diy educational games for 3 year olds

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50 Awesome Homemade Games for Kids to Play and Learn

Shared by Mary Catherine 6 Comments

Check out this huge collection of homemade games for kids . Games are a great option for activities for preschoolers at home or school! And these games, in particular, have lots of fun learning opportunities that cover math, literacy, logic, fine motor skills, and more.

I’m a big believer in fun learning activities for kids. This ensures that the children are engaged and interested.

And that engagement and interest helps the learning stick more in the children’s brains.

Plus, and this cannot be overstated, learning SHOULD be fun! And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with including games and activities that are fun in your day.

Table of Contents

Homemade Games for Kids

These DIY games are perfect for preschool and elementary classrooms, but they’d be great at home too.

Since there are so many amazing game ideas below, I broke them up into two categories so they’re a little easier to navigate.

The first group is filled with printable games, while the second group has non-printable games to try.

Printable Homemade Games for Kids

Here are some great DIY games that you can make with free printables.

Click on each of the highlighted words to read more about each of the games (and grab each coordinating printable).

The first few game ideas are from Fun-A-Day. I’ve enjoyed playing them with a variety of preschool students, as well as my son.

Pig Math Game for a Farm Theme

Apple Math Game

Printable Snowman Game

Roll A Snowman

Printable Valentine Games  

Make Way for Ducklings Game

More Printable DIY Games

I couldn’t just stop at my own games, though.

Here are more printable homemade games for kids from around the web.

How to Make a Cootie Catcher | The Natural Homeschool

Safari Animals Seek and Find | The Purposeful Nest

Letter Sudoku | Our Family Code

Printable LEGO Challenge Game | Artsy Fartsy Mama

DIY Rainbow Game | Mosswood Connections

Roll to Write Game | Walking by the Way

Mystery Grid Art Challenge | Pink Stripey Socks

Hop the Alphabet Board Game | Mama Smiles

Number Dash Fast Math Game | Gluesticks

Missing Letter Game | Learn with Play at Home

Catch a Bug Free Printable Game | Picklebums

Blueberries for Sal Counting Game | Spark and Pook

Indoor Scavenger Hunt | Edventures with Kids

Sight Word Game | Brain Power Boy

Cars and Trucks Bingo Game | Brain Power Boy

Watermelon Tic-Tac-Toe | Teach Me Mommy

Homemade Games for Kids at Home or School

Below you’ll find even more homemade games for kids. These are games you and the children can make with a variety of materials.

Click on the highlighted text to read more about each of the games.

The first six links are DIY games I’ve played with preschool students (and my son) over the years.

Rhyming Games for Preschoolers

Spring Math Game  

Christmas Math Game with Bells

Seed Matching Game

Bowling with Coconuts

Shell Connect-the-Dots

Creative Homemade Games for Kids

I found even more fun homemade games for kids around the web. Be sure to check them out too!

Easy Sudoku Puzzle | School Time Snippets

Homemade Giant Tangrams | JDaniel4’s Mom

Checkerboard Algorithm | JDaniel4’s Mom

Letter Recognition Drive and Park | Days with Grey

Kindergarten Shape Build-Up | Days with Grey

Minecraft Lego Grid Game | Stir the Wonder

Construction Sorting Game | Stir the Wonder

Roll a Koala Math Game | The STEM Mum

Muffin Tin Reading Games | Growing Book by Book

Superhero Coding Game | Little Bins for Little Hands

LEGO Math Ten Frame Games | LalyMom

Teach Coding with a Deck of Cards | Teach Your Kid to Code

Math Fact Dominoes | Playdough to Plato

Sand and Seashells Writing Game | The Educators’ Spin On It

LEGO Memory Game for Kids | The Educators’ Spin On It

Tic-Tac-Toe Nature Craft | Growing Family

Mystery Sensory Balloons | Edventures with Kids

Oh Snap! Sight Word Game | School Time Snippets

Post It Name Game | School Time Snippets

DIY Math Games with Cardboard Tubes | Artsy Momma

Finding North Hiking Game | Go Science Kids

Origami Paper Cup and Ball Game | Red Ted Art

Popsicle Stick Color Matching Game | Darcy and Brian

I hope all of these homemade games for kids have inspired you! Which of the DIY games will you be trying with the kids first?

If you have any more homemade game ideas, feel free to leave me a comment below and tell me about it.

Materials to Make Your Own Games

Now that we’ve talked games, let’s jump into materials.

Many of the homemade games for kids shared here can be made with just a few items. You might have some of those items on-hand already!

Here are a few ideas to get you set up for making your own games for the kids (I may get commissions for purchases made through links in this post):

Done-For-You Resources

Preschool Teacher 101 has a ton of fully developed early learning resources. If you’re a preschool teacher, be sure to check out our membership options . Click on the images below for more information about each resource.

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February 24, 2014 at 12:55 pm

Wonderful round-up this week – as always, thanks for hosting!

March 2, 2014 at 4:33 pm

Oh, my..I have tons of ideas now, thanks for sharing this 🙂

May 14, 2014 at 11:43 pm

You’re welcome, Renae! Thanks for taking the time to link up. 🙂

October 5, 2015 at 8:15 am

Hey I feel like, creative things done at home can help kids learn better. Now new ideas has started rolling in my mind.

May 21, 2020 at 10:58 am

Such a fantastic resource as we head into summer!

May 23, 2020 at 10:46 am

That was my hope – lots of great ideas to keep the kids engaged and having fun!

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15 DIY Games for Kids to Make and Play

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These DIY Games for Kids are perfect to bust boredom while also giving those creative muscles some exercise! Ideal for kids of all ages!

When I think about my childhood summer holidays, I realize that some of the most fun times I had were playing board games with my cousins and friends. It would be extremely hot outside, and we would be staying cool at home, sitting under the fan with a game all spread out on the table and all of us gathered around it. Great times!

Turns out, playing games isn’t just fun or a screen-free way to kill boredom – there are actually many benefits to playing games!

Benefits of playing Games for Kids

• Board games are a great way for young children to learn basics like colors, shapes, numbers and letters
• Games can improve speech and language skills in kids of all ages as they communicate during play
• Playing games helps boost concentration and focus, especially in strategy games
• Games that require teamwork encourage kids to learn cooperation and take turns
• Board games teach kids to follow rules and understand how they work to keep the game fair
• A game usually ends up with a winner and a loser and teaches kids to lose gracefully

Looks like playing games is not just fun and games! Let’s make this more interesting by making our own DIY games for kids!

1. Bee and Flower Fine Motor Game

Here’s a fun game to help young kids strengthen their fine motor skills – a bee and flower game! If you ask us, this is the perfect game for spring!

2. 3-D Snakes and Ladders Game

Yes, you’ve played snakes and ladders and enjoyed it – but you certainly haven’t played this 3-D version from Mas & Pas! This is sure to add a whole new dimension (pun intended) to the classic game!

3. Printable Dinosaur Egg Match Game

If you’ve got a dinosaur fan at home, he or she is sure to love this printable dinosaur egg match game! The printable encourages learning colors, numbers as well as number names. 

4. Printable I Spy Games

One of the games that appeals to kids across age groups is a good old I Spy game, where kids set out to seek certain things. A printable I Spy game makes this easier, and this set gives you a game printable for every holiday and season!

