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If there’s one thing you can rely on in the UK, it’s that the weather can be very changeable. In the summer months, with longer daylight hours and warmer temperatures, it’s often easier to get out and about with little ones, helping them to get active and burn off some energy. At other times of the year, especially during the winter, opportunities for outdoor exercise can be much harder to come by.
In this article, we’ve compiled a list of indoor toddler activities to help your little one keep them active and entertained, so they can discover so much more about the world around them and use up some energy.
Young children tend to have a lot of energy and although they also need plenty of sleep and rest, when they are awake, it often feels like they are always on the go. Part of this can be because they have a lot to learn and are naturally curious about the world around them. Another reason can be that young children usually live in the present and are stimulated by what is around them at any given time, without the responsibilities and worries about other things that often come with age and can tire us out mentally.
Children tend to have really short attention spans, typically a minute per year of age. This means that your two- or three-year-old is likely to have an attention span of just a couple of minutes before they are off and looking for something different to do.
As a parent or carer of a toddler, finding positive ways to help them use that energy can be a challenge, especially if you have to stay indoors and only have limited space to work with. The good news is that there are lots of activities and games you can play indoors to help with this.
Depending on your individual child and their level of development, you can go retro by bringing back some playground games such as:
Hopscotch
You can mark out some size-appropriate squares on the floor with tape and practice jumping or hopping over the lines. Alternatively, you can use paper or pillowcases on the floor if you don’t have tape handy. Instead of throwing a pebble, you can throw a small stuffed toy that your little one can hop or jump to and pick up.
This indoor version of hopscotch can help improve agility, gross motor skills and focus, as well as balance and coordination.
Play Simon Says
The premise of this game is very simple. The child needs to listen out for the words ‘Simon Says’ before doing the activity you suggest.
Playing Simon Says is great for helping with your child’s comprehension skills and you can bring in some exercised-focused activities to help burn off that excess energy. E.g. jump up and down, sit down and stand up again, stand on one leg etc.
Making an indoor den is one of childhood’s great joys and you can make it happen with just a few simple resources from around the home.
Depending on what you have to hand, a den can be made from things such as a large cardboard box (big enough for the child to sit inside), a couple of throws or blankets or an old bed sheet.
Any space will do when it comes to making a den. It might be a gap between two sofas or chairs, a bottom bunk bed, under a dining table or just the corner of a room. If using a cardboard box, the inside and/or outside can be decorated with crayons or stickers. Add a couple of cushions to the den and it becomes a fun and cosy place to hang out and do some seated activities, such as looking at books together. The great thing about homemade dens is that they can be taken apart in seconds too, ready to build again another day.
A great indoor activity for toddlers who love to move as much as possible is to build them a simple obstacle course in your home. Whether it’s making stepping stones out of paper on the floor, including a chair that can be crawled under, using a folded blue towel or sheet as a ‘river’ to jump across or challenges along the way, like stacking blocks or cups, you can tailor the obstacles to your little one’s age and preferences.
Once they get used to the obstacles, asking them to carry something with them, like a stuffed toy, as they complete the course can help build even more concentration and focus, as well as the benefits of the physical activity involved.
It’s a timeless activity that gets you and your toddler moving and burning up some energy. Turning it into a game of musical statues i.e. standing still when the music stops, or musical bumps i.e. sitting down when the music stops, can be a good way to add some extra interest.
Something as simple as throwing screwed-up balls of paper into a box or tub can be a fun activity for toddler age and up. Starting really close and dropping them in to start, then moving a little further away to make it more of a challenge. For really little ones, just picking up and dropping the paper balls into one or more boxes, bowls, tubs or buckets can be great for fine motor skill development.
With a few minutes of prep, you can ‘hide’ a few household objects in places they wouldn’t normally be kept, and task your toddler with going to find them. This could be something like taping a small toy to a door, popping a toilet roll in the washing machine or putting a stuffed toy in their bed.
As an alternative, asking your toddler to find and bring back normal household things from wherever they normally ‘live’ can also be a fun and active game. Tasking them with seeking out and bringing back a tea towel, a particular toy, a shoe etc can help with comprehension and motor skills.
Wrapping some of your little one’s favourite small toys in kitchen foil can be a fun activity that poses a little challenge for them to unwrap. You can reuse the foil many times, and lots of toddlers find it very entertaining to unwrap toys they already know and love.
As well as burning off that boundless energy that toddlers often seem to have and helping with age-appropriate physical fitness, active play, even in a small space, can help with their development in lots of other areas, including:
At Kids Planet, we’re a family-led group of early years settings across the UK and we understand the importance and value of active play and learning in little ones. Our teams across every setting are dedicated to providing inclusive, welcoming and positive early years education and care that helps your child develop, grow and learn in fun and active ways.
If you’re looking for a safe and nurturing environment for your child to experience all of the benefits of nursery and active learning through play, you can find your nearest nursery today.
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