20 indoor activities for toddlers

Last Updated on April 1, 2024

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Sometimes due to the weather, due to needing to do things around the house, or because we need some time for ourselves, we need to think of some indoor activities for toddlers that will keep our toddlers busy and engaged.

If you’d like some indoor toddler activity ideas that you can draw on when you need some time at home, then here are 20 indoor activities for toddlers that you may like to try.

If you have older children and would like some indoor activity ideas for them, here are 50 indoor activities for kids that they’ll love.

Indoor activities for toddlers

Here are 20 toddler activities that are perfect for the indoors.

Make a fort

I don’t know what it is about forts that toddlers love, but it’s an activity that’s sure to keep them entertained for some time.

A fort can be made from cushions, chairs, blankets, and anything else your toddler likes, as long as they can crawl inside it and do something they love, watch their favourite show, or if you’re lucky take a nap.

Obstacle courses

Obstacle courses are a fun toddler indoor activity, as well as a way to get your toddler moving.

Obstacle courses can be made from setting up pillows, toys, blankets, and other items that your toddler has to step on, or jump over, to get from a start point to an end point.

Dance party

Toddlers love dancing, so another activity to get them moving is to play some toddler friendly music and get them to have a dance party.

Hide and seek

Hide and seek is a great activity for toddlers that you can play together, or where you can hide one of their favourite toys and get them to find it.

Bowling

You could set up a bowling lane for your toddler at home by using different items as pins, and their favourite ball to bowl them over.

Pins could be cans, bottles, toys, cardboard tubes, and even toilet rolls.

Scavenger hunts

Send your toddler on a scavenger hunt around the house by giving them a basket and asking them to find items of the same colour, or a certain number of a particular item, like finding 5 teddy bears.

Line walking or car driving

If you have some masking tape you could tape it to the floor in different shapes, including straight lines, curves, circles, squares, or any other shape, and get your toddler to walk forwards and backwards on them, or drive their cars on them.

Tower building

If you have some cardboard boxes, wooden blocks, or even magnetic tiles, your toddler could build a tower, and even try to build it taller than they are.

Create a toy washing station

A toy washing station can be set up in a bucket of water, in the sink, or bath, where toddlers can wash their toys with soapy water, a sponge, then a towel to dry them off.

Balloon games

Toddlers love balloons, and some great balloon games that they can play is to see how long they can keep a balloon off the ground, or how many attempts it takes them to throw a balloon in a basket.

Arts and crafts

Arts and crafts are a great way for toddlers to express their creativity, practice their scissor skills, and keep them engaged.

If your toddler loves arts and crafts, here are 10 easy arts and crafts for toddlers that they may enjoy.

Shaving cream art

Messy play is something that toddlers love, but at times us mums don’t, so a great way to try to do messy play as non messy as possible is to put some shaving cream in a tub, or on a tray, and add some food colouring, toys, or sponges to it and get your toddler to create works of art using their fingers.

Food necklaces

Toddlers can make their own necklaces by putting food like pasta or cereal on some string or a shoelace, which can also become a toddler friendly snack.

Pom Pom fun

Toddlers can use Pom Poms in many different ways, some of these include:

• Poking them through whisks
• Putting them in small containers
• Sticking them to paper
• Sorting them by colour
• Pom Pom arts and crafts

Play-Doh

Play-Doh is a great indoor activity for toddlers, as it helps with their motor skill development, and allows them to be creative with the different ways they play with it.

When doing this activity with my toddler, I like to have a set of Play-Doh colours on hand and choose a few for him to play with at one time.

I also give him some Play-Doh tools and Play-Doh food making sets, so he can make different things, and even pretend to make me food.

Cardboard box creations

Toddlers love making things with cardboard boxes, and some of the things they can make are trains, cars, car ramps, planes, and houses.

They can even draw on them with paint sticks, which as well as being mess free, means they won’t make holes in their creations, which is what can happen when using pencils or markers.

Animal rescue activity

This indoor toddler activity from Busy Toddler is a lot of fun. It involves taping their favourite toys to the floor, wall, or furniture, and getting them to remove the tape so they can save their toys.

Baking

Baking with toddlers is a tasty way to spend time at home, and can be made toddler friendly by making box cakes or cupcakes, baking muffins, decorating cookies, or trying any of these kids baking recipes.

Reading

Reading is an indoor toddler activity that I do with my toddler, by sitting on the couch and reading a few of his favourite books together.

You could also do this by reading in the fort they made earlier, or reading in their favourite place.

If this is a toddler activity you’d like to do, here are some of the best books for 2 year olds with many that my toddler loves, or some books for 6 year olds if you have an older child as well.

Fun baths

If you’ve got a long day ahead of you, getting your toddler into a bath is a nice way to pass some time.

You can make your toddler’s bath fun by adding some bath glow sticks, bath light up toys, or even Crayola Bath Dropz to the bath to make it colourful.

I hope you’ve found some indoor activities for toddlers here that you think your toddler will love, and that will even give you some time to do things that you need to get done.

What indoor activities for toddlers do you recommend?