5. Printable Dinosaur Addition Game

Math is something that most kids dread, and a lot of is it because of mere preconceptions. Let’s break that myth and get kids to love math – and a fun game like this dinosaur addition game will help!

6. Printable Valentine’s Day Memory Game

Valentine’s Day may be all about pinks and reds, but this printable game shows you that you can enjoy all colors on this special day – as long as they’re all heart-shaped!

7. 3-in-1 Dinosaur Memory Game

One common complaint among parents these days is that devices are responsible for decreased memory and focus in children. Fix this problem by moving kids away from screens and engaging them in a fun memory game!

8. Free Printable Christmas Memory Game

Speaking of memory games, it helps to have one that is suited for every season and holiday, which is why we love holiday-themed DIY games for kids, like this Christmas memory game!

9. Pipe Cleaner Fishing Game

Most of us have played with that plastic fishing game in which a pool full of fish turned in circles while we tried to catch the fish who kept opening and closing their mouths. This is a DIY version of the game which is also more toddler-friendly!

10. Printable Solar System Bingo

Is your child having trouble remembering his planets? Well, let’s make life easier for him – with a printable solar system bingo game!

11. Printable Bug Theme Pom Pom Match

It’s spring and you’re likely to see bugs pop up everywhere – even on your printables! These pompom mats are great for young kids to learn about colors and to exercise their fine motor skills. We also have similar pompom match games with dinosaur , ocean and monster themes. 

12. DIY Mario Inspired Board Game

The Super Mario Bros. Movie is nearly here, and if you can’t contain your excitement, we’ve got something for you – a fun Mario game from Teach Me Mommy! Goes well with other ideas in our list of Mario crafts for kids !

13. Catch the Ice Cream Game

Some things are classics for a reason, and one such game is the cup-catching game, which we’ve recreated with this fun paper cup and ball that looks like an ice cream , making it perfect for summer!

14. DIY Guess Who Game

We love this DIY game from Almost makes Perfect, although it requires a bit of effort to make. This is a great project for teenagers who can use photos of their friends – should be a lot of fun!

15. Farm Theme Printable File Folder Game

This farm theme printable file folder game is a great addition to this list of DIY games for kids, and is perfect for young kids who are learning about farm life and farm animals . 

If you liked these DIY Games for kids, you may also enjoy these DIY activities for kids:

• DIY Toys for Kids to Make
• Easy DIY Puzzles for Kids
• STEM Building Challenges for Kids
• Indoor Activities for Toddlers
• Printable Coloring Pages for Kids

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The Ultimate List of 100 Valentines Day Crafts and Activities

The Best 60 Chinese New Year Crafts and Activities for Kids [Updated for 2024]

Encouraging your Child’s Sense of Humour – 75+ Funny books

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21 Easy DIY Toddler Toys & Activities from Stuff You Have at Home

Some of the links on this page are affiliate links. When you make a purchase through an affiliate link, I earn a commission at no cost to you. See my entire disclosure policy for all the boring details.

Our zero-degree-freeze-the-snot-inside-your-nose midwestern winters are in full swing, and we are officially hibernating. I bought 3 months worth of food and we’re not leaving the house until April.

The freezing months of winter here cause us to get a little bit creative with our indoor activities.

And by creative, I mean, my kids play with our trash.

Jk… but seriously.

Maybe it’s just our kids, but sometimes they’d rather play with trash than toys. I mean, our first child literally used to empty the recycling bag in our tiny apartment kitchen and PLAY WITH THE TRASH. 

And if we let our 1st kid play with trash, you can only imagine what our 4th child gets himself into.

This post is full of inexpensive homemade toys ideas for babies and toddlers that you could put together with junk you probably have around your house.

Homemade Toddler Toys Storage & Setup

I keep a lot of these activities stored in ziplocks in a medium sized bin that is HIDDEN, so that when I pull one out, it’s special and fun. 

SET UP TIP:  Sometimes, when you pull something out for your child, the independent seeking toddler rejects it. But if you make them think it was their idea to play with it, who knows how long they’ll be occupied!! To that end, I recommend setting out one of these activities somewhere where your tot can “discover it” and explore it independently.

If you try any of these, post a picture & tag me on Instagram! I love connecting with readers there – @mrsreneecook

1. Pipe Cleaners & Objects with Small Holes

Our 2 year old likes to see if she can get the short pipe cleaners to fill all the holes in the parmesan cheese shaker without them falling all the way through. The package of pipe cleaners and the parmesan cheese shaker were $1 each at the dollar store.

• My children think it is an entirely separate activity to stick toothpicks in the shaker.
• Or pipe cleaners in the colander.
• Or toothpicks in an old spice container.

Putting a small object in a small hole is much fun and a great way for little hands to develop fine motor skills.

2. Scooping + ice cube trays + small objects

• Fruit loops
• Giant buttons (my kids love these)
• Plastic Bottle caps

Anything that makes noise, is small enough to scoop, but big enough to clean up.

I’ve found that less is more. 1 type of item + 1 scooper + 2 different types of containers is a good amount of things.

Too many items and containers and the kids seem to get overwhelmed or bored faster.

Toddler Behavior Tip

If this activity (or any other) gets out of control, time to clean up! I highly recommend calmly ending the activity at the first sign of craziness.

If your toddler dumps some pasta out, this is not a big deal. They’re exploring! Let it go. Or put the whole activity on an old towel or sheet and remind them: “Keep the pasta on the sheet.”

But, if your little angel starts throwing pasta around the room, time to be done.

Just calmly say something like, “I can see you’re done. Clean up time.” And start cleaning. No big fight or behavior issue necessary. Here are other ideas for proactive, positive 1 year old behavior training + discipline.

When they start getting crazy, it’s your clue that they’ve lost interest. Move on, don’t try to make it an obedience thing where they have to “play the right way.” 

3. Muffin Tins + Buttons

You and I know this is the same as dry pasta and ice cube trays… but toddlers?

They think it’s totally a totally new toy! Capitalize on this my friends.

Remember to set it out somewhere where your child will discover it on her own – ideally somewhere unexpected, like the middle of the living room floor. You could use a small wooden spoon or kitchen scoopers with this activity too.

My kids have always preferred my own kitchen & household items to play kitchen toys.

4. Beads, Yarn, Plastic Needles

Beading became a favorite activity around age 2.5-4 years old for our kids.

I purchased plastic needles, tiny hoop, yarn, wooden beads at Hobby Lobby for less than $5.00 total.

The brown “netting” pictured  was extra from some of that sticky cabinet liner that you put on the shelves in your cabinets. Or you can order it on Amazon.

The plastic needle makes it easier for a toddler to bead than with string by itself . If you have old shoelaces around, those will work too.

Pipe cleaners are fun to bead, then you don’t even need the plastic needle. Use your imagination!

Bonus: beading and threading help kids to develop the fine motor pincher grasp necessary for holding a pencil correctly.

Bam! Now your free trashy activity is educational too. You’re welcome.

5. Paper Ripping

All of our kids have gone through a paper ripping phase circa 10-15 months. I showed Emma how to rip from a stack of magazines. Once she figured it out, she went to town! She’d spend 15 minutes or more on this.

She thought this was fun for weeks. When she would get bored, I’d just toss all the ripped up pieces in a brown paper bag to recycle. She would help.

Should we call cleaning up the ripped paper bonus baby activity 5B?!

Yes I think we should.

6. Recycled Containers

Empty plastic bottle. Fun to crinkle. Fun in the bath. Fun to drink. Literally one of the world’s best baby toys for free. 

