Whatever the weather, keep your little ones happy with these easy at-home activities
It can be a struggle to think of things to do with your toddler or pre-schooler, especially when the weather’s being typically British and forcing you to stay inside. Luckily, we have some exciting indoor activities you can do at home.
Understanding your child’s developmental milestones can help you choose play activities that they’ll enjoy, while helping them to learn into the bargain!
Your child’s play-related milestones
Remember, all children develop differently, so don’t be disappointed if your little one doesn’t reach a specific milestone by a certain time, and speak to your doctor if you’re concerned.
1 to 2 years: Your little one will start to become more independent and will be able to pick things up while standing, scribble with crayons or felt tips, turn knobs and handles, move and sway to music, and even walk backwards!
2 to 3 years: This is when your toddler becomes more active. Expect them to be able to run forwards, jump in one place, kick a ball, stand on one foot, turn pages of a book, draw a circle, and start to hold crayons or felt tips between the thumb and fingers.
3 to 4 years: Your pre-schooler is completely on the move now, and will likely be able to ride a trike, go down a slide without help, throw and catch a ball, pull and steer toys, walk in a straight line, build tall towers with toy blocks, and even make clay or dough into shapes.
4 to 5 years: When your child reaches school age, you can expect them to learn even more. Common milestones include jumping on one foot, walking backwards, doing somersaults, cutting paper with safety scissors and copying easy shapes (like squares and crosses).
Now you’re familiar with your little one’s capabilities, you can choose activities that will help them work on things like motor skills, grip, coordination, counting and recognition skills – and keep them entertained too.
Some of these ideas are a little bit messy, so you may want to cover the floor in an old sheet. Check the age suitability of any craft items, and always stay close by to keep your toddler safe from choking hazards – they’ll love it if you get stuck into the fun with them!
1. Enjoy some sand play
Sand play is a wonderful way to help them explore different textures. An easy play idea is to fill a washing-up bowl with child-friendly play sand and hide different objects and toys in the sand for your toddler to find. If you’re laid-back about messy play, you can get your child to add shaving foam, paint and glitter to the sand to create extra texture and colour.
Encourage your little one to mould the sand into different shapes and play with the toys they find in it, to help encourage their creativity and imagination.
2. Get busy sorting and organising
Getting your little one to sort things like toys or coloured bricks into different piles can help them build on their understanding and recognition of certain objects. You can use any variable to keep the activity going – like sorting by colour, size and shape, whether it’s soft or hard, or type of toy. Once the objects are sorted into piles, you can count them out with your little one and ask them which pile has the most objects – to help them build on their number recognition.
3. Try a touchy-feely treasure hunt
An empty plastic container or cardboard box is a great home for a fun, sensory treasure hunt. Fill the box with shredded tissue or crinkly paper and add ‘treasure’ like toys, buttons or shells (avoid small objects for under 3s). Your child can then explore the box with their hands to find the treasure, experiencing the different textures as they go. You can also incorporate sorting and organising into this activity by asking them to sort their retrieved treasure into different piles.
4. Boost memory at story time
If your little one loves books, this activity will encourage their imagination and aid their memory skills as well. Re-read a story book that you’ve read before with your child, but before you turn to the next page, ask them what they think is going to happen next. You can give them clues if they’re struggling, before then turning over to continue the story.
5. Get tactile with a squishy sensory bag
Fill a zip-lock sandwich bag with hair gel, then add plastic animals and other toys (for younger tots, steer clear of small objects to avoid the risk of choking). Your child will love the squishy feel of the hair gel, and you can get them to guess what the object is by touch alone. Encourage them to sort the contents of the bag by shape, colour, or size.
6. Build a DIY maze
Children aged 4 and over will love this craft activity that will engage their imagination and improve their motor and problem-solving skills.
Set up a crafting station with paper plates, strips of card, pipe cleaners, cotton balls, scissors, glue, felt tips and crayons. The aim is for your child to create a marble maze by adding the craft items to a paper plate to make archways, tunnels, dead ends, drop holes, and whatever else they can come up with. Make sure they mark a start and finish point, and then give them some marbles to roll through their homemade paper plate maze.
7. Burn off energy with a colour scavenger hunt
Set your tot the task of finding different-coloured items from around your house. As well as helping their motor skills and colour recognition this will get them moving and hopefully, wear them out! Choose a colour – say, red – and ask them to find as many red toys and other items as they can. Or ask them to track down one item for each colour of the rainbow.
8. Get your groove on with a dance party
Encourage your child to boogie to their favourite kiddie songs to improve their coordination. Little movers and shakers are capable of some fairly complex dance moves by the time they hit two. Join in and have fun jumping up and down and doing silly dances.
Toys, games and crafts for a rainy day
If you’d rather not do the making yourself, ASDA has a range of toys, games and crafts that will keep little ones busy while aiding their development – from interactive baby and toddler toys to arts and crafts and activity books.
