Toddler Activities

Here in NJ we’ve recently had a pretty big snowstorm, and unlike the last few snows, this was was pretty significant, and it’s been cold enough that it has yet to really melt. I keep reminding myself that we are in the winter home stretch; we’re already in February, the days are getting noticably longer, and soon the bitter cold will start to subside and we’ll be able to spend some time outside. Until then, however, it can get pretty redudnant doing the same old things over and over again. I’ve been trying to come up with new activities to do with Jack, searching through the depths of my memories and Pinterest, or coming up with my own ideas of things to do that are different than the usual to get us through these last couple months of winter without being too bored. Keep reading for a list of activities to do with your kids, some we have tried, and some are on our to-do list for the next couple months.

Vinegar & Baking Soda Color Fizz

I think every single science fair since the beginning of time has had some form of the volcano experiment. This is a smaller scale version of that experiment, and more colorful too! All you need is vinegar, baking soda, a few drops of food coloring, and a muffin tin. Place a drop of food coloring into each cup (or mix a few drops to make a custom color!), cover it with baking soda, and then drop some vinegar into each cup and watch it fizz!

While this may not be super exciting for an older toddler, for us it was great because Jack had never really seen anything quite like this! We did a few rounds while I was on a call for work - it kept Jack just entertained enough that I could pay attention to my call while reaching over to help him with the vinegar. I had put down a plastic table cloth down so cleanup after we were done our “science experiment” was super easy!

Painting with Bubbles

My friend Chrissy sent me a snap of her kids doing this while they were on covid quarantine, and I’m keeping it in my back pocket for a rainy day…. or really just a day when I need a craft that I know will be a bit messy, but a lot of fun! Chrissy originally got the idea from Early Learning Ideas. All you need is Tempera paint, liquid dish soap, water, straws, a push pin, small pieces of thick paper, and containers to hold your bubble paint. Head on over to Early Learning Ideas to learn the steps to paint with bubbles and make some fun art! I can’t wait to try it out, and we will share on Instagram when we do.

Easy Alien Craft

This is one I posted about before, but I think it would be cute this time of year to change it from aliens to love bugs! All you need is toilet paper or paper towel rolls, construction paper or cardstock, scissors, glue and your imagination! You can also use pipe cleaners, googly eyes, craft pom-poms, whatever you have on hand to make your little aliens (or love bugs!) as colorful and crazy as you like. Click the link above to see how to make your own easy alien craft.

Valentine’s Day Windsock

Another easy, cute, and seasonal craft you can make with toilet paper and/or paper towel rolls is this Valentine’s Day Windsock from Easy Peasy and Fun. Really, this could be for any season - next month you could make it green and put some shamrocks on it, in April you could make it look like an umbrella or top it off with some cotton balls and have the tail be a rainbow, in May you could put a ton of flowers… the options are endless! So head on over to Easy Peasy and Fun to find out how to make your own windsock!

Make a Fort

We did this one Sunday when our swim class was cancelled and oh boy, did we have so much fun! I know these days lots of people are using a Nugget, but we went old-school and used some old sheets/blankets, the ottoman in our living room, and pulled some chairs in from the dining room. We used the fitted sheet as the actual fort cover so it had more staying power, and we used this blow-up dinosaur we got from the Target Bullseye Playground section as a “pole” in the middle to hold everything up. We made it cozy with some fuzzy blankets and decorative pillows from the couch, and played in there all morning.

Magic Milk

This is another easy activity you probably already have all the supplies for! All you need is milk, food coloring, dish soap, q-tips, and a shallow container. Pour a small amount of milk into your shallow container, drop some food coloring in, then dip your q-tip in soap and touch it to the food color drops in your milk. The molecules in the soap are attracted to the fat molecules in the milk, and as they try to find each other, the food coloring seems to explode around the dish! This activity was definitely a level above Jack, BUT he still had fun, especially when the molecule reactions stopped and he was just mixing the milk to his delight! This was another activity I put down a plastic table cover for to make cleanup easy.

Letter Matching Roads

I admit, I saw this one on Pinterest but can’t find the source (forgot to pin it, d’oh!), so if you know it, please send it my way! Jack is starting to recognize letters, and I want to reinforce what he is learning at daycare when we are home. Given that Jack LOVES cars, I figure this is a great activity to do with him! All you need is craft paper, a few different colored markers or crayons, and some toy cars. Draw the uppercase letter on one side of your craft paper, and the matching lower case on the other side of the paper in a different area. Draw a crazy line between the upper & lowercase letters, and make sure the matching letters and corresponding roads are one single color (so A, a, and the road connecting them would be one color, B, b, and the road connecting them would be another color, etc.). Have your child drive from the uppercase letter to the lowercase letter using the roads, bonus points if you use a car that is the same color. This is not only a learning activity, but a fun activity, too!

Table Painting

While we have the craft paper out, why don’t we do some table paiting?! Instead of having your kid paint on their craft pad or easel, cover a table in craft paper and let them go wild! This is a great one if you have multiple kids, and can also be a family activity, with everyone having their own space to create some art.

Store Bought Craft Projects

I get it, not everyone has the time or energy to set up entire crafts from start to finish, there’s no shame in that! So check out your local craft stores, they have TONS of pre-made craft kits that are easy to put together. If you want to do something seasonal, you can make this cute Octopus card box for your child to take to their daycare/school Valentine party, or you can make these adorable Heart Foam Crafts to keep as decorations at home. If you’re not into the Valentine’s theme (I get it, I just love it because it’s my birthday!) why not try this rock painting kit so you can spruce up your garden in the spring?! All three of these crafts kits, along with SO many more, are available at Michael’s. I love to peruse the aisles and find fun things to do that I don’t have to think about or gather all the supplies for, especially when you go after season and get things on clearance - you can put them away for next season! I already have some crafts stowed away for next fall and Christmas.

What are your go-to activities for cold weather? It doesn’t have to be just crafts, it can be general activities or games that keep the kids (especially toddlers!) busy on these cold winter days. Share your favorites in the comments below!!