Fun all around! I was not kidding when I said my kids play with trash.

I have a small box of washed out plastic containers that we use for all kinds of things… all the scooping and pouring activities, playing in the sink, bath, sandbox, or pool, etc…

Old spice containers and those plastic grated parmesan containers are the crowd fave because the kids love to flip up the lid and see the water pour out through the little holes.

Every so often, I actually recycle them and save “new” ones. The gift that keeps on giving!

7. Baby Wipes Container & Anything That Will Fit Inside

An old baby wipes container was a BIG hit for all of our kids around 15-24 months.

They loved pressing the button and seeing the top pop open. They put something in, click it back down and repeat. Once all their objects are inside, they sometimes need help opening the whole box to get them out.

Eventually, they figure out how to open the box, or how to stick their hand in and pull stuff out.

ANYTHING is fun to put in and dump out of an old wipes box:

• recycled milk tops
• fabric scraps
• small action figures
• bouncy balls
• LITERALLY ANYTHING

This is another toddler favorite for the bathroom floor while mom showers. (Don’t use anything they can choke on while you’re in the shower, obviously.)

8. Straws in holes.

I think I snagged these giant straws off an end cap at Walmart for $1.00.

They have served us well. Besides using them for smoothies, they are fun to drop in our empty block bucket. Our block container has a shape sorting lid like this .

The trashier method would be just cutting holes in the top of an old oatmeal container .

9. Cutting Straws

Let your toddler cut straws with toddler scissors. ( These are AMAZING scissors for first learning to cut… pictured on the tray below.)

Then, use the small pieces they just cut as “beads” on a pipe cleaner or shoelace.

10. Hide the straws

Hide 5 brightly colored straws in a room and let your toddler try to find them.

You could do this with anything your child loves, but a “novel” item like a pack of brightly colored plastic straws or a pack of colorful erasers from the dollar spot at target makes it even more fun and new!

11. Throw the Straws & Clean Them Up Race

We did this with those plastic straws! Basically, throw a bunch of a lightweight object all over and then see how fast you can race to get them back to a certain spot.

Do it with like 5-10 large, light weight objects… stuffed animals, straws, measuring spoons, etc…

DON’T do this with something like beads. Duh!

12. Money Activities

At 2, our kids liked doing the following with money…

• sorting change by color (silver & copper)
• sorting by size (using only quarters & dimes)
• pouring it from container to container
• putting it in a piggy bank 1 by 1.

Our 1-2 year olds have reeeeeeally liked a piggy bank. Something about the coins disappearing into the slot, and then dumping them all out again.

Of course, they make fancy toys that mimic this:

Since we’re trying to stick to trash, I’d recommend using a recycled oatmeal or coffee container to make your piggy bank.

Fun every time!

13. Clothespins

Sometime in between 2 and 3 years old ish, a toddler can figure out clothespins. I found small/medium sized crafting ones at Walmart, which are easier than big ones. Let the kid(s) clip the clothespins to anything they’ll fit on:

• old cereal box
• the edge of their shirt…

These plastic clips would accomplish the same activity and fine motor skills! And they’d probably last longer. Wooden clothespins fall apart easily.

I totally created this paint chip color gradient activity for our first child. She loved it and learned the concept of light and dark shades really young.

Alas, it didn’t last. The 3rd and 4th children had to figure out color gradient more organically. 

14. KNIVES!

Around 2 1/2, my toddlers reeeeally want to help cook. Every single meal. And it’s not enough to just stand next to me with an empty bowl and spoon and pretend anymore.

So, we have a dip-spreader with a serrated side that I made a big deal out of – how it’s a grown up knife, only for big kids, etc..

We’ve also talked extensively about how it’s the only knife she’s allowed to do… yada yada yada. (Come on, people, don’t actually let your kids play with knives.)

But give them cooked noodles, melon, bread, or bananas to cut with a butter knife, and you will have one focused, quiet & still toddler on your hands. Worth it.

15. Pillows

Kids love to jump into a sea of pillows.

By 2, they’re old enough to run and get all the pillows by themselves 1 at a time, and put them all back when they’re done. So this is a minimum 30-minutes-of-fun activity.

It’s one of their faves while I’m making dinner because they can occasionally peek out the window and see if Dad is home yet.

When we moved into a house with more space, we bought this 5 foot square foam jumping pillow specifically for the purpose of jumping off of furniture onto this! It’s awesome – best Christmas gift ever.

16. Dry Erase Markers

Here, I put construction paper inside page protectors. Then I used painters tape to tape them all to the table so they wouldn’t slip around.

I gave her a dry erase marker and small piece of paper towel.

Scribble, erase… like magic!

My current 3 year old LOVES a mini dry erase board and marker.

Yes, it gets on walls and furniture and skin. No I don’t care because I use this magical, chemical free stuff from Norwex that wipes ANYTHING RIGHT OFF ANYTHING! Sharpie, dry erase, disgusting grime in tile grout, spaghetti sauce, whatever… it wipes right off. Voodoo magic I tell you. This container will last you YEARS.

17. Sticker Line Up

Susie at Busy Toddler has a billion fun ideas for dot stickers! This one is simple as can be for toddlers.

If you peel the background off, 2 year olds can get the dots off by themselves. #protip

18. Fill The Letter with Dot Stickers

Totally different from dot stickers on a line… to a toddler anyway 😉

These neon dot stickers are $1.00 at Walmart next time you’re there. Otherwise, you can order these primary colored dot stickers on Amazon for less than $5.00 for a pack of 1000! That’s so cheap! They will last a while!

19. Water at the Sink

An all time favorite for all 4 toddlers we’ve had at our house. I love to set them up with this while I’m making a meal.

Put a beach towel under the chair they’re standing on and embrace the fact that it’ll be wet! Who cares!? It’s just water. My toddler will do this for 30 minutes!

20. Water in a Bin (aka: Pouring station)

Finally, if all else fails, put some all-time favorite toys in a fort and call it a day. Because forts make everything more fun.

Feeling overwhelmed by life with littles lately!?

Try my free 5 day email course. It’s all about helping you identify the biggest frustrations in your daily mom life & transforming them into routines that WORK for you!!

Who needs a toy box or fancy playroom when you have a recycling bin full of trashy toys 🙂

RELATED POSTS:

Ultimate Guide to 2 Year Old Sleep Issues

3 Phrases to Help You With Toddler Discipline

22 Tips to Survive a Road Trip with Toddlers & Preschoolers (Tons of other good toddler activities in this post!) 

41 Fun & Simple FALL Themed Activities for Toddlers & Preschoolers (Can Be Modified for Any Season)

4 thoughts on “21 Easy DIY Toddler Toys & Activities from Stuff You Have at Home”

• The comments on my site are turned off now, but I'd love to hear from you on Instagram! Follow me there & tag me in a comment or DM me. Xo I'm @MrsReneeCook on Instagram!

LOL!! I’m so glad this was helpful!! Happy trash-playing.

Thank you so much! I have a two year old during this pandemic and I could kiss you right now! Enough said, right?

Oh I’m glad you like it, Lauren!! You always had fun ideas with Wes!! 🙂

This is an awesome list!! Thanks for putting it together, Renee!

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Home › Activities

41 Fun Learning Activities for 3-Year-Olds

By Karo @ CraftsyHacks.com

on Dec 01, 2022, Updated Nov 09, 2023

This post may contain affiliate links: full affiliate disclosure .

