pour water between the various containers.
• Play with fruit. This was a favorite when EK was mouthing everything! You can read more about this sensory activity in this post.

Read a book. I know, I know. I just had to include this one on the list too. Books are so important and the best way to develop your toddler’s language skills. Check out these posts for some book inspiration:

Easter Books for Babies and Toddlers
Valentine’s Day Books for Baby
Thanksgiving Books for Baby
Pumpkin Books for Baby
Christmas Book Countdown  

• Draw with large crayons. Toddlers love scribbling and that’s totally developmentally appropriate for this age! If you have an older toddler who is ready to start attempting to color a picture; be sure to check out this toddler coloring book! I also have 5 ideas that can be used with any toddler coloring page in this post!

• Set up a sensory bin. New to sensory bins? This post covers all the basics and will give you some inspiration!

• Sing a nursery rhyme together. We don’t really have a lot of screen time in our house, but EK does love to watch this little video of nursery rhymes. It’s free on Amazon Prime. Check out this post for some of my Amazon Prime Video favorites!

• Walk the line. Use tape like this to make a line on the floor. Show your toddler how to practice walking on it like a balance beam . You can also encourage your child to line up toys or other objects on the line. Just be sure to pull up the tape after the activity to prevent any floor damage!
• Make some play dough. Play dough is a favorite over here! This is the recipe I swear by! Just add cookie cutters, play dough tools and dough scissors and you are ready! This set has it all! You can also try making magic play dough!

• Sort something. Sorting is a great activity for toddlers! I recommend starting sorting by type using items like silverware or toys liks balls and blocks. Then introduce sorting by color by laying out different colored pieces of paper and putting objects on the corresponding colors.
• Paint. This one isn’t as bad as it sounds. We love painting with these! They are easy for little hands to hold and grip and way less mess that traditional paints!
• Create a toy washing station. Just add this to a water bucket and let your toddler wash their plastic toys! Don’t try this with dish soap because it can irritate eyes and skin.

• Make a music shaker. EK had a play date at a friend’s house and I literally had to do a double take when I saw her little friend playing with a prescription bottle! But then I realized that this mom was actually brilliant! She put different materials inside the prescription bottles to create little music shakers AND there was no way for tiny hands to get the bottle open! GENIUS! I jazzed this one up with some colored tape!

• Make a sticky web. I created this activity for EK by wrapping this tape (sticky side out) around the legs of a dining room chair. Then I put out a bucket of colorful ping pong balls that she could stick and unstick to the tape!

• Stack cups. Simple, I know. But try it, toddlers love playing with cups!
• Take a popsicle bath. I am not the inventor of this activity, but it sure is a good one! Let your toddler enjoy a popsicle in the bath tub. No mess, just lots of fun!
• Play dress up. A few months ago a friend was watching EK for me. When I texted her to see how things were going she said that the girls were having a great time playing dress up. “Dress up?” I thought. She’s too little to play dress up! But, I was wrong! She loves putting on clothes and accessories that are different than normal! I have since ordered this for EK to play with and she LOVES putting it on! We get the biggest laugh too! Your toddler could also play dress up using some of your clothes or accessories! This is a fun set of costumes too!
• Draw with sidewalk chalk. Chalk shaped like this is easier for tiny hands to hold!
• Decorate a cardboard box with markers. Save those Amazon boxes and let your little ones decorate them with markers! These are my all time favorite markers (plus they add some extra sensory fun) and they are washable!
• Do a sticker activity. I absolutely love stickers! Check out this post to learn about some of the benefits of sticker activities and ideas.

• Ball scoop. Fill up a container with plastic balls or pink pong balls and give your child a ladle or pasta fork to scoop out the balls.
• Tape a shape. Tape some shapes around the room or on a window. Your little one will love pulling them down and playing with the tape. I have also done this with scraps of gift wrap!

• Water the plants. Toddlers love helping around the house and to feel like they are contributing to the family. Watering plants is a great activity for them. Fill up a watering can and walk around your yard and let them water what they can!
• Paint the sidewalk or fence. Give your child a large paint brush and a bucket of water; then show them how to paint! They could also paint outdoor toys too!
• Rediscover an old toy. I regularly rotate toys which sounds really fancy, but it’s not. I just try to put away toys that EK isn’t as interested in anymore and then I’ll bring them back out at a later time. It’s fun to see her enjoy old toys in a new way as she grows. If you are in the market for some new toys, I can’t recommend LOVEVERY enough! You can read an entire post about their products here.

Toddler Monthly Activities

Want to make entertaining your toddler super simple? My Toddler Monthly Activities Bundle is the way to go! Inside, you will find 10 printable activities specifically for toddlers for each month of the year! These activities are focused on things like:⁠⁠

• Sorting⁠
• Color recognition ⁠
• Following simple directions⁠
• Making simple crafts
• Fine motor skills ⁠
• Counting
• Number recognition
• Tearing, cutting and gluing
• PLAY⁠!

If you are the parent of a toddler, I hope you are able to use a few of these 25 simple toddler play ideas!