Having a toddler (or two!) in the house can turn out to be a tiring affair if one has no idea on how to keep them entertained. There is, of course, the obvious matter of little ones not having a very long attention span – they bore all too easily, don’t they? Well, fret not dear parents, for here, we have taken the liberty of compiling up to 10 different ways you can try to keep your little ones suitably occupied, while spending some precious time with them too.
1. Simple water transfer game
Fill a large bowl with water. Place one or more smaller empty containers a few centimeters away from it. Now, get your little one to scoop water using a deep spoon from the large bowl and transfer it into the smaller container. If junior is up for a challenge, ask him to try this without spilling any water!
2. Child-friendly reusable stickers
Whoever invented these definitely had parents’ sanity in mind, for they are indispensable to keep little ones entertained and occupied! These colorful, attractive stickers are generally non-toxic and can be used on any surface, including ones you would rather not have junior stick anything on – for they can come off easily, and be used again too. Reusable stickers can be purchased online, on from toy stores, and selected supermarkets too.
3. Set up a pillow road
This simple little activity is suitable for younger toddlers, especially those who love to play with toy vehicles. What you need to do is to simply arrange a few pillows together in a line, resembling a road, and start it off by showing your little one how it’s done: Just push his or her toy vehicle along the ‘pillow road’! You can add more drama to this activity by getting junior to pretend that the vehicle must stay on the pillows due to ‘dangers’ on the sides! Just a suggestion, dear parent, for sure you have better ideas!
4. Connect the dots
This one can be fun, even if your little one can’t count or recognise numbers or alphabets yet. All you need to do is to make a dozen or more large dots on a big piece of paper. Use a child-friendly marker pen for this. Next, hand over the marker pen to your child and see what happens. You can, however, offer simple instructions on how to connect the dots, but it need not be in any particular order. The aim is for junior to practice his motor skills.
5. I call out, you erase
For this one, you’ll need a dry-erase marker (a marker pen with ink that can be erased with a dry tissue, cloth or paper towel. The idea is to write the alphabets or numbers 1-20 on a glass sliding door or any other suitable surface such as a mirror, etc. Next, start calling out the numbers or alphabets one by one, while junior erases them.
6. Art with shaving cream
First of course, go ahead and ask your partner if he cares to spare some of his shaving cream for his little one’s entertainment! Next, get a sheet of baking paper and lay it flat on junior’s play surface. Spray the sheet with shaving cream, in no particular order. Then drip a few drops of food coloring onto the shaving cream. Get junior to swirl the cream using his fingers, to make any pattern he fancies – and there you have it, shaving cream art!
7. Sink, soap & toys!
If you haven’t guessed it yet, here’s how it goes – Just fill the properly-cleaned kitchen sink with water, add some soap and make it as sudsy as you can. Kids love suds! Next, drop a few of your little one’s washable toys into the soapy sink. And now, the fun begins! Allow your child to just ‘wash’ their toys clean. You may be underestimating how much fun he or she will be having doing so, with soapy suds and all!
8. Beware of the floor!
Who among us hasn’t played this game when we were kids ourselves? Place pieces of paper wide enough for your child to step on comfortably, and make sure that the pieces are:
- Taped to the floor
- Near enough to the next piece so that junior can step from one paper to the next without having to step on the floor.
- Now, let the fun begin! Tell your kid to pretend that the floor is the ocean and that there are sharks in it! The idea is to keep stepping only on the pieces of paper on the floor, to get from one chair or sofa to another and vice-versa.
9. Home-made sensory bin
You may need some time for bin-prepping and experimenting with textures, but your toddler is going to love it! Go ahead and fill a medium sized plastic storage container with grains such as lentils, peas, rice, and so on. Next add in some of your child’s toys – sort them out to include different textures, shapes, sizes. And there you have it, invite your child to have some tactile fun using his or her hands. You may also replace or add to the contents of this sensory bin for variety.
10. DIY match the object
This activity is suitable for older toddlers but there is no harm in trying it out on younger kids too. You’ll need some child-friendly markers; a manila card; a pair of scissors; a few of your child’s toys (you can also use a few of their favorite objects in the house). Cut the manila card into 4 or 6 pieces, depending on how big or small the toys used. Next, trace one toy each on its own manila card – try to have the best traced-out match possible so that the toy or object will ‘fit’ into it. Now, your child can start fitting the toys or objects into their respective traced outlines.
