How to Keep your Toddler Busy

Toddler-hood is an amazing journey both for the toddler and for the mommy, albeit an exhausting one too. Here are some ways you can keep your toddler busy without having to turn to TVs, tablets and phones so that you can sneak yourself that little break or finish up something you left undone.

The following hands-on activities can keep your toddler busy and also enhance their ever growing skill set—physical, emotional, social or cognitive growth. Never underestimate the power of play. Playing helps your kids to grow individually, it helps them to understand the world around them in their own little ways. Encourage play.

1. Clay Play

Toddlers cannot get enough with dough. You can probably give your child a little homemade flour dough or you could shell some money and buy some play dough or clay from a reputable place.

The choices out there are varied and plenty. Dough comes in various colors and sizes, with glitter or not and there are plenty of accessories that accompany it like stencils to make shapes out of the dough and easy to use instruments to roll it or cut it and make pretty designs on it.

2. Color Fun

Coloring activities can keep your child entertained and engrossed. You can find magic painting books in your nearest bookstore or even online and they don’t cost much. All the child needs to do is dip her paint brush in plain water and paint over the picture and watch the colors come to life.

Invest in some safe crayons, chalks, color pencils and let them doodle away. Writing boards are becoming popular too. The most popular ones come in the form of magnetic writing boards or a whiteboard with marker pens that can be easily wiped off and reused again and again. This helps save paper too.

3. Splish Splash

Nothing like water. Just give them a bucket of water to sit with and let them either splash it around or maybe give them some vegetables or toys that they can help wash for you. Maybe you could give them smaller containers or spoons to pour the water in. Getting them to help water the plants is another good idea. You can even get those squirters that come in the shape of fishs or ducks and they can learn to squirt water.

4. Obstacle Course

For older kids you can easily build a safe and simple obstacle course using household articles. Stuff like cushions, buckets, boxes, and mats, etc., can be easily designed to be a part of an exciting obstacle course with bridges and islands and lakes and what not. Your child will be jumping and diving around on repeat, leaving you to finish any of your unfinished business.

5. Treasure Box

Kids love to play with what adults use. You know that already. So don’t throw away your old bottles, containers, boxes or anything at all that might be safe and interesting for your child to play with. Stash it up in a bucket or a box and call it the treasure box. Bring it out only once in a while when you really need some time off from your toddler or else the whole ‘preciousness’ of it will fade away even before you know it.

6. Stack it Up

If you have old containers or vessels in plastic or steel, you can give them to your children to keep them busy. They can either stack it up one on top of each other or transfer little toys or balls or any safe items from one container to another. There are plenty of stacking and nesting toys and blocks available in the market that ranges in price and you can pick one that suits your need and budget. For example putting small plastic balls into a sports bottle might even be free depending on what you have around the house.

7. Keep Your Toddler Busy in Sand Land

Kids of all ages are drawn to sand, be it at the beach or the park, so why not some sand at home? You could have an area marked for sand play or invest in a sand box. Your child will have fun digging and piling up the sand with a baby shovel.

You could bury little treasures in the sand for your kid to dig out and search for. Also you can give them safe household items that they can creatively use with sand. Sand play enhances the fine motor skills of the child.

8. Thread Them

If you have big beads or rings or anything at all that can be threaded, give them to your kid, along with a nice thick thread or shoe lace. You can even make some rings or beads from cardboard, dough, color paper etc. Use your imagination, mommy.

9. Role Play

Pretend play is widely known for the benefits it has on kids. It is an effective tool for teaching kids a variety of behavioral and learning skills. Households with two or more kids would greatly benefit from this. There are so many options out there like the tea set, the doctor set, the cooking set, baby bath set, tool set etc. Let your kids embark into a whole other world of being doctors, parents, chefs and teachers.

Conclusion

It’s a full time job to keep your toddler busy. Kindly ensure items used for play are non-toxic and safe. Adult supervision is recommended. Be safe and have fun with your kiddo.