Family activities toddlers: 40+ Super Easy Toddler Activities

40+ Super Easy Toddler Activities

Busy Toddler » Play » Indoor Activities » 40+ Super Easy Toddler Activities

Author: Susie    Published: 11/27/2016    Updated: 08/26/2022

Need something quick to do today? Check out this list of easy toddler activities.

Easy toddler activities are  my favorite activities. I don’t have a ton of time to go running around gathering supplies or making elaborate plans for my toddlers. I need quick. I need easy. I need fast.

When I’m looking for a toddler activity, I’m looking for ones that:

• Use supplies I already have
• Take less than 2 minutes to set up
• Have a high likelihood that my toddler(s) will play for more than 5 minutes (hopefully 15-20 minutes)

How cool would it be to have pre-planned activities each day?! Check out Playing Preschool: 190 days of at-home learning.

I’ve search the Internet for more than 40 easy toddler activities to share.

You are going to love the activities that I’ve found. They all fit my easy activity criteria and will definitely help you make it to nap time.

40+ easy toddler activities

In no particular order, check out these 40+ easy toddler activities – get ready to click through to some amazing sites!

Sticker Line-Up – Busy Toddler

Laundry Hamper Fishing – Munchkins and Moms

Perfect DIY Spring Toddler Activities – Natural Beach Living

Sort and Drop Color Activity with Lego Bricks – Toddler Approved

Pasta Play – Messy Little Monster

Fine Motor Color Sorting Activity – Munchkins and Moms

Toddler Fine Motor Water Activity – Teaching 2 and 3 year olds

Erase the ABCs – Busy Toddler

Homemade Bath Paints – Parenting Chaos

Golf Tee Push – Busy Toddler

Matching Objects – Toddler Approved

Painting on Foil – Messy Little Monster

Card Slot Drop – Busy Toddler

Shape Hunt Sensory Bin – Fun with Mama

Whisking Bubbles – Emma Owl

Simple Entertainment Sensory Bottles – Mama Smiles

Snow Mobiles – Busy Toddler

Magic Sand for Baby – Emma Owl

Name Broom Hockey – Toddler Approved

What’s Magnetic – Busy Toddler

Baby Play with Rice and Cookie Cutters – Simple Fun for Kids

Homemade Household Objects Puzzle – Mama. Papa.Bubba.

Stacking Cups – Adventures of Adam

Recycled Building – Busy Toddler

CD Stacking Fine Motor Play – Adventures of Adam

Pom Pom Racing – Emma Owl

Crunchy Box – Busy Toddler

Pom Pom Push – Busy Toddler

Alphabet Letter Fishing – Fun with Mama

Lego Bath – Busy Toddler

Quick and Simple Fine Motor Activity – My Joy-Filled Life

Impromptu Drum Circle – Mama.Papa.Bubba.

What’s Missing – Busy Toddler

Mini Treasure Hunt – Mama.Papa.Bubba.

Pouring Station – Busy Toddler

Painting with Cars – Munchkins and Moms

Floating Letters – Busy Toddler

Tong Transfer Game – Mama.Papa.Bubba.

Scooping Pom Poms – Buggy and Buddy

Grab and Sort – Busy Toddler

Fine Motor ABCs – A Dab of Glue Will Do

Rice Bin – Busy Toddler

Sink or Float Discovery Station – Mama. Papa.Bubba.

Hide the Animals – Busy Toddler

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Reader Interactions

20 Toddler Activities

Disclosure: This post contains Amazon affiliates. To read more about this, see my disclosure policy.

It’s pretty clear to me that many moms out there are seeking toddler activities to keep their little ones busy. My post on 20 Ways to Keep Toddlers Busy has been my all-time, most viewed and pinned post, so I decided I would add to the list and write 20 MORE ways to keep toddlers busy!! My other post focused on toddler activities that they could do independently. This list is a little different because some of these are activities are designed for parents to do with your toddler to keep them busy. Hope these ideas will be helpful to you!

