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Thursday, May 19, 2011

101 Things To Do With Your Toddler


One of my goals for this year is to do everything on this list at least once with my little girls.
  1. Color
  2. Blow Bubbles
  3. Play Hide-and-Seek
  4. Peek-a-Boo
  5. Play Chase
  6. Do Finger-plays
  7. Sing a song
  8. Collect rocks in a basket
  9. Make an obstacle course out of cushions and/or furniture
  10. Make a fort out of cushions and sheets
  11. Go for a Walk
  12. Make a Car out of a Box
  13. Read a book
  14. Go to the park
  15. Finger-paint
  16. Play with Play-Dough
  17. Toss Bean bags into a Bucket
  18. Play the shell and pea game
  19. Dance to music
  20. Download games for toddlers from the Internet
  21. Practice putting things in and taking things out of boxes and bags
  22. Make a temporary slide out of a table leaf and your couch
  23. Roll a ball back and forth on the floor
  24. Scoop dirt or sand into a child's bucket (or use a serving spoon and bowl)
  25. Practice climbing by stacking boxes on top of each other (only with adult supervision)
  26. Put on a puppet show
  27. Go fishing with a yard stick and yarn
  28. Make a Horseshoe game
  29. Make a Shape Puzzle
  30. Play paper basketball
  31. Run through a Sprinkler
  32. Play with a bucket of water and a sponge (PLEASE WATCH CHILD AT ALL TIMES!)
  33. Make a Drum out of an oatmeal box
  34. Play with a kazoo
  35. Wash windows together
  36. Bang on Pots and Pans with a spoon
  37. Brush each other's teeth
  38. Play dress-up with stuffed animals and your child's clothes
  39. Stack canned or boxed food on top of each other
  40. Let child stack mixing bowls inside each other
  41. Make a playhouse out of a large box
  42. Let child play with a sticker sheet (make sure your child doesn't eat them!)
  43. Put stickers on fingers for finger puppets
  44. Play a musical instrument together- i.e.recorder, piano, etc.
  45. Go on a Smelling Hunt
  46. Frost Cookies
  47. Plant a flower or vegetable plant together
  48. Roll a tennis ball into an empty trash can or bucket
  49. Draw on a mirror with dry-erase markers
  50. Play hide and seek together- trying to find a stuffed animal or other object
  51. Have a splash party together in the bathtub
  52. Put a leash on a stuffed animal and walk around the house
  53. Record each other on a tape recorder (great for scrapbooks or journals!)
  54. Make and try on paper hats
  55. Give a piggy-back ride
  56. Play "Horsey"
  57. Talk into an electric fan (it distorts your voice)
  58. Play tug-of-war with a blanket
  59. Collect flowers (felt, artificial, real...)
  60. Make a camera and go on a Safari
  61. Play games with frozen juice lids
  62. Disconnect your phone and pretend to make phone calls to relatives
  63. Leave your phone connected and really make phone calls to relatives- let your child talk too
  64. String large beads onto or along a shoelace
  65. Squirt each other with squirt bottles
  66. Glue shapes onto paper
  67. Make sock puppets
  68. Make paper puppets
  69. Fill an old purse with toys
  70. Use a paper towel tube as a megaphone
  71. Make binoculars and go "Bird Watching" or "Stuffed Animal Watching"
  72. Put snacks in different fun containers (paper sacks, empty canisters, etc.)
  73. Act out a story from a book
  74. Walk on a balance beam- use a 2x4 placed on the ground
  75. Draw with chalk on the sidewalk
  76. Sketch an outline of your child on the sidewalk or paper with chalk
  77. Paint child's palms with tempura paint and blot on paper. Makes a great card for loved ones!
  78. Put lipstick on child and kiss a mirror
  79. Make a puddle on cement and splash barefoot in it
  80. Let child decorate and eat an open peanut butter sandwich
  81. Make a toilet paper barricade for child to go under, over, or through
  82. Do the Hokey Pokey
  83. Make a super-hero costume out of household items
  84. Do Knee-Bouncing Rhymes
  85. Play "Red Light, Green Light" saying "Go" and "Stop"
  86. Make a shoe-box train for stuffed animals
  87. Make a pillow pile to jump on (keep it clear from any hard surfaces, including walls!)
  88. Make an easy puzzle with felt and Velcro
  89. Make bracelets or collars for stuffed animals out of pipe cleaners and jingle bells
  90. Learn numbers from a deck of cards
  91. Play the matching game with a deck of cards
  92. Make a domino chain
  93. Have a picnic in the park, backyard, or living room!
  94. Play dress up in Mommy or Daddy's clothes
  95. Make a tin cup telephone and talk to each other in it
  96. Make a nature collage
  97. Mirror each other
  98. Make a "Mummy Mommy" with toilet paper
  99. Make a tape recording of short music selections and instructions to move in different ways
  100. Make and walk along a toilet paper trail
  101. TAKE A NAP!

I found this list on the forums of my local chapter of The Mommies Network. If you are a mom of young children and not already a member of The Mommies Network, I highly recommend joining!  The Mommies Network has been a both tremendous resource and source of support and friendship for both me and my daughters.

