101 Sanity-saving toddler time wasters
NS February 8th, 2009
I wrote in December about feeling that I was letting TNC watch too much television and that I was becoming too embroiled in the computer and how that was making me a crappy parent and her a whingey toddler. I asked for your help in coming up with ideas to get us up off the sofa and our eyes averted from our respective screens. You gave me some fantastic ideas and links to sites with even *more* fantastic ideas, for which I am very thankful.
I promised that when I had a comprehensive list put together I would share it with you and so here it is, in all its sanity-saving glory. Some of them are pretty simple, others are more creative. I’ve included some physical acitivities, some messy and some quiet or low-key. I hope it provides a range of ideas for mums (and dads!) looking for inspiration for playtime with their tots. And if you have even more to add, please do leave a comment for consideration in the sequel, if there is enough material to warrant such an endeavour. Now, get to playing!
1. Baking – Let your little one help mix, knead, pour and decorate the finished product
2. Glueing – Paper, pasta, beans, tissue paper, string…you can glue lots of stuff!
3. Painting – finger or with brushes
4. Make a bird feeder with a pinecone, peanut butter, seeds and a string
5. Nature walks
6. Make a nature table with items collected on your walks, representing each place you went or season
7. Bucket of water, suds and sponges – let ‘em have at it!
8. Visit animals – pet store, petting zoo or farm
9. Make or buy a play kitchen
10. Play grocery store and let them put items from cupboards into a basket or bag
11. Drawing – stencils, doodles, ‘Mystery Picture’ game
12. Music – sing songs, play a cd, dance, play instruments
13. Make a paper chain or bunting with flags
14. Play-dough
15. Face painting
16. Dress-up
17. Cups – pour water from cup to cup, hide objects in them or stack
18. Make a fort/house with blanekts, pillows and chairs/sofa
19. Treasure hunts
20. Coloring
21. Stamps and ink pads
22. Make jewelry
23. Water and sand table
24. Magna Doodle
25. Tea party
26. Reading books
27. Make a squirrel feeder by drilling a screw onto an L-shaped piece of wood and placing ear of corn on the screw
28. Spread icing on biscuits (cookies) and make sandwiches out of them or decorate
29. Put on a play/act out a scene
30. Play ‘Riddley Riddley Ree’ (repeat phrase then say “I see something you don’t see, and the color is ______”; they guess)
31. Play ‘I Spy’
32. Play Hide ‘n’ Seek
33. Give a horsey ride
34. Play Follow The Leader
35. Make puppets
36. Put on a puppet show
37. Play with dolls – feed, change nappy, dress, put to sleep, take for a walk, etc..
38. Go for a walk in the rain and puddle jump
39. Go for a “swim” in the bath
40. Draw on the tub with bath crayons
41. Visit a toddler-friendly website (Starfall and Poisson Rouge are good ones)
42. Play Candyland
43. Play memory/matches with cards
44. Decorate and play in a large box
45. Stickers
46. Play ‘taxi’ by putting two chairs in a row and pretending to drive each other to places you know
47. Make a car out of a laundry basket or large box; make a steering wheel and tires out of paper plates
48. Make shadows and light patterns with a flashlight (torch)
49. Cook together
50. Copycat – mimic each other’s actions
51. Bowling (can make your own pins with empty bottles)
52. Take pictures of each other (with supervision using your own or a toddler-friendly camera)
53. Tube ball
54. Balloon baseball
55. Big Mouth ball toss
56. Musical chairs
57. Wrap, open and rewrap a small toy until bored of it
58. Wear mummy/daddy’s shoes and try to walk
59. Bottles and lids – Give an assortment of bottles and lids and see if he/she can match them up and screw them on
60. Thread beads, tubular pasta, curlers, etc..
61. Play Postman using junkmail
62. Play with clothespins
63. Blow bubbles
64. Pin the tail on the donkey
65. Collect rocks
66. Dig in the dirt/mud
67. Give them a handbag or backpack and let them put their treasured posessions inside
68. Building blocks
69. Paper airplanes
70. Shape sorter
71. Sticky Feet – put tape on shoes/feet and walk across non-carpeted floor
72. Fold clothes and match up socks
73. Make a wave bottle
74. Make a reward chart
75. Potato or cork prints
76. Cut fruit into shapes and make faces
77. Make candy
78. Foot and hand tracing
79. Draw with chalk on a chalkboard or outside on pavement
80. Make popcorn and thread or glue while munching on some
81. Paper plate faces or hats
82. Bubble wrap – pop it, jump on it, paint it, stuff it into bags or boxes
83. Make smoothies or juice pops
84. Make ice cream
85. Play with cooked spaghetti noodles
86. Flour and water messy time
87. Paint rocks
88. Read books in silly voices
89. Blow bubbles in a glass with a straw
90. Play doctor/patient
91. Pretend to ride an airplane by laying on your back, balancing your child on your knees and hands and moving them up and down
92. Race each other
93. Leapfrog
94. Play ’sleeping bunnies’
95. Ring-around-the-rosie
96. Toss/roll/kick a ball
97. Make a menu
98. Put makeup on each other for fun
99. Jump on the bed – do somersaults
100. Let them help sweep or dust
101. Going on vacation game – pack a bag or suitcase with what they think they’ll need