1. Bathtub with Stuffed Animals

Have a fun playtime with all your child’s favorite stuffed animals! Just simply put them in an empty bathtub and let them play. My kids played for a long time using their imagination. They pretended they were on Noah’s ark during the flood. 🙂

And just for fun, here is a flashback to my sister and I doing when we were kids! (I’m on the left!)

2. Edible Finger Paint

Here’s a fun sensory activity for your toddler — edible finger paint! All you need is flour, water, and food coloring to make this! To see all the details, click here. (One side note- this does not last long. Mine had mold after a week.)

3. Felt Board

To start off, I made a felt board simply by just putting felt onto a bulletin board (I used sticky felt) .

We use this felt board to play with our felt activity bags. The activity below is called Little Mouse. For the game, you just hide the mouse under a colored house and say this phrase:

Little Mouse, Little Mouse, Are you hiding behind the ________ (say a color) house? 

Then you see if they are right. It is a great activity for practicing colors. To see all our felt activities (and get the templates), click here.

4. Car Wash with Toy Cars

This activity is SO fun! We took our toy cars and got them cleaned with our car wash! I set the toy cars up by the sink. Then I filled the sink with soapy water. We also had a bucket of water on the other side to rise the cars off. Lastly, we dried them with a towel. I loved this activity because my son learned how to follow steps and he also could do this by himself with me just watching. He was so proud of his clean cars! You could also do his with action figures, dolls, little animals, etc.

5. Shaving Cream or Whipped Cream

A fun (but messy) sensory activity is letting your child play with shaving cream or whipped cream.  The first picture below is my son playing with whipped cream. He is making a forest with pretzel-shaped trees.

We have also played with shaving cream. The picture below shows my son playing with shaving cream and water beads together. If your child puts things in their mouth, then this would not be a good activity for them.

6. Water Beads

Water beads are so much fun! They are round, squishy balls that come in all sorts of colors. You can find water beads at the Dollar Store in the floral section or here on Amazon. They are actually used as fillers in floral arrangements.

Since water beads are not edible, you may feel unsafe about letting your little one play with them. Especially if they put things in their mouths! An alternative would be these safe water beads, made from tapioca pearls. You can read how I made them in this post.

7. Button Snake

Create a button snake to help your little one work on their fine motor skills. It’s a great quiet activity, too! To make this, you need a piece of ribbon, two buttons, squares of felt, and needle & thread.

Start by sewing a button on each end of the ribbon. Then cut out squares of felt and cut a slit in the middle.

Then test it out with your toddler! Have them poke the button through the holes in the felt. It may take some time to get the hang of it. This is great for fine motor skills!

8. Bath Paint

In the winter, we play with bath paint several times a week! It’s so easy to make. I squirt shaving cream in a muffin tin and add food coloring to it. Then I let the boys use paint brushes to “paint” their bath tub. They love it!

9. Pom Pom Drop 

To make this I took an oatmeal container and cut a circle on the top. Then I used large pom poms (found at Hobby Lobby) and had my toddler poke them through the hole. Even though this seems simple, he loved it! We also used this as a counting practice. He loved counting how many pom poms we poked through the hole.

10.  Colored Spaghetti Noodles

These crazy spaghetti noodles are a super fun sensory activity! To see more on how we did it, visit this post.

11. Sensory Sink

Sensory sinks are really fun to set up. It’s similar to the car wash, but they have a theme. This one is a pond. To see more on our sensory sink, click here.

12. Fine Motor Practice with Cheerios

My kids love this activity. Just take some play dough, roll it in a ball, then stick spaghetti noodles on the top. Have your toddler slide cheerios down the noodle. It’s simple, but great for practicing fine motor skills! And it really keeps them busy.

13. Sensory Bottles

Sensory bottles are beautiful and fun for little ones to shake and explore. To see how we made these, click here.

14. Melting Ice

There’s something about melting ice that’s fun for kids. We like to freeze water balloons and then squirt them with warm water in squeeze bottles. It’s also a great science lesson on water and ice.

