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There are definitely days I feel guilty for the amount of screen time my toddler is engaging in and the lack of time outside. She loves to be outside, but sometimes I forget how easy is to just get outside. And it’s honestly the best for all of us to get some fresh air and sunshine.
Sometimes my kids will entertain themselves with rocks and what not, but sometimes I like to set up an activity to occupy them. If you haven’t already tried any of my toddler activities, the majority of them are a super simple set up – because let’s be real, sometimes those elaborate activities are more work to set up than the pay off.
- Ice Painting
This is as simple as it sounds. Grab a pan or a bowl and fill it with ice (you can also freeze water in the bowl as your ice canvas). Get a palette of paints out (I use regular tempera paint) and let your toddler paint away.
As they paint, the ice will melt off some of the colors and they’ll have a new ice canvas to paint on. This activity kept my 3 year old occupied for close to an hour – which is a huge win. - Ice Rescue
Grab a large muffin tin and throw some of your toddler’s small plastic or silicone toys inside. You can add some food coloring (I use the dye free kind) if you’d like and then freeze the tray. Once the toys are all frozen, grab some cups of salt water and pipettes. Take the ice out of the tins and let your toddle “save” their toys by squirting them with the salt water! - Ping Pong Hunt
If your toddler loved doing an easter egg hunt, this is an easy and fun way to incorporate it all year long. Grab some different colored ping pong balls and hide them around your yard. You can also grab bowls or cups in the same colors and have your toddler color sort their ping pong balls for an extra activity.
As a mom of young children, I have learned some lessons when it comes to setting up activities – read about them in this post. I always try to remind myself that it doesn’t have to be complicated. My toddler usually loves whatever random activities I throw together for her to do. Even if she doesn’t do the activity exactly how it’s planned – I still let her go with it. Worst case, she doesn’t love it but we still got outside and tried. Check out the rest of my go to Toddler Activities or grab my eBook of 52 Easy Toddler Activities for more activities like this!
In case you haven’t heard it lately, you’re doing a great job. xx Ciara
