75 Simple Toddler Activities To Do In 2023

A lot of parents struggle with deciding what to do with their toddlers. Whether staying inside or going out, there are a lot of toddler activities we can do to enjoy our time with our kids.

I put together a pretty simple list of things my wife and I enjoy doing with our kids. Some might seem obvious. My goal is to remind you of some options and hopefully give some new ideas.

Let’s tire them out. Keep them active during the day. They can sleep better, and you get some well deserved rest.

Parents are constantly being told how important the development in their kids’ early years is. I strongly believe the experiences we have with our children will have a long lasting effect on the relationship we have with them as they grow up.

What Are Some Toddler Activities

1. Toilet Paper Tube with Pom Poms

Try taping some toilet paper tubes on the wall and let your toddler drop some pom poms through them. Cause and effect makes for great toddler activities to keep them entertained.

2. Color Coordinating Pom Poms

If you have different colored bowls you can help your toddler with color recognition by having them place matching colored pom poms into their bowls. If you don’t have the bowls, you could always color an egg carton.

3. Colander with Pipe Cleaners

You can help your toddler with their motor skills by having them thread pipe cleaners through the holes of a colander.

4. Magnatiles

Sometimes I think I”m having more fun with the magnatiles with my kids. Easy and creative building for kids. Match shapes or colors together. Build towers or a castle. My kids like to make a long strip flat on the floor, then place one upright between each square and knock them over like dominoes.

5. Drawing

Use an old fashioned pen or pencil and paper to help your kids learn to hold them and write properly. We also like to use paint sticks.

6. Reading

Super obvious, but there are few things I love more than seeing my kids grabbing a book to “read” it. They usually grab the ones we’ve read so much that they have the pages memorized and say it out loud.

7. Baking

My kids love to help us bake. It can be frustrating at first, but they do get better at breaking eggs and stirring with practice.

8. Making Pizzas

Our kids love helping make dinner, and pizza is super easy. Let them put their own toppings on, and they might even eat it.

9. Legos

More specifically the large ones. Much easier to use for the kids and also easier for cleanup.

10. Scavenger Hunt

Give your toddler a list of things to look for. If you want to get more creative, you can help make up some clues and help them work through them.

11. Finger Painting

More sensory type of painting for them. Kids need to get messy sometimes and most of us still have fond memories of finger painting when we were little.

12. Washing Dishes

Our kids will sit and wash dishes for an hour if we let them. Just fill a bowl at the sink with soap and water and let them wash their own dishes with a sponge.

13. Kinetic Sand

There are some homemade recipes out there if you don’t want to buy the kinetic sand, but we recommend getting some tools for them to either bury and dig items out or to build sand castles.

14. Play Doh

I couldn’t make an activities list without Play Doh. Help them sculpt their favorite thing or animal.

15. Yoga

Yoga is good for everyone, so why not instill in them early to be healthy? It doesn’t have to be children’s yoga, just let them do whatever you want to do.

16. Play Guitar

I’m no guitarist but I do like learning new things, so I let my kids help me learn how to play guitar.

17. Play Piano

I’m no guitarist, but I’m even worse at piano. Luckily my wife knows how to play and the kids like playing with her.

18. Drumming With Dishes

Grab some bowls and turn them upside. Let your kids play their new drums with a wooden spoon.

19. Bean Box

Get a plastic container, fill it with beans, and hide shapes, dinosaurs, cars, etc.

20. Rice Box

Same as the bean box, but we prefer to use the rice when we grab the measuring cups to help them learn to measure and pour.

21. Shaving Cream Letters

Who else remembers cleaning their school desk with shaving cream? One of the best days of the year. Let your kids do the same and learn some letters while doing it.

22. Ice Rescue

Take whatever item you want and freeze it in water. Grab a spoon or other excavating tools you might have to help them “rescue” it.

23. Puzzles

Our oldest boy is obsessed with his puzzles. He’ll sit with them for a good hour as long as the puzzle has dinosaurs or animals.

24. Stickers

Everyone knows that kids love stickers. Pull some out during drawing time to help with their creativity.

25. Bath Crayons

Buying some bath crayons is a good investment to keep bath time more entertaining for you and your kids.

26. Glow Stick Bath

If the Crayons aren’t your thing, then you can get some glow sticks and dim the lights. Our kids are always fascinated by them.

27. Toy Cars

Whether you have one of those mats with roads or not, driving cars around is always fun for kids and it’s something even our 10 month old can do with the older 2.

28. Climbing

Having a safe environment for the kids to climb is great for them. Trust them to do something a little more risky, but safely. That could be a park or an indoor climber

29. Dominoes

I mentioned using Magnatiles like dominoes, but you can really only get those in a straight line. Nothing beats the real thing at learning turns and curves.

30. Wresting

Help your kids feel more confident in themselves by wrestling them. Help them get their energy out while you get a little exercise as well.

31. Hide and Seek

A very simple toddler activity and one of my favorites. It’s cute to see where your kids decide to hide. And I can pretend not to find them while I clean up, while also making them feel really good about their hiding place.

32. Obstacle Course

Help them build an obstacle course so they can show you have fast they can run it!

33. Draw a Track for Cars

Help your kids draw their own track on paper or poster board that they can drive their cars on.

34. Paper Plate Animals

Draw animals on some paper plates and let them decorate them with whatever they want. Glue on some beads, glitter or whatever you’re comfortable with.

35. Paper Airplanes

I’m not the best at origami, but I know I can help my toddlers make a killer paper airplane. Help them learn how to throw it and give them distance goals.

36. Pin Pictures

Print out some pictures and help them pin the pictures to a board or wall. Let them pick the pictures they want.

