Super simple activities that you can do NOW
Are you looking for some no preparation but educational activities for your toddler that can be played indoors without making a mess?
Here are 5 excellent and simple ideas that you can do now without basically any preparation.
1. Stacking paper or plastic cups
You need:
- some paper or plastic cups
Benefits:
- Improves your toddler’s fine motor skills
- Stimulate creative thinking
- Develop early math skills: counting; using a language of quantity such as, ‘more’ and ‘a lot’; it helps your child to realise that a group of things changes in quantity when something is added or taken away.
Jazz it up:
Add some pom poms or anything else that’s safe to use: Your toddler can transfer the pom poms from one cup to another using his fingers or spoons, chopsticks, tweezers etc.
2. Colander and Pipe Cleaner
You need:
- a colander
- some pipe cleaners
What to do:
Your child can poke the pipe cleaners through the holes of the colander.
Benefits:
- Improves your toddler’s fine motor skills
- Stimulate creative thinking
- Develop early math skills: counting; using a language of quantity such as, ‘more’ and ‘a lot’
- Improve problem-solving
3. Beating on pots and pans
You need:
- pots
- pans
- spoons
What to do:
Let your child explore the sounds what pans and pots can make using simple and safe kitchen utensils.
Benefits:
- Improves your toddler’s fine and gross motor skills
- Stimulate creative thinking: creates sounds by banging, shaking, tapping
- Develop early math skills: counting
- Improving rhythm
Jazz it up:
You can add different materials to bang the pots with, such as rubber, wood, plastic etc. Put some music on or sing some songs together meanwhile banging on the pans. You can even give your child directions to follow, for example, ‘Beat the pots quietly…and now make it very loud!’. You can also count the taps – develops math skills, and tapping can improve his rhythm.
4. Mess-free painting
You need:
- plastic pouch or sealable bag
- paints
- sticky or masking tape
What to do:
Squeeze some paint into the pouch or bag and stick it on the window or on the table. Tape every side to make sure that it won’t leak. Your child can use his fingers to “paint”.
Benefits:
- Improves your toddler’s fine motor skills
- Stimulate creative thinking
- Develop early math skills: recognising numbers
- Recognising letters
- Experimenting with colours-science
Jazz it up:
It’s more fun if you use more than one colour! Also, if you let your child mix the colours, he will learn new colour words and how to make them.
Show your child how to write letters and numbers and then let him copy you. It can also help him recognise the letters and numbers.
5. Drawing on/in a cardboard box
You need:
What to do:
Let your child draw on the box or inside of the box. The fun is guaranteed!
Benefits:
- Improves your toddler’s fine motor skills
- Experiments with colours and marks
I hope you will enjoy these activities and create happy memories ; )
Let me know if you liked them with hitting the like button or sharing this post with your friends. Thank you!