Three-year-olds are like sponges and constantly looking for something to get their hands on! If you’re a parent or caretaker, these learning activities for 3 year olds will keep them busy.

Even better, these fun activity ideas are all constructive and beneficial educational tools to help young children continue to grow.

All of these fun ideas are accessible enough for little hands, or there are sufficient easy modifications to supplement yourself to help anyone complete the fun activities.

Let me know if you try any of these educational activities or what your favorite of these engaging activities is down below!

1. Pom Pom Water Sensory Bin

First on this list of activities is a great sensory and fine motor activity that’s rolled into one, and the best part is that it’s reusable!

The best way to do this great activity is to make sure to dry your pom poms between uses by squeezing out excess water and letting them dry on a towel.

Fill a big enough container with water, add the poms, get some of these scoops or grabbers and have a ball!

This is one of the best hands-on kindergarten activities .

2. Brushing Teeth and Reward Chart

Kids so easily rebel at any age that sometimes it takes effort to ensure they understand just how vital some concepts are.

A great way to help form habits and important skills is to start with a daily activity like brushing teeth and introducing a reward chart.

Charts like this are a fun way to showcase how to build a habit that benefits you in the long run, but up front, there’s a small reward to incentivize the follow-through making it so much fun.

3. Balloon Rocket Science

Kids love science experiments–especially the ones where they can see the effect! You’ll need string, a straw, a balloon, and tape.

Secure the string across the room from you and back up, thread the straw onto the line, and add a piece of tape or two, but leave the tails unattached.

Blow up the balloon as much as you’d like–don’t tie it, just pinch the rear as you go, then place it under the straw and tape the tape to the balloon’s body.

Once prepared, let go of the tail and let the balloon fly across the room via the string-straw line!

4. Pattern Sticks

A pattern stick is great fun and only involves pom poms, a few markers of corresponding colors, and popsicle sticks! Color any sensical pattern on each popsicle stick, followed by three black circles.

The circles are intended for the continuation of colors by pom poms. If you need anything for the activity, I love these popsicle sticks , mini daubers –in place of markers, and course, poms !

5. Phonics Activities

At this time in a little one’s life, it’s excellent to start regularly practicing phonetic activities! This interactive game will really help their oral language development.

Don’t worry about where your child is either; everyone learns at a different pace, and this post is a great starting point for anyone.

Regular practice of these different activities really helps too!

6. DIY Stethoscope

I’m a big believer in teaching children about the real world in small moments, and this stethoscope is no different. It’s a natural way to teach about the body while having fun doing it!

Grab two smaller funnels– these work great, a paper towel roll, tape, and decorate–if you’d like! Tape one funnel on either side, and you’re ready to roll!

7. Printable Letter Crafts

A really fantastic way to teach all things alphabet and endless examples on the internet to buy, download, or inspire!

Do this as everyday activities, or whatever works for your schedule, and talk about the corresponding image that matches each letter.

8. Letter Colouring Pages

These would be great to work in conjunction with the printable letter crafts! You’ll need some bingo daubers to get the job done.

There are so many pages out there for an activity like this! This website has some fun and seasonal pages.

9. Printable ABC Worksheets

These ABC worksheets are a variation of the previous letter sheets, where you can practice hand-eye coordination, cognitive skills, gross motor skills and writing letters. 

Enjoy more ways to keep kids busy and learning with these large group activities for preschoolers !

10. Alphabet Letter Banner

If the crafty alphabet project isn’t your speed, again, there are many options for material for alphabet work. Check out sites like Etsy, Teachers-Pay-Teachers, or even Amazon for materials like this.

Everyone should be able to find something that works for their budget!

11. Oobleck Slime

Your first question may be, “What’s Oobleck Slime?” And it’s nothing scary or pricy; it’s just a Dr. Seuss reference from one of his stories and a great indoor activity for sensory play.

It’s one of the most straightforward slimes–the only ingredients needed are cornstarch and water.

Play around with the amounts, but add the water into the cornstarch slowly; we’re looking for something like a gak consistency.

If you’d prefer a colorful slime–add this food color ! Your kids will love trying new things with this sensory activity in many different colours.

Check out these other fun weekend children activities .

12. Popcorn Counting

This counting idea is an exciting activity for any kiddo that loves popcorn for a snack! This popcorn counting page is very easy to aid in counting numbers.

Don’t worry if you’re not a popcorn house; with a bit of googling, I’m positive there’s a counting snack page for most snacks.

13. Alphabet Scavenger Hunt

A favorite rainy day activity or an excellent impromptu game to play while out and help little ones stay occupied if they start to get bored.

Downloadable on the web or create one yourself; they can be as easy or complex as you need.

Making a blank document so they can find their own answers to fill in and one with household items they have to search for is a fantastic way to keep this hunt exciting!

You could even laminate the fill-in one, so you save paper! This is a good way to still have physical activities on a rainy day!

14. Rainbow Ten Frame Matching

Ten frame matching games are life-changing!

This rainbow one gets very loved in our house, but again, there are so many ones out there, find one with a favorite character, a season, or anything that will help entice your little one to stay engaged.

15. Flashcards in Spanish

Experts say that younger brains are able to learn multiple languages easier than adult brains.

Kid brains are growing and absorbing anything around them while adult brains have developed to completion, and a little harder for us to pick up a new skill.

So, whatever language you speak–try a new one out with your child, even if it’s just the alphabet.

We decided to pick Spanish and wrote the alphabet out on note cards–one letter to one card–and the phonetic sound on the backside. Have them practice as much as they’d like!

16. ABC Dot Marker Printable

These free ABC dot marker sheets are fantastic for practicing more fine motor and hand-eye coordination! You’ll need bingo daubers, pom poms, or another item to fill in the circles in each letter.

17. ABC Spanish Bingo

We’ve paired this ABC Spanish Bingo sheet with our practicing of Spanish! It’s all letter based, easy to read, and has become a staple!

Take a look for any alphabet bingos online, or make your own! Grab a ruler to make those lines are straight.

18. Interactive Alphabet Book

A project, but completely worth it– this interactive alphabet book ! The book is a great conversational tool to practice phonetics, order, and so much more.

If you’re not in for the craft, check your local library or bookstore, they’ll have great recommendations for you.

19. Colour Mixing Activity

Paints will work best for this experience– these are great and washable . A great trick for our messier pals is to add different colors into small zip locks so they can still see the effects but not have a major cleanup.

Grab or make a worksheet with the idea that (color one)+(color two)=(new color/color three).

20. Construction Sensory Bin

A sensory bin has proved to be a beneficial learning tool for children mentally, physically, and emotionally.

Pair a container with a book with different tactile accessories to be able to ask a child questions while reading together.

Recently one of my friends did a construction-themed one for her little one, and it was such a hit as they read a book about construction.

21. Alphabet Flash Cards

Like the Spanish cards, English flashcards are a stellar way to practice any letter-related concept. Make your own, or grab these super cute affordable ones !

22. Ice Cream Summer Craft

Counting activities are fun year-round! This ice cream template is a great one to break out and maybe pair it with a scoop of ice cream post-exercise; we’ve done it, and they loved it.

Each sheet has a certain amount of colored dots on the side. The child’s job is to count the dots and add the corresponding amount of scoops, and bonus, if they get the pattern right too!

