Are you trying to find new ways to entertain your infant or toddler while working at home? Looking for ways to have fun during your days inside with your little one? Check out these 6 activities that will keep your infants and toddlers entertained.
Mess Free Painting
Painting with little ones can be a mess, especially because little ones love tasting just about everything. Pouring paint in a ziploc bag and taping it shut – securely – allows your infant or toddler to use their senses without the mess. They can swish the paint around and you can even mix in primary colors and have them make secondary colors while exploring why they can touch the paint but don’t have it on their hand. This activity can even be adjusted to little infants at tummy time, because all you have to do is tape the bag to the floor and viola you have a sensory floor mat.
Bottle Shakers
This a great activity to help develop your infant or toddler’s fine motor skills while allowing them to create something that makes noise. Boy, do babies love to make noise! You can use any recycled bottle or container (hint: the more narrow the opening the more challenging for your infant or toddler) and beans, cheerios, puffs, anything that makes noise really. (Please note, that infants and toddlers should not handle anything that might be a choking hazard). Have them fill the bottle up and SHAKE, SHAKE, SHAKE to make some noise. Then you can dump it out and do it again!
Bath Time for Toy Animals
This is a great sensory activity for you infant or toddler and it can be adjusted for any season. Too cold to do this on the porch or backyard? No problem! Just make it a bath time activity. All you need is a brush, rubber animals, and a tub of water. Have you kids brush those animals sparkling clean. It might be a little messy but it’s guaranteed fun!
Scrap Paper Ball Toss
Do you have scrap paper at home? Crumble them into balls and toss the back and forth between with your toddler or infant. You can even play “basket” ball with an empty basket or tub and have them dunk their paper balls.
Parachute Fun (with or without Paper Balls)
Did you have fun with the paper balls? Another way to reuse them is to play parachute with your toddler or infant. Grab a bed sheet an toss the paper balls in the middle. You can put you child under the sheet and gently shake the sheet up and down. Babies will love watching the sheet go up and down above them. It’s almost like a game of peek-a-boo!
Cardboard Box/Roll Play
Do you have empty boxes or empty paper towel rolls? Tape up your boxes and you have your very own big blocks to build and knock down. Roll paper towel rolls around the floor or see if you can stack them up together. If you still have your paper balls, you can even see how many paper balls fit inside the empty paper towel roll. The possibilities are endless!
If you like these ideas, make sure you check out the kids section of Creativebug, MCPL’s online video library specifically for arts and crafts. All you need is your library card number and pin (your year of birth) to access everything from paper-crafting to knitting and crocheting.