Source: Toddler Toddler

Toddler activities and games

Toddlers seem to need constant attention and stimulation. They are “into” everything and love new and fun games and activities. It is impossible to have enough toys and games to keep them busy every minute of every day, but here are a few cheap, easy and fun activities that you can play with your busy toddler.

Cereal box Dominoes
It seems like all toddlers like to knock things down! This activity will let them do just that with some cereal box dominoes. Take a few of your empty cereal boxes and line them up on the floor. Push one at the end to show your toddler how they all fall down. Your toddler will enjoy looking at the boxes and knocking them down. You can even put a rattle inside each box so that they make some noise when they fall over.

Supplies Needed:
empty cereal boxes
rattles

Tips/Suggestions:
Your toddler might just want to step on the boxes, stack them or move them around the room. Go with it!
You can point out some of the pictures and colours on the boxes while you are playing with them.

Cell Phone Hide-&-Seek

Do you have a cell phone with a fun ring tone? Hide your cell phone under a pillow and then call it from your home phone. Let your toddler find the ringing cell phone. You can even put it in a different room. Each time you play, change the ring tone. It’s a fun way to teach your toddler to listen and follow a sound. (Just be sure to put the key guard on so that your toddler doesn’t make any calls!) This is also a great activity if you are somewhere waiting and you have two cell phones.

Supplies Needed:
cell phone
another phone

Tips/Suggestions:
If you have the feature available to set an alarm, you can do that instead of calling from another phone!

Cot Sheet Parachute
Some moms and tots classes have a parachute that they use to play with and stimulate the babies and toddlers. Here’s a chance to have some fun with your toddler and a simple fitted cot sheet. Let your toddler hold one side and you hold the other. Now flap the sheet in the air, and both of you go under it. Or have your toddler hold on while you raise it “up” in the air and “down” to the floor. Teach him “up” and “down”. You can go around in circles or in and out. Your toddler may have some ideas of what to do also. Laugh a lot and have some real fun.

Supplies Needed:
cot sheet

Tips/Suggestions:
If the sheet has something printed on it, you can talk about the shapes, colours, pictures that you see.
If you have more than one child, get the others in on the game and go around in a circle with it.
This is a great activity for the whole family. Use a double bed sheet for a family exercise.

Egg Toss

This is like that fête game where you try to get the ping-pong ball in the fish bowl. But instead you’ll be using cottage cheese containers and small plastic eggs or ping pong balls. Just save up a few cottage cheese containers and use a little tape to tap the rims next to each other so that they won’t fall down when an egg hits them. (You can use any small container/box/cup for this.) Then have your toddler stand above the cups and drop an egg down, and see which cup it goes into. You can even have her step a few feet away and try to toss the eggs in. Then let your child retrieve all the eggs and do it again, or take turns.

Supplies Needed:
small containers
tape
small plastic eggs or ping pong balls

Tips/Suggestions:
Start with the eggs in a small basket and then have your toddler pick each egg out and try to drop it over the cups. You can even put the basket of eggs on one side of the room and the cups on the other side, to get her some exercise.

Go Fish! Sticky Fish!
This is a great activity for those toddlers that like to get their hands into everything. Take about 10 sticky notes and draw a fish on 6 of them with a crayon. Then lay each individual sticky note down on the floor or on a table with the sticky side up. You’ll want to show your toddler how to play this game first before she does it. Tell your toddler that you are going fishing and then place your hand on top of one of the sticky notes. It will stick to your palm. Then lift your hand up and turn your hand over to show your toddler the note and the picture of the fish on it. Then say “Wow! I just caught a fish!” Do it again and when you get a blank note, say “No fish there!” Now it’s your toddler’s turn. You can do this again and again until the stickiness of the notes runs out or when your toddler crumbles up the paper.

Supplies Needed:
10 sticky notes
crayon

Tips/Suggestions:
If your toddler seems more interested in the sticky notes than playing the game that’s okay. Just talk about the feeling of the sticky part, how the paper crumbles, and what colours she sees. Or just let her watch you play the game and count the fish. The next time you play this game she’ll remember how much fun you were having and will want to take part.
For the older toddlers you can let them help to draw a fish on the notes
As your toddler catches the fish, count them.

Shake it Game

Here’s a fun game to play with your toddler, and you only need a few simple supplies. Find three of the same containers and a few “noisy” small toys. Put all three containers down on a blanket in front of your toddler. Then open up one container and put in a couple of toys (balls, bells, rattles) and put the lid back on. Then move the containers around and mix them up. Now ask your toddler if she knows where the balls are. If she is unsure, have her pick up each container and shake it. The first time she picks up a container and there is no noise, open up the container and show her that there’s nothing inside. When she hears a sound inside then say “Do you think the toys are in this one? Let’s check!” Then after you find the toys, celebrate and tell her well done. Close it up and mix the containers up again. Now let her shake them to find the toys again!

Supplies Needed:
3 identical containers
small toys/balls/bells
blanket

Tips/Suggestions:
You can always use more than 3 containers to make it more fun. Put some toys in 2 of the containers.
Always supervise your child with the smaller toys.