You could also stick little treasures inside the water before freezing them. We did that with a spikey ball in this post.

Or you could put little dinosaurs in the water balloons and make them Dino Eggs! You can read how we did that here.

15. Cardboard Box Fort

It’s funny how kids love playing with simple things…like cardboard boxes! My husband brought home this huge box from work one day, so we turned it into a little fort. My son played with it for hours!

16. Hammer Golf Tees in Styrofoam

For this activity, I took a block of styrofoam and had my toddler use a toy hammer to poke in golf tees.

17. Ice Cube Painting

So for this activity, you just fill an ice tray with water and color the water with food coloring. Put them in the freezer and after 20 minutes, stick toothpicks or rounded popscicle sticks into them. Let them freeze until solid. Then you pop them out of the try and have your toddler paint with them. It will look like watercolors on the paper. I know some of you will tell me that toothpicks are sharp and dangerous…and I agree. I should have used popsicle sticks with my toddler. Next time I will!

18. Cloud Dough

This is probably one of our all-time favorite things to do. You just need flour and oil (I use baby oil) and you can make this! You can find the recipe here.

19. Sidewalk Paint

We love coloring the sidewalk with this paint! All you do is mix 1 part water to 1 part cornstarch. Then add in some food coloring.

20. Cardboard Tubes with Pom Poms

In my other toddler post, I shared the activity of dropping pom poms down a cardboard tube. To spice up the activity, you could add more than one tube. My toddler had so much fun with this variation of the activity. You could try it so many different ways!

Hope you’ll try some of these activities out with your toddlers! Happy Playing!

Want more toddler ideas? Check out my book, Play and Learn Toddler Activities. This book is filled with over 200 hands-on activities for toddlers that are fun, easy, and will keep your toddler busy! Click here for more information.

Family events in companies: why does business need it?

Firstly, the same mechanisms operate here as in a regular corporate event – joint leisure time works to unite the team, and the opportunity to look at each other in an informal setting brings people closer together. The family format contributes to this even more – people get closer on the basis of the “children’s” theme and even begin to make friends “at home”. Often at such events, stable companies form for joint leisure and recreation. Couples without children also find friends.

Secondly, successful family events are a great way to strengthen the relationship between an employee and the company due to the fact that family members join the ranks of people loyal to the company. In marketing there is such a thing – “persons that influence the decision.” When it comes to a large purchase, the decision is usually made at the family council. A similar mechanism operates in decisions about employment or dismissal from it. These are serious actions that affect the life of the whole family, so the opinion of the spouse, as a rule, is of great importance.

If one of your employees receives a tempting offer to move to another job, not only their own loyalty to the current employer, but also the loyalty of their family can keep them (“It’s so great and sincere here, such wonderful people, but will it be so on new place?”). Another important point: it is easier to treat with understanding the frequent delays of a spouse at work if you know his colleagues, boss and, in general, are loyal to the company. It is also easier for children to “let go” of mom or dad to work if they are proud of their work.

Events involving families are a good way to increase employee loyalty, also because it is available not only to large companies, but also to very small ones. In this case, organizing them is even easier.

The most obvious reason for a corporate holiday with the participation of families is the New Year.
For example, the Sutochno.ru project team organized a children’s Christmas tree in 2018. Moreover, initially the organizers planned to hold the holiday outside the office, but they realized that it would be much better if the children at the same time see where their parents go every morning, what their work looks like. As a result, the festive action – a smart Christmas tree, Santa Claus, animators and a big paper show – moved to the main hall of the office.

“Yolki can’t be called a classic team building, but shared emotions and pleasant experiences bring colleagues together, including between departments. Children are delighted, parents are satisfied (we know this from an anonymous survey following the results of the holiday), and we closed the first quarter with very worthy results!” – sums up Yuri Kuznetsov, CEO of the Sutochno.ru project.

