Fun Things to Do with Toddler at Home

well, the book is not free, but the ideas are! i have a book (that I have currently lent out so I may be a little off on the title) called something like "365 Games Smart Toddlers Play." it is full of ideas for fun, free little activities from homemade instruments and sock puppets to full-on scavenger hunts. i got it at the barnes and noble in greenville sc (at the shops at greenridge, if you're in the area). i LOVED it.

oh and may i say GOOD JOB on deciding to make the very sacrificial decision to stay at home with your child. you are a great mom! :)

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make your own playdough
make your kitchen a place to paint with watercolors or outside depending on the weather
they love stickers! buy cheap and alot!
bake cookies, let him help add choc chips and stuff or decorate them with colored sugar
buy a small hand broom, let him help 'clean'
cotton balls and old cereal make an excellent craft choice

its been 4 years since me & my son were trapped inside the house in Montana LOL i cant remember the other stuff we did, just get creative, take the time to peruse walmarts craft area or the dollar store! great places for cheap craft ideas that your probably just gonna throw away! gl

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I've been staying at home with my son since February, and I've been looking for stuff to do with him, too. He loves to color so I've got him some coloring books and blank construction paper and we color together. He loves to go for walks, we've done parks, and even walks inside a mall while browsing. We'll put on music and dance around the house, too. I know these are simple things, but they keep him entertained for a while! We had an overly creative day today and I've been picking up pictures all night!

I found a website that lets you find a pumpkin patch near your area and I can't wait to do that with him here soon. http://www.pumpkinpatchesandmore.org/ Maybe that's something you can think about for a wonderful fall afternoon!!

Hopefully you'll find good ideas and I can use some, too.

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Finger painting
Bubble Baths
Dress Up/Pretend
Hide and Seek
Leaf Collecting
Exercise (my kids loved doing my aerobics videos "with" me -- you can get them cheap or free from GoodWill, freecycle, the internet, and the library).
Make up your own stories
Take pictures

Have fun! You make me wish I were back at home!

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Try dltk.com for home activity ideas.

Also, your local library usually has storytime and may even have art activities with the storytime.

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Borders usually does storytime and sometimes a small craft - call for details. Also Lakeshore (educational store) does free crafts on certain days, and check your local library Use macaroni to glue on a picture, or paper bags and egg cartons to make peppets and catterpillars - let your imagination go wild

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Family Fun magazine from Disney usually has a number of good ideas and they have a website you can use http://familyfun.go.com/

Try recycling things. We used a lot of toilet paper tubes and paper towel tubes to make different things. I'll cover them with different construction or wrapping papers and make puppets by glueing different pictures to them (happy meal's have great things to cut off the boxes and they're sturdy). I don't know if you have a boy or a girl but we made "man" wands for the boys so they could have magic wands to use like Princess presto on Super Why when she writes in the air.

Crayola color wonder is great because there's no mess but they aren't that expensive.

Being down south, bubbles are huge. And Target had great sandbox cars for $1 (clearanced at less) that we have all over the house and porch that they love to play with.

Sandboxes are also good but you'll want one that's covered. They love to drive their cars over ramps and make sand castles.

Make forts with pillows or tents with a sheet inside. Indoor picnics are fun too.

And my boys love to bake and cook. We make a ton of cookies. Just make sure you have volunteers to take them off your hands because it went to my waist quickly.

Have fun!

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hi,
my children always loved to be outside...my boys would love anything that involved a ball...or a bike...or a ride on toy. my daughter loves chalk, bubbles, ride on toys...i set a little tikes table outside and she does play doh out there...sand box...swings. also the parks, or neighborhood play grounds...really fun, and tire them out! the weather is so beautiful this time of year...getting outside is relaxing for moms...(you can't be doing laundry if you're outside!) have fun!

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Dont be afraid of kids non toxic paint you can let your toddler free paint. There are so many cute season or holiday things you can do just by using colors red and green for christmas time orange andyellows ect for fall you get the idea. I usually think of stuff that remindes me of the season right now its leaves and pumkins ect ( i stay away from the scary aspects) you can let you kid use leaves as paint stamps or cut out a leaf or pumpkin shaped paper then have your child paint it or glue on shapes for the pumpkin you can do the same with a christmas tree design or wreath, stockings cute hand prit flowers for spring. Other fun things to paint are uncooked pasta like bowties and elbow noodles then help baby glue them down onto colorful paper. We also like gluing down cut up paper strips and gluing them. No matter what it looks like it will be a masterpiece and its really fun to see your childs artwork change thru the years. Of course all this requires your supervision if your child still puts everything in their mouth you may want to stick to chuncky crayons or make edible play dough or use whip cream with a little food color in it to make a fun texture paint best on a high chair tray. Hope these ideas help.

I ponder the same thing. There are books that you can get from the library thats called like toddler busy book, or something like that. I know they have it at borders. I collected empty soda bottles and you set them up and have your own bowling alley, my son is now 27 months and still loves it, fill plastic balls in a empty pool, you can do an inside sandbox with rice and hide toys in it. we do color wonder, playdoh, bubbles, bottle bowling, books ( he loves books) and the other day he helped me make banana bread. And yes stickers is always very popular although they do end up on my wood floor. Get creative and the internet always has good ideas on sites. Fisherprice.com has an alphabet game and you can try all the other child tv friendly websites for stuff.

Hi,
I saw something cute at the Discovery Museum this weekend that seemed to interest kids of all ages. One of the museum employees was stacking the red plastic "solo" cups and building them tall. She let the kids knock them over and then build them up again. The kids loved getting all the cups back together in a stack before rebuilding the "castle" again. Kept them busy for a while!
I also do the following: finger painting, play doh, playing and building with tupperware and blocks, lots of reading, playing music also helps to get your child to play alone. "Measuring" rice or dry beans and dumping them from one thing to another can be entertaining for while too. Good luck and check out parenting.com they should have some great ideas!

"Painting with shaving cream", Make a box filled with rice and hide some of her small toys in it and have her find them. Finger painting with non toxic paints. Making different characters with cotton balls glued to paper. You can find coloring pages that have enough nondetail to use. That's what I'm coming up with at the moment!

Try finger painting. That's always fun. I also color along the side of my 4 year old and 1 year old in their coloring book. I also work out with them. I turn on fit tv and put on their little work out clothes and they excercise along with me.

I was a children's librarian for five years. Two and three year olds mostly. I would go on the net and search for free online arts & crafts. (Make sure to bookmark the good sites) Of course our library couldn't afford many supplies, so I had to substitute lots of things. Necessity is the mother of invention! We did tons of toilet paper roll crafts and paper plate crafts, balloon crafts, etc.... I've used dried beans, rice, and flowers and leaves, fresh and dried. Quick & easy - take a coffee filter, let toddler color all over w/markers, then using a spray bottle w/water, spray the filter lightly. Let dry, gather in the middle & wrap w/a pipe cleaner or even a bread tie. Voila, you have a butterfly! You can even glue a small magnet on the back if you have one, and put on the fridge. A little time on the net, some household supplies, an eager toddler and a little imagination, and you can have all kinds of STUFF before you know it!

Small brown paper bags can be painted and made into hand puppets...
Icecream sticks and a glue stick is a fun building craft.
Finger painting outside on a sheet or inside on paper.
Making tents in the living room with hide n seek
Pots and pans with a spoon will entertain for hours!
Take some glasses and fill with different levels of water, gently tap the sides and show her the different notes.
Coloring is great and teaces focus time
Bubbles are great and come in different shapes.
Hope it helps;) Good luck!