Six super-simple fun and engaging toddler activities

I think I can speak for all of us when I say lockdown 2020 was relentless. I was quickly running out of ideas on how to entertain our then 2 year old and I found myself comparing my efforts to other parents on social media. One thing I really hate about being online!

Something lockdown did teach me though, is that the imagination of a toddler is endless, and you really don’t need activities that take hours of preparation to put a smile on their little faces. Don’t put pressure on yourself, I remember looking online for inspiration and thinking some of the things looked like such an effort to organise, to then last for ten minutes and tidy up again. These were some activities we did that took her attention and we often played more than once. I hope you find these approachable and enjoyable for you too!

So here we go…

1. At home treasure hunt

Cut two A4 pieces of paper into eight pieces, jot down some clues for areas your little one knows around your house. I’ve included the ones we used below for some inspiration, the prize can be a sweet, a book, a toy they like – they’ll enjoy running around the house following the clues to get to the end goal. You can add to it to make it an even longer process if you like! On a sunny day, we would also include some garden spots.

Clue one: Welcome to the treasure hunt, I hope you have good fun, first your have to go to where we keep your socks!

Clue two: Well done, next up it’s wet, cold or warm, this is where we wash your face and brush your teeth!

Clue three: Good work, now where do we put your dirty clothes to make them nice and clean again?

Clue four: You found it! This is the spot where we keep your favourite toy, can you find the clue?

Clue five: Well done, oh was that the letterbox? Where do the letters come?

Clue six: That’s it, now, if it was snack time, where would we get a bowl for you?

Clue seven: Almost there, there’s just one more place to look. It’s where you put your head down to rest and enjoy your favourite book.

Clue eight: Well done, you found the treasure!

2. Teddy Bear's Picnic

This is a great one to mix up snack time, pop down a blanket and ask your little one to choose some teddies or toys to come along for the picnic or if your one is like mine, a tea party! Line them up and let them join in your snack time. If you have some plastic plates your little one can let them join in by sharing some crisps or even using pretend food. Ours picnics almost always turn out to be princess related but she loves it all the same, I always encourage her to help me tidy up and can sometimes even ‘drag’ this one out a bit longer if I let her help me at the kitchen sink with the washing up. Anything water related keeps my one happy!

3. Outdoor Nature Hunt

This is a great one now that we are approaching spring time. Using an old egg carton, colour each egg spot a different colour, put on your wellies and find some bits of nature that match the colours in your carton. We live near some quite wild areas, so I’d encourage heading to these rather than pinching things from your neighbours’ gardens(!) But it’s a great way to make a walk last a little longer and a bit more exciting.

We did this one a lot back when we were only allowed out for a walk once a day, and we still use the same egg box now.

Again, you could expand this activity by heading into the garden afterwards to make some ‘flower soup’ with your finds.

4. Safari Hunt

Choose some small soft toys, animals are great if you have enough of them, and hide them around your garden or inside your house to have your very own safari hunt. For this one, I took a picture of each on my phone and printed them out on a bit of paper so we could tick each one as we found it. It’s a super easy and really enjoyable activity and once you have your ‘checklist’ saved, you can use it again and again. As a bonus, if you have a laminator at home, laminate the sheet and keep it handy for future use. Luna loves this activity, and I often have to hide her animals in time for Daddy getting in from work so they can go on the hunt together.

You could also add to this activity by decorating two toilet roll tubes and allowing your little one to make their very own set of binoculars, just like every explorer needs! We are going through a ‘Dora’ phase, so our safari hunts include backpacks, binoculars and monkeys!!

5. Colour Spotting

On a piece of paper, colour in eight circles and ask your little one to find things in their home that match the colours. Again, a super easy activity for rainy days and great for helping them learn their colours at the same time. It also helps us have a good rummage in the toy boxes and find things she forgot shed had to inspire more play.

6. Have a Party!

One thing I have noticed since becoming a parent is that my child has a better social life than me, in a normal world that is! We’d usually have one birthday party every couple of months and Luna was just getting to an age where she was enjoying taking part in the party games. I spent ten minutes wrapping up a few bags of Haribo’s one night and the next day we had a party just the three of us.

We played musical statues, musical bumps, musical chairs and pass the parcel. After she realised she couldn’t win every game and the drama of that was over, we had a ball. For pass the parcel, I used one of those Pez sweets and wrapped it up a few times to build up the excitement.

We played our music loud, ate lots of sugar and pretended we were at a rea-life party, had I not been pregnant I might have even added some Prosecco, maybe once baby arrives!

These six activities turned out to be some of our favourites, and we often return to them now. They can be done with things you already have around the house so I thought I’d share them for you to enjoy! If you do try out any of them, please tag me on Instagram, so I can see what you get up to, I’d love to see…