DIRECTUM also appreciated the benefits and importance of family corporate events and organizes New Year’s children’s parties. It all started with the “tube” performances of employees in the costumes of Snowflakes and Santa Claus. Now, when the company has grown, it rents a large amusement park, skating rink or cultural center, where it invites children and parents. The plans are to have a big family day when employees can invite their parents and show them that they are not just sitting at computers all day. Every year, a family trip is organized here to celebrate the company’s birthday. Last year, we rented an amusement park, where employees invited both relatives and friends.

The company believes that family holidays are a clear way to emphasize that the employer respects the balance of personal life and work.

According to Yulia Chernova, DIRECTUM brand manager, thanks to such events employees stop being “just colleagues” and become friends. Many then go on vacation together, arrange their children in the same schools. Despite the fact that it is difficult for businesses to evaluate the effect of family events in digital terms, the main thing they give is a sense of pride in the company, a sense of choosing the right place of work, where you are valued, cared for and support family values.

Picnics, trips to holiday homes or sporting events for lovers of outdoor activities in the park, joint trips to the skating rink – you can come up with many options for different tastes, budgets and seasons.

Parallels, for example, hosts two corporate events to which families, friends, and associates are invited. In August – Parallels Family Day outdoors, and at the end of December – a holiday at the skating rink.

Arina Antonova, Parallels HR Manager, notes that family-style corporate events allow you to get to know each other better, find common ground, discover new things in a long-term colleague and accumulate joint memories. The atmosphere in the team, including thanks to successful corporate events, becomes more relaxed and beneficial for effective work, trust and creativity. As a result, a successful team makes successful products. She adds that such holidays have become traditions for a wide range of guests, and traditions give a sense of stability and confident movement forward.

The tradition of sightseeing days started in production but then spread to offices.

Group of road construction companies “Asphalt Concrete Plant No. 1” conducts excursions for employees’ children to the production site. The company considers it important to show children the importance of their parents’ work and, at the same time, to interest them in choosing an engineering profession. At the same time, this helps to unite the team – out of a thousand employees, a significant part works in the office, for them it is an opportunity to see the production.

Pfizer organizes open days in the office and introduces students to a variety of professions and specialties.

“Children are always happy to have the opportunity to visit their mother or father at work. If our colleagues have no one to leave their children with, they can take them to the office with them – a special room is equipped for them with children’s furniture, books, toys, art supplies that will help keep the child busy while the parents solve work issues, ”says Galina Sayapina, Head of Communications at Pfizer in Russia, Belarus and the Baltics.

Permanent children’s corners in the office, coupled with the opportunity to take the child with you to work on any day – these are, of course, not separate events, but also a great tool for increasing employee loyalty to the company. And not only loyalty – such a measure generally increases the productivity of employees. And strengthens the HR brand of the company.

If you had interesting HR projects in your company, this is a reason to tell about them and apply for participation in the 2019 HR Brand Award .

Family Day event name

Rubric: Names

Here is a collection of names for Family Day events. Each list item is a self-sufficient (full, complete) title text.

• “The Science of Being a Family”
• “Under the Family Umbrella”
• “Family is a magical symbol of life”
• “Different families are needed, different families are important”
• “Advice and love”
• “What is most important in the world” ?
• “My family is a happy future”
• “Family in the lens”
• “Family around the world”
• “Love and fidelity – two wings of the family”
• “Reliable rear and safe harbor”
• “We are one family!”
• “This is our family…”
• “Happiness and peace to your home!”
• “For the family!”
• “We draw happiness”
• “Under the cover of Peter and Fevronia”
• “Joy and sorrow are always divided!”
• “My heart”
• “Family fortress: time-tested”
• “Family is a great kingdom of love”
• “The simple science of hearing each other”
• “My roots are in my family”
• “7th”
• “Keeping both loyalty and love”
• “Family flash mob”
• “Weather at home”
• “In the circle of loved ones and relatives”
• “Families and new technologies”
• “Nothing is dearer in the world”
• “Family Academy”