Want to do all these things with your children too.  Here's a free printable checklist:

47 comments:

  1. Great list! Thank you for sharing!!

    www.jandmseyecandy.blogspot.com

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  2. Awesome list! Thanks so much for sharing this at For the Kids at SunScholars! I'm off to share this post with my Facebook friends! :) Hope to have you back to link up again later this week!

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  3. Great list! I will re-post this on my blog with a link back.

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  4. Love this list, and am also going to work at crossing each one of these off during the course of this year, and continue to fill our time together with these fun activities!

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  5. Wonderful list! Thanks so much for sharing. I'm going to print this out and hang it on our fridge for those times when I'm at a loss for ideas. (I came by way of Ohdeedoh.)

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  6. I found this list and your site through Ohdeehdoh and now I'm a follower! Congrats on being featured by them, and thanks for the list! I work with little ones all day, and this will be a good go-to source!

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  7. Love it, re-posting on our local TMN chapter site and blog if that is ok with a link back to your blog (Leslie TMN national social media manager and chapter manager) Thanks for promoting The Mommies Network on your blog!!!

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  8. Great list! I just shared it on facebook. Thanks for sharing it with us.

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  9. Great list thank you for sharing with us

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  10. hello!
    this is a great list!
    I hope you don't mind if I repost in my blog

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  11. Newest follower! I too would love to repost this on my blog with a link back to you as the author. Is this ok with you? I took your advice and am a member of MNC. Looking forward to it!

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  12. I would love that! Enjoy the Mommmies Network!

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  13. Thank you so much for making this list! This will be a great resource when I am exhausted and just cannot come up with anything to do.

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  14. Great ideas! Just shared over at my blog (full credit and link back given, of course).

    Sometimes you just need ideas to get going and you've just given all of us plenty of them!

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  15. I love this!

    www.rewindwithcoffee.com

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  16. Oh I love this! :) thanks for posting!

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  17. Love this list. I just posted on my blog:
    http://toddlerdevotionals.blogspot.com/

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  18. I posted on my blog too! love it! I said a big thanks to you on my post! www.ashleybridgerdesigns.blogspot.com

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  19. This is a fabulous list. Thanks for the ideas. I reposted and linked back to you!

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  20. This is a GREAT list. I'll be re-posting for my playgroup and Mother's Club who are going BATTY with the rain and cold. Thanks!!

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  21. Great ideas! I'm thinking of copying the list, one item per page into a photo album/scrapbook as a gift for my grandson. The title will be "Things I Want To Do". There will be room to add photos of him doing the activity with mom, grandpa, or grandma. Fun!!

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  22. I love each and every idea!

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  23. I'M A GRANDMA AND I LOOOOVE THIS LIST. MY GRANDSONS AND I ARE GOING TO HAVE A BLAST GOING THREW THIS LIST!!!!!

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  24. Fantastic list!! Wish I had it when mine were toddlers. Have shared with all my friends . Look fwd to the next inspiration.

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  25. New follower (found you on Pinterest). These are great. Repinning! :)

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  26. PS DRY ERASE MARKERS STAIN CLOTHES VERY HARD TO GET OUT.

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  27. This PIN has totally ruined my Board I posted it to. I posted it ONCE and it is now on my board at least 50 times! For each one I delete I get ten more. The only think I can think to do is to totally delete my board. Pisses me off! Pinners beware.

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    1. Sorry that you had so much trouble, Dottie. Hope you got everything resolved. Sounds like a glitch with Pinterest. It's definitely not something caused by this blog post itself.

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  28. Found this list on Pinterest and love it! It didn't multiply on my board! Sorry, Dottie, that you had so much trouble. :(

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  29. Thanks for sharing all these ideas! Those are such great ideas and tons that I had forgotten. I definitely like your goal. :)

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  30. Love this list!! thanks for sharing! first time visiting :)

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  31. Hi Thank You that list is great, I am going to have fun playing those games with my Grandson, those are all activities that I did with my 3 children who are grown up now. Thanks for the Reminder. Regards, Joan

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  32. Thanks, I repeat what so many other people already wrote.GREAT LIST
    I work as a nanny and this is very very helpful.

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  33. Really a good list, useful for us too who work in an enrichment centres. Thanks alot!

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  34. Thanks for all the fun ideas! I made a little box full of these ideas on paper slips for my sister. Whenever we want to do something fun together, she can draw an idea from the box! :)

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  35. These are all fun! The kids won't get tired of doing this again and again. Even if we do these stuffs everyday we won't run out of something fun to do. Thanks for sharing! My daughter's fave would be reading a book.

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  36. This is great! Thank you. Just make sure lipstick is lead free.

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  37. This is a great list! I am doing a blog post with this. Oh and I am your newest follower.

    http://www.adventureswithcaptaindestructo.com/2012/08/great-toddler-activity-blog-post.html

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  38. Love this list ... heaps of indoor things to do with toddlers (and older children too) at http://www.gettingstuckin.co.uk - all tried and tested by mum of 3 boys, and all very easy to do. Total life saver on days when you can't or don't want to get out :)

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  39. Thanks for the list. I'm a Dad who lacks creativity with my 3 year old twin boys. They were easier to entertain when they were younger.

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  40. This is really cool! Thanks so much for sharing - I am definitely going to try and do all of these over the holidays!!

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