37. Build a Fort

Grab your cushions and blankets and build a fort or a tunnel for your kids to play with. I know that’s where some of my favorite childhood memories come from.

38. Train and Tracks

An alternative to playing with cars. Our kids love those wood train tracks they can put together however they want.

39. Flower Arranging

I have no clue how to arrange flowers, but my wife has some plastic flowers that she and our kids like to play with and make bouquets.

40. Cleaning

Toddlers can be taught that cleaning is fun. Household chores like wiping the counters, vacuuming or doing laundry are good for them to learn and they will probably enjoy doing them with you.

41. Matching Shapes/Letters/Numbers

Cut out some letters, numbers or shapes and have them match them into labeled bags or bowls.

42. Swimming

Whether you have a small toddler pool, a backyard pool or whatever body of water nearby, take them swimming. It’s great exercise for everyone.

43. Bubbles

Everyone loves bubbles. You can either use a machine and let them play with them or help them learn to use a wand and blow the bubble themselves.

44. Chalk

Sidewalk chalk has endless possibilities for your child’s creativity and learning. From number and letter recognition to drawing all sorts of animals, your child will always have something to do. Our kids love to have us lay down so they can trace our body outline.

45. Hopscotch

We’ve all played hopscotch on a playground. Draw it out for your kids and help them learn then they will know how to do it themselves later as well.

46. Tee Ball

It’s never too early to get your kids active and into sports. Tee Ball is very simple and easy for them to understand and play.

47. Working Out

Finding time to work out does get more difficult with kids so one of the best things we can do is get them involved with it. The more they see us working out, the more they will have a healthy relationship with it too.

48. Red Light, Green Light

Both of our toddlers have loved playing red light, green light. Turn away from them yelling “green light” to prompt them to run at you. then make them stop by facing them again and yelling “red light.” It has also helped us with giving them instructions in public places. Let them be the light too.

49. Freeze Dance

Put on some music and instruct your toddler to freeze whenever the music stops.

50. London Bridge

Most of us remember playing these types of games with our friends when we were younger, so why not teach it to our kids.

51. Cornhole

One of my favorite toddler activities. If you don’t have a set, there are some cheap toddler options as well.

52. Soccer

Soccer is a great game for coordination and every toddler loves to kick a ball around.

53. 4 Square

This one took a while to understand, but 4 square is always a fun option on a nice day.

54. Water Balloon Fight

Water balloon fights have always been fun and now they are even better with those water balloons that fill up a ton at once. Fast and easier to get set up than when we were kids.

55. Water Guns

Having a water gun fight outside the house is a lot of fun. It’s just as fun for the kids to grab the hose sometimes to spray them.

56. Water Table

If your toddler hasn’t ever played with a water table, it’s a great way for them to play with water. They are interactive with cause and effect and it will keep them entertained for a long time.

57. Throwing Rocks

Luckily for us, we have a river close to our house that we can walk to. There is a good spot there with lots of rocks for our kids to throw in the river. It’s peaceful and relaxing for everyone.

58. Go For a Walk

You can go to a trail or just around the neighborhood. Everyone should go on walks for their health.

59. Gardening

I don’t have a very green thumb, but in the summertime, we try to have tomatoes and basil in the backyard. We love teaching our toddlers about plants and how to take care of them.

60. Making a Fire

This one is just as much for me as it is for my toddlers. I come from a family of firefighters, so teaching fire safety to them is very important to me. S’mores are also delicious.

61. Riding a Scooter or Bike

A great toddler activity for them to get outside and start learning balance early. This is something we wish we got them started on sooner.

62. Basketball

Basketball is a fun game with our kids. I like to play pig with them or help them dunk the basketball.

63. Nature Preserve

Find a local nature preserve that your kids can explore. Maybe bring some lunch and eat it there.

64. Zoo

We’ve taken the kids to zoos in multiple states and they always love it. The hardest part is just keeping them out of the gift shop. If you have more than one little one, a double stroller will help keep them contained.

65. Aquarium

Being from Georgia, the aquarium has always been fun for me and I love taking our kids there.

66. Petting Zoo

We have found some good local petting zoos. Our kids love to feed and interact with the animals.

67. Museum

Taking our kids to the museum is one of my wife’s favorites. She loves teaching them and instilling in them a curiosity to want to learn more about the world.

68. Interactive Museum

We have a couple of interactive museums within an hour of where we live and it’s fun seeing our kids play with the different activities there whether it’s playing with a wind tunnel or building small planes.

69. Apple Picking

Take the kids to an apple tree farm and let them pick some apples. Our oldest might have enjoyed the tractor ride out to the orchard more than the apple picking itself though.

70. Strawberry Picking

Same with apples, but with strawberries. Bring home buckets of strawberries that your kids picked out.

71. Library

Libraries are a great place to have your kids learn to love. It’s quiet and exciting for a toddler to see so many books in the same place. Libraries usually host activities for kids throughout the week too.

72. Arcade

There is so much fun you can have with your toddler at an arcade. Help them learn to play ski ball or pinball. Order a pizza and let them choose what to play.

73. Bowling

Our kids have fun every time we go bowling. Until we took our kids, I didn’t even know that they have those bowling ball slides for small kids to push the ball so they can play.

74. Hiking

Obviously, we want to choose something short and easy for the kids, but it’s really good for them to get out and explore a little in the outdoors. Maybe find one with a waterfall or a nice view at the end of it.

75. Traveling Events

There are always traveling events that you can find to take your kids. We Wish the Jurassic World Live Tour was going to be near us, but I’m sure we will find other things we can take our kids to.