• “Fun together”
• “For the sake of the family”
• “Let’s write a novel about us – a lifetime, in a clean copy. ..”
• “The whole family together – then the soul is in place”
• “Branches of the family tree”
• “Developing families”
• “Glorious songs are worthy of a family man”
• “I live there, there is my peace…”
• “Family issue on the pages of books”
• “The crown of all values ​​is the family”
• “Together we are invincible”
• “It’s good that there is a family – it protects from troubles me”
• “Family is us”
• “Look how kind!”
• Problems of the Modern Family
• Family and Inclusive Society
• One Whole
• World of Family = World of Love
• Patrons of Family Happiness
• Family Ecology
• God Bless
• family”
• “More important than the values ​​of others!”
• Portrait of a family in the interior of time
• History of marriage
• Family is an earthly constellation
• Chamomile mood
• Anthem to the Family
• The Perfect Couple
• Family Treasure Island
• We Are of the Same Blood
• Family Crafts
• Family and Aging: Opportunities and Challenges
• Keep the Fire of Love
• “The city is glorious with the family”
• “The best monument to the house is the house”
• “Family ties are silent strings”
• “Russian family: customs and rituals”
• “Family ark”
• “Family and unity of thoughts affairs»
• Family Coat of Arms
• Family, Education and Welfare
• Warmth and Light of the Hearth
• Unquenchable Love
• Family Gatherings
• Family, Healthy Lifestyle and Sustainable Future
• Chamomile Ball
• Family Circle
• Happy Together
• Families for People of All Ages
• Family Traditions
• A Fairy Tale Living in a Family
• Everything is Tough with Her …”
• “The ABC of Family Relations”
• “In the kitchen with the whole family”
• “Gender equality and the rights of children in modern families”
• “Family University”
• “Family – a small Universe”
• “Love and fidelity lives in centuries »
• Chamomile Carousel
• «Family is my small Motherland»
• «The river of times begins in love»
• «Family ball»
• «I have your surname, you have my love»
• « Family traditions of the peoples of different countries”
• “Seven I = family”
• “Their union can be an example…”
• “Everything starts with the family”
• “At the samovar”
• “The family world from A to Z”
• “Family – world of creativity”
• “We are responsible for each other”
• “Family is fun!”
• “More than love…”
• “The key role of families in achieving development goals”
• “The family is a source of inspiration”
• “Home warmth”
• “Building a family through partnership”
• “An example of love and faith”
• “Family – how much there is in this word…”
• “Love and be loved!”
• “Family as a habitat”
• “Balance between work and family responsibilities”
• “Family Festival”
• “World of a young family”
• “Give daisies to loved ones”
• “Family: problems of difficult children”
• Tree of Life
• Family Communication Iceberg
• How to Build a Happy Family
• One Hope for Love
• Solving Poor Families and Social Exclusion Problems
• Family Walk
• Parental Home is the Foundation
• Healthy Family
• Family Leisure8 9004
• Let happiness in the house last forever
• My family is my wealth
• Joys of family life
• History of my family in the history of my native land
• Dialogue of generations
• Russian house: like a family to have and raise children”
• “Family banner – love”
• “The most important thing is the weather in the house”
• “Scarlet sails of family, love and fidelity”
• “The state in miniature”
• “Families – the first victims of poverty and homelessness”
• “Steps family happiness”
• “Family is a favorite space”
• “One daisy, two daisies”
• “My talented family”
• “What do you need to live together?”
• “Vivat, family!”
• Bring back the melody of love
• “Family – the beginning of all beginnings”
• “Where did this holiday come from”
• “My happy family”
• “Writers’ view of family values”
• “From the life of famous families”
• “Family Vernissage”
• warmed by love, always reliable and strong”
• “The whole family”
• “The fundamental role of the family in the process of human development”
• “The heart of the family is love”
• “It is important to believe and forgive…”
• “Modern family: ABC for two”
• “Know how to cherish love”