23. Catching Bubbles Motor Activity

Bubbles are endless entertainment, frankly, for almost anyone at any age! A cool way to use bubbles to teach how to control our fine motor skills is by catching a bubble without it popping.

Whether it reaches the palm of their hand or re-attaches to the bubble wand, showing children how to be gentle through bubbles is fun. This is one of the best outdoor activities.

Keep enjoying the outdoors with these free outdoor activities for kids !

24. ABC Magnets

The fridge can be a great place to work on easy concepts like communication skills, and memory skills like matching and letter recognition.

You’ll need a set of alphabet magnets like these for these simple activities, a sheet of paper to trace them, and either tape or magnets with a sticky backing.

Trace the alphabet letters on your piece of paper with a marker and cut them out. Put them onto the fridge with either the magnets or tape, and then let your little one practice matching!

25. Baking Soda and Vinegar Process Art

As a mixture of an art project and a science experiment, these hands-on activities are more for exploration than anything else.

You will definitely need baking soda and vinegar, but you’ll also want to do this in a cleanable area with cleanable accessories.

Add food coloring to the vinegar and let your kids drip, pour, spray, etc., to the baking soda. Use any household items like straws, extra eye droppers, etc.

26. Numbers Playdough Mats

You can make your own placemats with someone practicing numbers, or grab these free mats and print em! Have your child practice the number on the mat by making a Play-Doh version by hand.

27. Stacking Cups Stem Challenge

One of the easiest Stem activities out there for youngsters is building a tower for a small toy to stand at the top. Plastic cups, thick popsicle sticks, or long strips of cardboard–whatever you have on hand.

The goal is to build the highest they can go without tipping the structure over and to place the toy on top.

28. Rainbow Cookies

Rainbow cookies are a sweet way to showcase intentional organization and practice order of operations.

There are many recipes out there with all dietary needs met; Google what you may need, and feel free to share pictures if you try this one out!

Looking for more fun things to do with your preschool aged girls? Try the preschool games for girls !

29. Don’t Break The Ice Alphabet Game

For this activity, you will need this game –which is a great time, I promise! Label all the cubes with a different letter of the alphabet and some alphabet flashcards.

Let the games begin!

30. Geo Board

If you’re unfamiliar with a geoboard, they look like a peg board with raised hooks to attach rubber bands to. It’s a practice in fine motor and picture matching if they work from a flash card.

They work wonders for dexterity too. If you’re looking for one, this one is great to start practicing.

31. Lion’s Mane Cutting Activity

Cutting exercises are a staple in early childhood education.

There are downloads available online, but a pretty simple way to accomplish this activity is to grab a paper plate, a sheet of yellow or orange construction paper, glue, and some coloring utensils.

Draw lines across the paper for your kid to cut on the line, and adjust the size as needed.

After, have them glue the strips to the backside of the plate going around the circle and then help them draw their lion face or let them color their own lion face.

32. Letter C Craft

Talk to your little one about what starts with the letter “C” for the letter C craft. Once they’ve shared the word, draw the picture together (or print it out) and glue it onto a big bubble letter C.

You could do this for any letter, or you could make this into a name activity.

33. Colour Sorting Eggs

This sorting activity is egg-cellent for fine motor and, of course, matching for any student! You’ll need pom poms, corresponding colors in felt or paper, and some grabbers.

Have them pick up a pom, sort it into the corresponding color area, and continue until finished.

34. Feed the Shark Ocean-Themed Learning

This shark printable is excellent if you want a more advanced sorting option! There’s a smaller opening in the mouth that the sorter has to be a little more intentional about placement.

The shark option does require some assembly, but making the acceptable motor activity a little more complex as the user gets better can only help as the kiddo learns!

35. Lego Dumping Sorting

I’m not sure how anyone else feels, but I feel like little kids love dumping anything onto the ground, and if you can’t beat ‘em, why not join ‘em?

If you have a dump truck toy, great; a big enough bowl to pretend that it’s a dump truck is also great–whatever works for you all.

Grab a handful or two of Legos and put them in your container, bring them to the child and do the whole bit–make the beeping noise, dump the entire thing dramatically, and have them get to work.

Have them sort them into bins or just group them in color piles, if the sorter needs it, corresponding colored bins or signifiers to place colors in specific spots.

This sorting activity can be as structured as it needs to be for your learner.

36. Ice Cube Colour Mixing

Another exciting and hands-on experiment that takes a bit of time to complete is ice cube colour mixing.

You’ll add water to an ice cube tray and drip a few drops of different dyes into each square, make sure to mix well.

Once the squares have frozen, add contrasting colors to separate glasses–two different colors each. Have your kids record the colors in each cup and their guesses for when the two colors melt together.

37. Math Bites

Snack time, as mentioned above, is an excellent time for teachable skills; math is the most common one to try out.

Grab some math mats online or make your own and try some simple equations the next time you break out the snack foods!

38. Squishy Colour Sorting Sensory Bag

Sensory time is so absolutely important in a young child’s life. Their brain starts to observe and collect knowledge in any way possible.

Sensory activities help refine all the senses in different but essential ways to support reasoning, problem-solving and more. A bag form is mess-free and can be taken on the go too!

Color polka dots on a paper sheet and slide them into a ziplock along with buttons and hair gel. Tape the whole thing shut and let your little one match at home or anywhere else!

39. Oil and Water

Another cool experiment that the kids will love! We’ll need disposable clear cups, oil, water, and food dye.

Fill an ice cube tray with water, add food coloring to each square, and stick it in the freezer for a couple of hours.

Once frozen, have them add two colors to each cup and let them record or take guesses of what the combinations will become.

A great way to record data is to leave sticky notes in front of each cup. Write down the original color combinations and the guess of the final color below!

The purpose of the exercise is to evoke critical thinking and questions. Cater this experiment however you see fit for your children!

40.  Umbrella Counting and Colour Sort

There is a little assembly required here, but the results are super adorable! You’ll need a few different colors of construction paper, pipe cleaners, scissors, and glue.

First, we’ll cut the umbrella shapes out. Feel free to print something out and trace it; I did a rough free hand on cardstock and used it as my stencil.

After you get all the umbrella tops traced and cut out, you can write, use stickers, or any other method to put numbers onto the paper.

Then, we’ll want to attach the pipe cleaners to the umbrella backs–tape may work better here. Finally, cut out the coordinating amount of colored shapes to each umbrella and its number.

41. Salt Writing Tray

As simple as it sounds, grab a tray and some salt (or any other bulk material you’re good with using). Pour the salt into the tray and use flashcards to practice writing letters.

This idea is a very lowkey but exciting way to practice and includes some bonus sensory to boot!

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Hands on kids activities for hands on moms. Focusing on kids activities perfect for toddlers and preschoolers.

15 Toddler Learning Activities to Do at Home

Learning Literacy & ABCs Math & 123s Toddlers ABCs Colors Letters Numbers Resources Shapes 11 Comments

Teaching your toddler at home is as easy as 1, 2, 3 or A, B, C! Learning activities for toddlers are super simple to DIY with these 15 easy activity ideas.

Working with your toddler on “school” type work covers the basics. Like, the basic basics: colors, numbers, letters, and shapes.

The focus should really be on play, and not on testing or desk work.

Some basic math and literacy an older toddler will start to learn are:

• Differentiating colors
• Differentiating shapes
• Recognizing letters
• Recognizing numbers

I’ve collected a few educational activities to get your wheels turning on how to help a toddler start to recognize these.

