We’ve put together 11 quick and easy activities for toddlers. Things that don’t take long to set up but will keep little ones busy and entertained for ages.
Perfect for when you need a craft or play activity to fill in an afternoon.
1. Crazy hair people
This is a fun activity for toddlers that is not only great fun but helps them with their fine motor control as they practice snipping with scissors. First make some crazy hair people by rolling a piece of paper or thin card around the top of a cardboard tube. Tape it in place. Ask your child to draw on a face. Then show them how to make lots of snips with scissors (remind them not to cut right down to the tube) to make a crazy hairstyle.
Do you remember how much fun you used to have playing with your mum’s button box as a child? There’s something so satisfying about running your hands through a pile of buttons. Your child can use buttons to make all sorts of pictures and designs. You could draw an outline or a starting point for them (above we have drawn a tree trunk) and then they can place or glue lots of buttons to complete their picture. Do use large buttons with little ones and supervise carefully so that they don’t put them in their mouths.
3. Easy activities for toddlers – Make your own playdough
When it comes to easy activities for toddlers you can’t go wrong with playdough. You can whip up your own playdough in minutes. Here’s an easy no cook recipe:
- 2 cups of plain flour
- 1 cup of salt
- 1 cup of cold water
- 1 teaspoon of cooking oil
- 2-3 drops of food colouring
Simply mix all your ingredients together until you have a nice squishy ball of playdough. You can give your child a rolling pin and cookie cutters to make shapes. They can also make all sorts of creations by rolling and shaping the dough and adding matchsticks, googly eyes feathers and any other craft bits you have around. You could also put out lots of different things for them to press into the playdough to make patterns – such as Lego bricks, a wooden fork, a pine cone and leaves.
4. Leaf creations
Gather some leaves on a walk or from your garden and use them to create some lovely nature pictures. Here we made tree trunks from cardboard roles cut down the middle. Then glued our leaves all around to make a tree. But your child will have lots of other ideas to make leaf pictures. You could draw an outline of a hedgehog and they could stick on leaves to make the prickles. Or perhaps they could draw a lion’s face and stick leaves all around it to make a mane?
5. Easy activities for toddlers – Discovering gloop
This is a great easy activity for toddlers. To make gloop simply mix together 1 and a half cups of cornflour with a cup of water. It’s such a lovely mixture. It feels like liquid as you scoop it up. Then when you squeeze it in your hands it feels like a solid. Stop squeezing and it runs through your fingers again like a liquid. Your toddler will be fascinated by it. You can add food colouring and even glitter to make your gloop even more exciting.
6. Paper weaving
This is a lovely activity for toddlers. Cut strips of different coloured paper or card and your child can have fun arranging them in different patterns. Show them how they can cross them over each other to create a woven pattern. They might like to just play with making patterns or they could glue them to a piece of card to make a finished design.
7. The secret door
This one takes a bit of prep but is a super exciting play idea for little ones. Using a huge piece of cardboard (or several large pieces taped together) make a large rectangle to fit in a doorway or the door to a cupboard. Carefully cut out a doorway and window. Then tape it inside your doorframe. Your child now has their own secret door to the room and can help you paint it and decorate it.
8. Paper people
Remember making these as a child? First take a long rectangle of card or paper. Then fold it in a concertina. One the top fold draw the shape of a person. Then cut round it but make sure you don’t cut along the folded edge where the hands and feet will join. Open out the concertina and you will have a line of little people holding hands. Now your child can draw faces and either draw or use craft materials (fabric scraps and wool, for example) to make hair and clothes.
9. Easy activities for toddlers – Snipping snowflakes
Another blast from the past. Snip some super snowflakes. To start cut out a circle of paper. Fold in half and in half again. Then fold in half twice more. You are left with a triangular shape of folded paper. Your child can now start snipping, cutting out little shapes along the folds. Once they’ve finished they can open out the circle to reveal their snowflake. Add glitter for some added sparkle.
10. Pasta pictures
Dried pasta is exciting for toddlers to scoop and play with. Doing so makes a great sensory experience. Once they’ve had fun exploring the feel of the pasta they can use it to make some fab pictures. You could draw an outline of an animal for them to fill in with their pasta. Or perhaps they could make a house with it instead? PVA glue works well to stick the pasta down to your sheet of paper.
11. Pipe cleaner bracelets
One of the easiest ways to make bracelets for little ones is to thread beads onto pipe cleaners. This activity again uses lots of fine motor skills. You can also teach your child about patterns, helping them thread on beads in repeating patterns. Once they have enough beads on their pipe cleaner just bend it into a circle and twist the ends so they can wear their creation with pride.
Want to get out and about, have fun with your baby or toddler, and meet other parents?
Search Happity to find everything that’s happening for the under-5’s in your local area – from music and singing classes, to messy play, arts and crafts, baby massage, gymnastics and more. Simply enter your postcode and child’s age to search, and then book your spot in a few taps. Enjoy dedicated fun time with your little one, watch their skills develop, and make friends at the same time. Mums, dads, grandparents and carers will all find something to love!
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9 easy and adorable nature crafts for kids
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