activities to do at home with toddler

[Deleted]

Owen will play at the kitchen sink forever. I push a chair up to the edge, give him some cups and bowls and cutlery and turn the water on at the slowest trickle I can. Then I read a magazine at the table.

He also really likes puzzles - the Melissa and Doug wooden ones where you just match up the animals or shapes.

Mega blocks are great - he'll match up the same sized blocks to make towers (this he needs one of us to play, too).

[bunch]

I just had dd paint with water. A wet brush on colored construction paper. Shizzam. I've also started letting her help when I bake. She tries to stir and then eats whatever I drop on the counter. I plan to make bath crayons latter this week.

[birdmom]

Plastic cups. DS loves to stack them, and unstack them, and put balls under them and move them around.

Play food and dishes.

Different kinds of shoes, like you suggested. DS has some slippers, one pair is like monster feet, one pair is like bear feet, and he walks around like a monster or a bear, making noise. That can last a while.

Lift the flap books, or books that have stuff they can feel. These were my saving graces on a two hour plane ride!

[minzy]

My daughter is all about moving things between containers - hotel bath soaps out of the drawers, into the other drawers; books off of her bookshelf; crayons in and out of a bag; putting things in the trash; stacking cups, etc. She likes to help me unload the dishwasher right now. She loves when I wave sheets around her as I'm folding laundry. She likes looking out the window and pointing out birds, trees, trucks, the moon. She also loves playing with stickers. Sometimes I make a field trip of going the long way to get the mail.

And bad mom alert, but we have a few Elmo DVDs. They've gotten a ton of rotation recently as she's been sick.

[everam01]

At daycare, our 19 month olds have different "stations" - pretend play (dress up items), animals/little people, a kitchen area with play food and cups/plates/utensils, puzzles, reading, indoor slide and stairs, music. They also have a common room with a huge cushioned mat and different gymnastic items.

They also do an activity every day - painting on an easel, gluing cotton balls or leaves to paper, tearing up little pieces of paper and then arranging them on a sheet, homemade play-doh, etc.

At home, they like to climb, read, fasten buckles and snaps, help me with whatever I'm doing (put on makeup, doing laundry, fixing dinner, etc).

[starlily]

Just fyi - those markers still create a.transparent, but visible, line on walls. ywia

[bunch]

I think this afternoon we're gonna do that thing I see all the time on Pinterest where you put paint in a ziplock bag and smush it all around after taping it to the table. I really hate messes.

[bunch]

5 to 10 minutes sounds about right. Then she runs off to something else. That's why I don't put too much effort into creating projects. Really I don't even bother trying this much in a day, but we can't leave the house today and that's long for everybody. I image that by 5 we'll be watching hgtv and she'll be playing on my iPad. Lol.

[dumbledore826]

Fingerpainting with colored pudding. Chances are, once she eats some, she'll do more eating then painting though. DS is almost 20 mo, and can use real fingerpaints without eating it.

Fill a big, flat container with rice. Give her measuring cups/spoons/scoops. Put a drop sheet under the play area though!

She is at an age to start trying to manipulate paper (scrunching it) and glue it down.

[CloudBee]

Take two plastic bowls. Fill one with cotton balls. Give the kiddo a spoon or tongs and demonstrate moving them one by one from one bowl to the other. Or filling up a muffin tin in the same manner. By hand or with an object.

Give them a pad of post-its and let them have at it

[ladygrey]

Have you looked on Pinterest? I've seen a ton of articles and links for toddler activities being pinned lately.

[nabum]

my son can spend 20-30 minutes "rearranging" the tupperware drawers in my kitchen. He pulls out every lid and container and then tries to stack them all back up in the drawers.

[drloretta]

Honestly, there are a gazillion things on Pinterest on how to entertain a toddler. 18 months is tricky because they're still messy, but you can do a ton of stuff. Put beans in a jar or bottle and shake them. Fingerpaint (you can even put the paint in a Ziploc and have them "paint" from the outside). Hide and seek. Build forts. Etc.