Download the FREE Week of Toddler Activities Here!

15 At-Home Activities for Toddlers to Learn

The key to learning for toddlers is to make it fun, incorporate in their everyday play, or incorporate their favorite things (bugs, animals, tractors, trucks, mud, etc.) into the learning. 

It may be a great activity, but if your child isn’t interested, then its just gloom and doom and nobody has any fun.

The learning activities below take out the worksheets and flash cards, and intertwine educational concepts into the fun!

Your toddler can work on their vocabulary and letter recognition with some string and movement! Or work on colors through playing with blocks, or go on a good ol’ scavenger hunt!

We love gross motor skills at this age, fine motor skills are a bonus!

Which activity will you be trying first?

Color & Shape Activities for Toddlers

Pairing up colors and shapes in fun activities can lead to endless possibilities! 

Find more 10 indoor toddler activities !

ABCs & 123s! More Learning for Toddlers

Working on letter and number recognition can be super fun, and really easy. Try out these learning activities for toddlers at home together!

Don’t forget to check out these other toddler resources!

• 50 Activities Just for your Toddler
• 30 Creative Toddler Craft & Art Projects
• 10 Indoor Activities for Toddlers

Does your toddler already have a good start at his ABCs and 123s? Check out these additional resources for more advanced activities:

• 40 Awesome Number Activities for Preschoolers
• 50 Incredible Alphabet Activities for Preschoolers
• 35 Name Activities for Preschoolers

I’ve been trying to brainstorm all the areas that toddlers are learning. Everything is a learning adventure for our little ones!

I’m curious about what else a toddler might enjoy (or need to) learn?

I’d love to hear what your toddler is learning with you!

About Jamie Reimer

Jamie learned to be a hands on mom by creating activities, crafts and art projects for her three boys to do. Jamie needed the creative outlet that activities provided to get through the early years of parenting with a smile! Follow Jamie on Pinterest and Instagram !

More Hands on Kids Activities to Try

Reader Interactions

11 comments.

January 28, 2019 at 5:31 pm

Love these ideas of learning. I love playing lets match with different flash cards. we both get 4 cards each and pile the rest. we take turns turning one over if it matches the card we have we take it. we do this till all the cards are matched up. she doesn’t even realize she is learning her colors,numbers,abc Most importantly she is learning, taken turns, sharing and being a good sport.

Lee Orlian says

January 31, 2017 at 3:06 pm

This is super creative and I love it! How important it is to encourage our children to reinvent the way they play and and spark new ideas in their developing minds! Truly inspiring! Thank you for sharing!

Brenda says

October 21, 2016 at 1:57 pm

I like your site, I work with 1 year olds and sometimes I have trouble with ideas to do and make.

Isabell says

September 3, 2016 at 3:40 am

I am a Early Child-hood student with open polytechnic one of my tasks was to plan a play plan for a toddler at my kindergarten as part of my pactruim and work experience I was lost for ideas until I saw your site I have chosen three activities that I will share with a toddler and observe His reaction and how he will be able to learn from this with my help. Thank-you

cassidy says

August 12, 2015 at 11:14 pm

love all these amazing ideas!!!

September 22, 2014 at 3:11 am

I believe some one and a half year olds understand some simple opposites, such as On/off, up/down, sit/stand, in/out….. Just to name a few. When I get my little one year old niece Dressed I say shirt on, and when I take it off I say shirt off, same with her shoes. I think about Things I do on an everyday basis that can help her understand simple opposites.

Nikuita Burke says

June 7, 2014 at 9:20 am

I work in a daycare I need some idea on what to teach one year olds

Deborah says

February 5, 2013 at 12:39 pm

When my children were young, I ran an in-home day-care. One of the things that the children always loved was being involved in the food. I baked all the bread for the day-care children. They loved helping! They also liked having thier own little section of the garden. And starting plants in the window. Picking and eating what they grew was wonderful for them too. We also made snack time an activity; round and square crackers, raisins, grapes, carrot slices, banana slices, peanut butter, sunflowerseeds, just to mention a few. A little dab of peanut butter for glue and anything will stick to a cracker. Decorate like an ornament or faces and eat yummy. Sometimes you can get them to try new foods, just because it looked good on their cracker artwork. ;) Now I provide day-care for my grandson, can’t wait till he can eat peanut butter!

February 13, 2016 at 11:02 pm

What awesome ideas, and you sound like a wonderful grandma and person!

jode@mummymusingsandmayhem says

February 1, 2013 at 6:16 pm

Great collection of ideas…thanks for sharing!

Susanne@babyhuddle says

January 31, 2013 at 6:40 am

Some really fab ideas here, have shared- thank you! x

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DIY Activities for 3-Year-Olds at Home

Looking for some ideas for fun and educational DIY activities for 3-year-olds?

You’re in luck! We’ve given a list of some of our favorite projects that are perfect for toddlers.

Most of these activities can be done right at Home with just a few simple supplies. And they’re perfect for helping your little one learn new skills and explore their creativity. So get ready to have some fun!

DIY Learning Games for 3-Year-Olds

You can easily create some DIY learning games for 3-year-olds at home with limited materials. All you need is some paper, crayons, and scissors. On the paper, draw some simple shapes like circles, squares, and triangles. Then, help your child cut out the shapes.

Once you have a few shapes cut out, you can start to play a matching game. Lay all of the shapes out on the table and mix them up. Then, take turns picking up two shapes at a time to see if they match. Suppose they do match, great! If not, try again. You can also use the shapes to make patterns.

Lay out three shapes in a row and challenge your child to continue the pattern. These are just some of the ideas to get you started. With a little creativity, you can come up with all types of fun and educational games for your 3 year old.

DIY Educational Activities for 3-Year-Olds

One great way to keep your little ones entertained and engaged is to do some DIY projects together. Here are some of the ideas to get you started:

1. Make homemade pizzas

Let them help you measure and mix the ingredients, then let them top the pizzas with their favorite toppings.

2. Design a Scavenger Hunt

Hide toys or candy around the house and make a map for them to follow.

3. Finger Painting

Get some washable paint and let them go wild on a piece of paper or an old shirt.

4. Plant a Garden

Kids love getting their hands dirty, so let them help you plant some flowers or vegetables.

Not only are these activities fun, but they’re also educational. Your child will learn about measurement, numbers, colors, and more. And they’ll be developing important fine motor skills as they mix, pour, paint, and plant.

Fun DIY Games for 3-Year-Olds

Here are a few fun DIY games you can do with your 3-year-old at Home:

Set up some empty water bottles and let your child knock them down

2. Bean Bag Toss

Make a simple target out of cardboard and see who can get the most points

3. Balloon Pop

Blow up some balloons and see who can pop the most

4. Simon Says

A classic game that never gets old

5. Hide & Seek

A great way to get your child moving

How to Make a Simple DIY Educational Game for 3-Year-Olds

If you want a fun and easy DIY activity for your 3-year-old, why not try making a simple game? All you need is a box of cardboard, some crayons or markers, and some tape.

First, use the crayons or markers to decorate the cardboard box. You can make it as simple or elaborate as you want. Now, cut a small hole in the top of the box.

Next, take some small objects like marbles, buttons, or coins and put them inside the box. Once the objects are inside, seal up the hole with tape.