• “Family: from “I” to “We”
• “Look into the family album”
• “Parade of families”
• “Petals of my family”
• “To love and cherish”
• “The Story of a Family”
• “We Speak of Family in Poems”
• “The Flower of Love – Chamomile”
• “Family Through the Eyes of a Child”
• “Beautiful Impulses of Love”
• “At Home with the Whole Family”
• “A strong family is strong Russia”
• “Secrets of family education”
• “Kind Wizards of the Family”
• “Family ABC begins with “we”
• “Wise Book – Helper in the Family”
• “Family Kaleidoscope”
• “Friendly Family of Nations”
• “Family is the best medicine for the heart”
• “I look at you like in a mirror”
• “Family, with family, about family”
• “A little about family law”
• “The stronghold of earthly existence . ..”
• “Family secrets”
• “Love and fidelity rule the world”
• “For the sake of family happiness”
• “The impact of migration on the family”
• “We are each other’s gentle echo”
• “The wisdom of books will be able to unite the family”
• “Love Day in Russian”
• “Family Traditions in Rus’”
• “The soul asks to go there…”
• “Her Majesty is the family”
• “Swan fidelity”
• “Family portrait”
• “For the family to be safe”
• “The art of being together”
• “Family – soul storage” »
• “Family whirlwind”
• “Mothers and families: challenges of a changing world”
• “To the theater with the whole family”
• “And together they are not bored at all …”
• “Special purpose family”
• “Father’s house started everything”
• “The family will forgive and believe for the hundredth time…”
• “God bless you from evil and discord”
• “My family is my joy”
• “The family on the pages of literary works”
• “Flower extravaganza”
• “Family selfie in the interiors of the museum”
• School for a Happy Family
• The Air Is Infused with Love Here
• Fathers and Families: Responsibilities and Challenges
• Family Hobby
• Love and Life. What will win?
• “If there is a family, then I am happy!”
• “What protects us in childhood and old age?”
• “Family is my hope and support”
• “Protect the family hearth from adversity…”
• “Love and fidelity are companions of the family”
• “A friendly family will move mountains”
• Clouds are not afraid together
• A happy family is a union of hearts
• From housing construction to the present day
• Families and the disabled
• Family Pie Festival
• Exhibition for the family, an exhibition about the family
• Development and preservation of family traditions
• Family helps the family
• Nothing could separate them…
• Family on the pages of great works
• Holy and earthly love
• family happiness”
• “Family Territory”
• “Families can be different…”
• “Here you are always welcomed with love”
• “Family values”
• “What could be more expensive than families…”
• “For family reasons”
• “ Do not shake the house of news”
• “Patrons of family and marriage”
• “Flowers of love, bouquets of happiness”
• “Family tradition: always be together!”
• “Love is stronger than all obstacles”
• “The impact of incurable diseases on the well-being of the family”
• “The Tale of Peter and Fevronia”
• “Two Hearts”
• “You and me plus our children are the best family in the world!”
• “Everything breathes and lives here with love”
• “For the benefit of the family”
• “Marathon of family success”
• “Live in joy”
• “Take care, my friend, your family – your main fortress”
• “Family picnic »
• “They carried their burden together…”
• “Mom, dad, I are a musical family”
• “Love bound their fates”
• “Family is a magical symbol of life”
• “Together and forever”
• “Peter and Fevronia: holy matrimony”
• “Portrait of my family”
• “Everything takes off from there”
• “Our respect for family reading”
• “An apple from an apple tree…”
• “My family is my pride”
• “Unravel family dates”
• “They were worthy of the title of saints…”
• “You, me, he, she are a friendly family together”
• “The role of the library in strengthening family values”
• “Family Gathering”
• “Today we remember the blessed holy princes Fevronia and Peter”
• “In the family circle”
• “Family consultation day”
• “What is most important in the world – peace, love, family and children”
• “Hand in hand”
• “The art of being a family”
• “How it all began.