15 Screen-Free Activities for Your Busy Toddler

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Being home full-time with an active and busy toddler (2 ½ years) and baby (3 ½ months) is fun, but challenging! I wouldn’t change it for the world, but some days feel much longer than others.

My preference is to go out and about during the day with my toddler. However, you can’t control the weather! So, rainy, snowy and bitter cold days keep us inside. Having a baby in the winter also kept us inside (and far from public places) more times than not!

Some days I need to catch up on laundry, house cleaning or other random tasks. So I need to keep my toddler entertained and busy on these days. Don’t get me wrong, I try to involve my toddler in house chores because she loves to help, but she only wants to help for a few minutes before she’s onto something else.

Toddlers have a limited attention span, which means I am constantly switching the activities we do together. When we are home for an entire day, I need to change it up because we both get bored of just playing with the same toys all.day.long. Plus, I want to keep my toddler busy when I need to nurse my baby boy.

The 15 activities described below are our favorite things to do on days when we stay home. Don’t get me wrong, we enjoy watching Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, but I try to limit my toddler’s time spent watching TV or looking at a screen. I am lucky to be home full-time with my toddler so want to make the most of our time together.

You need these activities in your toddler’s life for several reasons:

• Each activity grows with your child.
• Each activity invites conversation.
• Each activity encourages imaginative play.
• Each activity lends itself well to independent play.
• Each activity sparks creativity.
• Each activity is easily adaptable to your child’s interests.
• Each activity helps you build a strong connection with your child.

Coloring Books or Printable Coloring Pages

These can be pictures of a favorite character (Disney princesses, Lion King, the Incredibles, etc.), things related to the current season or holiday, or a specific topic (cars, animals, the ocean, dinosaurs, etc.). The Dollar Store sells a variety of coloring books for all ages and interests. Here are my favorite websites for printing coloring pages:

https://www.crayola.com/featured/free-coloring-pages/

https://play.fisher-price.com/en_US/GamesandActivities/ColoringPages/index.html

https://www.momjunction.com/articles/disney-coloring-pages_0086350/#gref

Color Wonder Markers & Drawing Paper

These markers only work on the special drawing paper and coloring books. No marker stains on clothes, furniture or carpets! Plus, they work great for traveling in the car or on the airplane. No worries about marker stains on the car seat or airplane tray table.

Play with Stickers

Visit the Dollar Store for a variety of stickers, especially during the change of seasons or at holiday times. Stickers and a blank mini notebook make a great activity for restaurants, traveling, at church, or waiting in the doctor’s office. Reusable sticker books and these sticker activity books are a favorite in our house!

Cover the Stars

This is a fun game to play with stickers. I randomly draw small stars all over a piece of paper. My daughter practices her fine motor skills by peeling off each sticker. We work on one-one correspondence by covering each star with one sticker. These Disney Princess stickers from the Dollar Store are a favorite in our house! I remove the outer border on the sticker paper to make it easier for her to peel off each sticker.

We practiced our fine motor skills and one-one correspondence by placing one sticker inside each circle, forming the shape of a “J”. We counted the circles and named the colors of each sticker.

Sensory Play

Fill a large plastic bowl or plastic container, or bowl, with rice, dried beans, pasta, dry cereal or colored pony beads. Give child measuring cups, spoons and/or small bowls and let her play. She can mix, scoop, and pour.

This type of activity is under supervision, but my daughter was never one to put things in her mouth as a baby or young toddler. She understands the sensory bin materials stay inside the bin. Of course there are accidents when a few pieces end up on the floor, but that’s only natural with this type of play!

Decorate with Window Clings

Your child will love taking these on and off patio doors or windows. Include some in your child’s travel bag if you will be flying on an airplane. She can take them on and off the airplane window. They also stick to refrigerators.

Water Play in the Bathtub

Fill the bathtub and let child play. Pour bubble bath or food color into the water. Put small toys into the bathtub. These foam letters or tubs of plastic animals work well for water play in the bathtub. Pool and bath squirt toys are fun, too! Let child give the toys a bath or just play. Put small plastic bowls or cups into bathtub and invite child to scoop the bubbles or pour water from one bowl/cup to another.

Cardboard Box & Markers

Find an empty cardboard box and invite your child to draw all over it with washable markers (or paint if you are feeling up to the mess!). She can decorate it any way her heart desires. She only wore a diaper during this activity!

Pretend the cardboard box is a car and use paper plates to attach a steering wheel and tires. Then push/pull her around the house making car engine sounds.

Stacking Paper Cups, Plates & Bowls

Give child several paper cups, paper plates and bowls. Invite her to stack them any way she wants. Then invite her to knock them down.

Paper Towel & Toilet Paper Towers

Bring out unwrapped rolls of paper towels and toilet paper. Invite child to stack and knock them down.

Read Books

Keep a basket of books in the living room, playroom, bedroom and car. The more interactive the book (buttons, flaps, sounds, push/pull tabs, various textures) the better!

Related Post: 15 Benefits of Reading to Your Children

Related Post: Turn Off the TV & Read A Book

Listen to music and dance around the house.

“Let It Go” is on repeat at our house! Of course anything Disney is a hit 🙂 Our favorite thing to listen to is Disney’s Children Radio. You can listen to hundreds of songs through Amazon Music Unlimited, which you can try for free for 30 days. Click the image below to learn more!

Play Doh & Cookie Cutters

Use the cookie cutters to cut out different shapes from the Play Doh. Roll the Play Doh into balls and count them. Roll it into long ropes. Make snakes, pretzels, letters or shape outlines.

Wooden Puzzles

We love our Melissa & Doug wooden puzzles. The Dollar Store sells mini wooden puzzles. The Target Dollar Spot is another place to check for these. Puzzles are great for engaging in conversation, learning and encouraging independent play. The great thing about wooden puzzles is how durable they are. The size of the pieces are perfect for little toddler hands, too 🙂

Mega Blocks or Wooden Blocks

Stack and build with them. Color sort them. Count them.

Little People Playsets

We love our Little People toys 🙂 All the ones we own were actually purchased from yard sales and consignment sales! Pretend and act out scenarios. Talk about the different characters (and animals) and what they do. Line up the Little People and count them.

With these 15 activities, you can fill your days (or weekends) with fun, learning through play, exploration, and imagination!

Which activity are you most excited to try with your toddler? Do you have a favorite activity you like to do with your toddler? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below 🙂

Be sure to share this post with your friends, especially those with small children at home! As moms, we are ALWAYS looking for new ways to play and engage with our toddlers.

Related Post: Best Toys for Your Toddler

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