Your 3 year old can now shake, tilt, and turn the box to try to get the objects out. This is the best way to teach them about cause and effect, and they’ll have a lot of fun in the process.

Tips for Making DIY learning Activities More Engaging for 3-Year-Olds

Here are some tips to make your DIY learning activities more engaging for 3-year-olds:

• Try to make the activity as hands-on as possible. The more they can touch, feel, and explore, the better.
• Make it colorful! This will help capture their attention and make the activity more fun.
• Add in a few elements of surprise. For example, hide a toy in the sensory dough or put a secret message in the painted rock.
• Keep it short and sweet. 3 year olds have short attention spans, so try to keep the activity to 15 minutes or less.

Following these tips will help you create DIY activities that are both fun and engaging for your 3 year old.

Why DIY Activities are Important for Children?

There are many reasons why DIY activities are important for children. One reason is that it helps them to develop their fine motor skills. When children are engaged in activities such as painting, cutting, and gluing, they are using their small muscles to control the movement of the brush, scissors, or glue bottle.

This helps them to develop the coordination and strength needed for writing and other tasks that require precise movements. Another reason why DIY activities are important for children is that they help to develop creative problem-solving skills.

When children are given a task to complete, such as building a block tower or creating a picture with recycled materials, they need to use their imagination to come up with a solution. This helps them to learn how to think outside the box and to be resourceful.

Lastly, DIY activities provide children with a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. When they complete a project that they have worked on themselves, they feel a sense of pride and ownership. This can boost their confidence and self-esteem.

We hope you enjoyed these DIY activities for 3-year-olds at Home.

We love finding new ways to keep our little ones entertained, engaged, and learning. If you have any other great ideas, please let us know in the comments below. And be sure to check back often for new posts.

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100+ EASY Activities for 2-3 Year Olds

• Preschooler

Are you looking for fast and easy activities to keep your 2 year old or 3 year old busy? Are you also looking for activities that don’t require a lot of prep or any prep at all? And are you also looking activities that are easy to clean up, engaging, education and fun?

If you answered yes to all or any of these questions then you are indeed in the right place!

Here is our ultimate list of the best super easy no or low-prep activities you can do at home with your 2 and 3 year old toddler or preschooler .

Skills 2-3 Year Olds are Learning

Two and three-year-olds are at a crucial stage of development, and they tend to make significant progress across many areas. Here are five key skills that are usually developing during this period:

• Motor Skills :
• Fine Motor Skills : At this age, children start to develop better control over hand and finger movements, allowing them to perform tasks like turning pages in a book, using simple tools like crayons, stacking blocks, and beginning to use utensils more effectively.
• Gross Motor Skills : Two and three-year-olds improve their ability to run, jump, throw, and kick. They also become more adept at climbing and balancing, which helps them navigate their environment more confidently.
• Language and Communication Skills :

Children rapidly expand their vocabulary, often reaching up to several hundred words by the end of their second and third year. They begin to string words together into simple sentences, ask questions, and are better able to express their needs and desires through both verbal and non-verbal communication.

• Cognitive Skills :

Two-year-olds start to engage in more complex play, including pretend play, which helps develop their imagination and cognitive abilities. They also show rapid development in problem-solving skills, understanding cause and effect, and can follow simple instructions.

• Social and Emotional Development :

This is a critical period for emotional regulation and social skills. Two-year-olds begin to exhibit greater independence, start to play alongside other children (parallel play), and show a wider range of emotions. They may start to test boundaries, which is a normal part of learning about their environment and social norms.

• Sensory and Perceptual Development :

At this age, children become more aware of their surroundings and are keen to explore them. They develop deeper levels of concentration and are keen observers. Their ability to differentiate between sounds, sights, textures, and other sensory information sees marked improvement, aiding in their overall cognitive development and interaction with the world.

Overall, each of these developmental areas is important as they build on each other to support a child’s holistic growth. Activities that promote these skills are invaluable in fostering a well-rounded development for two-year-olds.

Supplies Needed For Activities

For a quick guide to activity supplies check out my Amazon shop .

For more help on how to start to do activities with your kids check out this post for things to buy and save for kids activities.

Activities for 2 and 3 Year Olds

Are you ready for the best list of activities?

Please note: that for most activities, additional details can be found by clicking on the title.

Enjoy and Happy playing!

1. Pillow Road

What You’ll Need:

• Several pillows
• Toy cars or trucks

How to Set Up:

• Lay Out Pillows: Arrange the pillows on the floor to form a road.
• Press Pillows: Gently flatten the pillows to make a smooth path.
• Add Cars: Place toy cars at the start of the road.
• Play: Let your toddler push the cars along the road and rearrange the pillows to change the route.

2. Snack Names

• Variety of snacks (small pieces like cereal, fruits, or crackers)
• Prepare the Paper: Write your toddler’s name on the paper, making large, clear letters. Draw a circle below each letter.
• Add Snacks: Show your toddler how to place one snack in each circle below the letters.
• Letter Identification: As your toddler places each snack, encourage them to say the letter and its sound.
• Eat and Repeat: As they eat each snack, repeat the letter and its sound. This reinforces learning through a fun and tasty activity.

3. Sock Puzzles

• A large sock
• Wooden puzzle pieces from a simple puzzle
• Prepare the Sock: Place all the wooden puzzle pieces inside the large sock.
• Find and Match: Have your child reach into the sock without looking to find a piece. They should feel the piece and try to guess which part of the puzzle it might be.
• Assemble the Puzzle: Once they pull out a piece, they can try to place it in the correct spot on the puzzle board. This activity is great for sensory development and fine motor skills.

4. Mess Free Rock Painting

• A clear plastic bag or sealable sandwich bag
• Place Rocks in Bag:  Put rocks inside the plastic bag.
• Add Paint:  Squirt different colors of paint into the bag.
• Seal and Paint:  Seal the bag and let your toddler move the paint around by pressing on the outside, painting the rocks without a mess.

5. Snack Math

• Snacks (small, countable items like cereal or fruit pieces)
• Add Numbers: Write numbers 1 to 5 and beside them draw the corresponding number of circles or squares large enough to fit a snack.
• Count and Place: Invite your toddler to place the correct number of snacks in each marked space.
• Discuss: As they place each snack, talk about the numbers and help them count aloud.

6. Free the Animals

• Toy animals
• Small ziplock bags
• Bag the Animals: Place each toy animal into its own ziplock bag and seal it.
• Rescue Mission: Give the bags to your toddler and encourage them to open the bags and “free” the animals.
• Enhance Play: Once all animals are freed, they can play with them, creating various rescue or adventure scenarios.

7. Dinosaur Bath

• Dinosaur toys
• A bathtub or large container with water
• Fill the Tub: Fill the bathtub or container with water.
• Add Dinosaurs: Place the dinosaur toys in the water.
• Play Time: Let your toddler enjoy giving the dinosaurs a bath, using cups or sponges to wash them.

8. Painting Bread

• White bread slices
• Food coloring
• Small bowls
• Clean paintbrushes
• Make Edible Paint: Mix a few drops of food coloring into small amounts of milk in different bowls to create various colors.
• Prepare the Bread: Lay out slices of white bread on a clean surface.
• Paint: Give your toddler a paintbrush, and let them paint designs on the bread using the edible paint.
• Toast and Enjoy: After painting, toast the bread lightly (optional) and enjoy eating their colorful creations.

