With winter upon us, spending time outdoors is becoming less of an option. This season comes with a new challenge for working toddler moms – finding things to do with them on the off days.
I usually don’t get much time during the week to play with my son. It’s a back to back rush from work to daycare pickup to dinner to bed. So when the weekends roll around, we try to make the most of them as a family.
In the warmer months, my son’s weekends are full of planned outdoor activities. Aquariums, museums, parks, gardens – he has quite the social calendar. But when winter comes around… not so much. Between the cold weather and the fact that it gets dark at 5 p.m., we tend to spend most of our time indoors. Of course, I still want to be able to spend quality time together even if we’re stuck inside.
Put down the tablet – there are lots of activities to do indoors with toddlers that are simple and engaging.
Being indoors with a toddler all day may be daunting, but it’s also a chance to connect, learn, and bond. There are many easy activities you can do that will not only engage and excite them, but help promote their development and communication skills too.
As a working mom who needs to balance family time with work demands, I tend to choose activities that don’t require too much advance planning or post-activity clean up. I’m okay with a messy activity here and there, but I try to minimize the mess as much as possible.
I also like variety in the things we do, so I try to include lots of different kinds of activities – baking, arts and crafts, simple games, dance parties, pretend play, and full on scavenger hunts are all favorites in the winter season.
1. Winter crafts
Crafts aren’t just for crafty people. There are many simple craft ideas out there that are fun and incredibly easy to do. One idea that I love for winter is snowman decorating. You’ll need to have a snowman template first – you can find tons of free printouts online, buy them, or draw your own. This cotton ball snowman craft and torn paper snowman craft are a hit with my 2 year old.
Christmas tree decorating is also a perfect idea for this time of year. This christmas tree sticker craft is a really fun and easy idea for toddlers. My 2-year-old isn’t too keen on staying on the lines and would rather put stickers everywhere randomly, but that’s okay too. I’ve also done this activity with pom poms and glue with good results.
2. Indoor bowling
Indoor bowling is another idea for easy at-home fun. You can purchase a bowling set online with a soft ball or use quarter-filled water bottles from the recycling bin. We don’t follow the traditional bowling rules but instead use it as an opportunity to talk about numbers and simple math.
3. Indoor basketball
Similar to bowling, indoor basketball is an easy-to-set-up option to get the little ones moving and stimulate talk about numbers and counting. It also helps develop hand-eye coordination and motor skills. You can either purchase a mini basketball hoop or make your own version using soft balls and a big box or container.
4. Bake cookies
Can toddlers help with baking? Actually, yes, they can. Trust me, I was surprised too. They can help with stirring pre-measured ingredients together, using cookie cutters on rolled out dough, transferring spoonfuls of dough onto a baking sheet or muffin tin, and of course, decorating. You can follow any recipe you like or do store bought mixes. We like this sugar cookie recipe and also this healthier peanut butter thumbprint cookie recipe. Baking might be a little messier than the other options on this list, but since it falls under the cooking category and is essentially a life skill, I included it here anyway. Plus, fresh baked cookies are a treat for the whole family!
5. Winter themed scavenger hunt
This one is pretty simple but so much fun for toddlers who enjoy looking for and finding hidden things. Just hide some winter-themed items around the house (stuff like Christmas ornaments, pine cones, or pictures of typical winter things like snowmen or snowflakes – whatever draws their interest), and help your toddler go around trying to find them. Take it up a notch by doing something with the items after you find them. My son has his own mini version of a Christmas tree, so I like to use the ornaments for our scavenger hunt and then help him decorate the tree after he finds them. Lots of fun!
6. Elf on the shelf
If you’ve seen pictures of a mischievous-looking elf in all kinds of funny situations floating around social media, you’ve seen the Elf on the Shelf in action. It’s basically a very adorable Christmas tradition that involves placing the elf (a so-called “scout elf”) in different positions every night in December up until Christmas Eve for your kids to find the next morning. The story goes that the elf travels back and forth to the North Pole to report back to Santa if the children have been good or bad. He returns and hides before the kids wake up, but not before causing some mischief first! There’s only one rule: kids aren’t allowed to touch the elf or it’ll lose its magic. Placing the elf can be as simple or extravagant as you make it. Check out this post for a more in depth guide to Elf on the Shelf, and also check out these hassle-free ideas on how to hide this little mischief-maker.
7. Have a dance party
Is there anything more adorable than a dancing toddler? Toddlers love to dance, and we love to see it. An at-home dance party can look as simple as turning on a YouTube toddler favorites playlist and dancing it up together, or it can be more extravagant and include fun props like shakers or play instruments – or even costumes. When it comes to kids, the sillier the better! My toddler loves to dance to songs that have an interactive element or commands to follow along with like “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes” or freeze dancing.
8. Pretend restaurant
Pretend play might just seem like a cute little thing that toddlers do, but it actually has a significant role in childhood development. One of our favorite versions of this type of play is pretend restaurant. My son absolutely loves setting the table, serving meals, and cleaning it all up when we’re “done.” It might be the only place I’ll ever have a watermelon-cheese sandwich – and like it.
9. No-mess sensory bin
If the first word that pops into your head when you think of a sensory bin is MESS, I get it. I was resistant to trying them too for that exact reason. But hear me out – there are plenty of no-mess sensory bins out there that don’t involve tracking down grains of rice that have somehow rolled under the furniture. The thing about sensory bins is that they have such great benefits for toddlers, so it’s worth a try as long as they’re reasonably easy to clean up. They can also occupy your toddler for a long time and can spark lots of great conversation about different textures. Try this cotton ball sensory bin and this tissue paper one. For more ideas, check out this post.
10. Mystery box
We love a good mystery box. It’s so simple to make and helps your toddler explore their sense of touch in a safe way. It’s basically a closed non-see-through container with an opening in it for tiny hands to reach into. You can make this literally a million different ways; use a cardboard box, an empty wipes container, a shoebox… the whole point is that your toddler is using only their sense of touch to feel an object. Maybe they might even try to guess what they are feeling. Inside the box, you can put things with a variety of things with different textures and shapes like fruits, toys, squishy balls, blocks etc.
11. Animal rescue
This animal rescue game is popular among toddler parents, and for good reason – it’s simple, easy to set up, non-messy, and can keep a toddler engaged for a good while (as far as toddler attention spans go). All you need is tape and some toy animals. Tape the animals down into a surface and have your toddler “rescue” them. That’s it, that’s the game. It’s great for helping them work on their fine motor skills too.
12. Extreme Box Decorating
I absolutely love this extreme box decorating idea. Not only does it make use of the mountain of Amazon boxes piled up in the corner of our home, it is also very creative and requires virtually no setup or extra space. You just need a big empty cardboard box and stickers/ markers/ construction paper/ crayons. Make it themed (I love a good theme – fruits, shapes, flowers, animals, colors etc.), or just wing it. That’s one less box to break down for you and an engaging activity for your toddler. Everybody wins.
When winter rolls around we can’t really do as many outdoorsy things with our toddlers anymore, but it’s an opportunity to connect and spend quality time with them indoors. You don’t have to go all out or do any excessive planning for these kinds of activities – there are many low-hassle and non-time consuming options available. Often, toddlers are quite satisfied with the simple things anyway! Make the most of this time – before you know it, the season will be over and we’ll be back outside to chase after them again.
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