9. Ice Sensory Bin

• A large container
• Ice cubes or frozen toy-filled ice blocks
• Fill the Bin: Freeze water in an ice cube tray or freeze toys over top an ice cube tray filled with water. Freeze over night.
• Add Tools: Place ice cubes or ice blocks in the container. Include spoons or scoops for exploration.
• Play Time: Let your toddler explore the ice as it melts, discovering toys or experimenting with the cold texture.

10. Snowman Towers

• Paper towel rolls
• Decorative items like buttons, fabric scraps, markers
• Prepare Rolls: Collect several paper towel rolls.
• Decorate: Let your toddler decorate the rolls with markers, buttons, and fabric to make them look like snowmen.
• Stack and Play: Build towers by stacking the decorated rolls.

11. Paint with Kitchen Tools

• Kitchen tools (potato masher, fork, etc.)
• Setup Paint Station: Pour paint into shallow containers.
• Choose Tools: Select a few kitchen tools to use as brushes.
• Create Art: Dip the tools in paint and press or roll them on paper to make interesting patterns.

12. Car Bowling

• Toilet paper rolls or makeshift bowling pins
• Set Up Pins: Line up the rolls or pins.
• Bowl with Car: Use the toy car to knock them down, setting them up again for repeated play.

13. Alphabet Match

• Alphabet fridge magnets
• Metal surface or fridge
• Construction paper
• Write letters on construction paper that correspond to the fridge magnets. Tape the construction paper on the fridge.
• Display Letters: Spread alphabet magnets on the floor or attach them low on the fridge.
• Match: Challenge your child to match letters.

14. Tea Bag Water Play

• Herbal tea bags
• Large bowl or container of water
• Cup, spoons
• Scissors (optional)
• Place tea bags, scissors, cups and spoons into a sensory bin. Fill a few container with water.
• Let your toddler dip and swirl the tea bags, observing color changes.

15. Pom Pom Number Sweep

• Number flashcards or puzzle pieces or tape
• Broom or brush
• Number Lanes: Tape sections on the floor and label them with numbers or place the number flashcards or puzzle pieces down.
• Scatter Pom Poms: Spread pom poms around.
• Sweep into Sections: Have your toddler sweep pom poms into the numbered sections.

16. MegaBlok Names

• Butcher paper
• Write on Blocks: Write letters of your child’s name on a large sheet of butcher paper.
• Build & Learn: Let them trace and build and arrange the blocks on their name.

17. Foil Puzzle Presents

• Puzzle pieces and board
• Aluminum foil
• Wrap Pieces: Wrap each puzzle piece in foil.
• Solve the Puzzle: Have your toddler unwrap and solve the puzzle, enjoying the surprise element of unwrapping each piece.

18. Build a Book Rainbow

• A collection of colorful children’s books
• Sort by Color: Arrange books in a spectrum to form a rainbow.
• Read and Discover: Choose books to read from the rainbow, revisiting favorites and uncovering forgotten ones.

19. Sponge Letter Match

• Foam Letters
• Sensory Bin or bathtub
• Prepare Letters: Use the sharpie to write letters on the sponges to correspond with your foam letter.
• Match with Sponges: Place letters into a sensory bin with water. Invite them to match the letters with the correct sponge. They can then wash the letters with corresponding sponge.

20. Salad Spinner Toddler Activities

• Salad spinner
• Various small items (like pom poms, paper pieces)
• Insert Items: Place different items in the salad spinner.
• Spin and Observe: Let your toddler spin and watch as items swirl around, exploring centrifugal force and motion.

21. Spaghetti Drop

• Dried spaghetti
• Cardboard tubes
• Sensory Bin (optional)
• Set Up Tubes: Stand the tubes vertically along a wall or sensory bin.
• Drop Spaghetti: Let toddlers drop spaghetti strands through the tubes, exploring gravity and coordination.

22. Cloud Dough Kitchen

• Oil (baby oil or vegetable oil)
• Make Cloud Dough : Mix 8 parts flour to 1 part oil to create moldable cloud dough.
• Play Cooking: Provide kitchen utensils for pretend play with the dough.

23. Nature Puzzle

• Various natural items (leaves, twigs, stones)
• Create Puzzle Base:  Arrange natural items on a piece of cardboard and trace their outlines using a marker.
• Match and Fit:  Remove the items and have your toddler match and fit them back into the traced outlines.

24. Rain Painting with Water

• Permanent marker
• Paint brush
• Prepare Paper:  Tape sheets of construction paper on the wall. Use a permanent maker to draw a picture to color on the paper.
• Hand your child a paint brush and fill a cup with water and inviter them to color in the picture with water.

25. Colour Mixing Tea Party

• Transparent cups or teapots
• Prepare Colored Water: Fill cups with water mixed with different food colors.
• Mix and Match: Invite toddlers to pour and mix colors to discover new ones.

26. Cardboard Box Wash & Paint

• Large cardboard box
• Brushes or sponges
• Prepare Box: Place the box in an area that can get messy.
• Paint and Wash: Let toddlers paint the box with the water, exploring textures and effects of water on the cardboard box.

27. Stone Washing

• Smooth stones
• Shaving cream
• A large container or bin
• Small brushes or old toothbrushes
• Prepare the Bin: Fill a large container with a small amount of water and place smooth stones inside it.
• Add Shaving Cream: Squirt a little shaving cream on the stones.
• Wash the Stones: Give your toddler brushes to scrub and wash the shaving cream off the stones. This activity is surprisingly clean, as the shaving cream and water mix to form an easy-to-clean foam.

28. Wine Cork Push

• A cardboard box or a yogurt tub
• Hammer or another tool to make holes (if needed)
• Prepare the Board: If using a cardboard box, punch holes just big enough for the corks to fit snugly. If using a yogurt tub, you might need to use a tool to carve the holes.
• Push the Corks: Show your preschooler how to push the corks through the hole. This activity helps develop fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.

29. Paint Animals

• Animal figurines
• Non-toxic paint
• Paintbrushes
• Paper or a plastic sheet to protect the work surface
• Set Up Painting Area: Lay out paper or a plastic sheet to keep the area clean.
• Prepare Paints: Set out small containers of paint and brushes.
• Paint the Animals: Let your 2 or 3 year old paint the animal figurines. This activity encourages creativity and sensory exploration as children feel the textures and work with different colors.

30. Pom Pom Water Transfer

• Pom poms or sponges
• Two containers
• Fill One Container: Place water in one container.
• Transfer with Pom Poms: Use pom poms or sponges to soak up and transfer water from one container to another, developing fine motor skills and understanding of absorption.

31. Cutlery Sorting

• Various pieces of plastic cutlery
• Plastic plates
• Arrange Containers: Set up several plates on a table.
• Sort Cutlery: Have your toddler sort the cutlery by type (forks, spoons, knives) onto the plates.

32. Dinner Plate Counting

• Paper plates
• Set Plates: Place several plates on a table and use a marker to write a number 1-5 on each plate. Place all the toy food in a container nearby.
• Counting Game: Invite child to counting and place a specific number of food items on each plate.

33. Backyard Toy Painting

• Washable paint
• Toys suitable for outdoor painting
• Prepare Paint Station: Set up a paint station outside with various colors of washable paint.
• Paint Toys: Let your toddler paint the outdoor plastic toys toys, exploring creativity and color mixing.
• Once they are done painting, use soap, sponge and water ad invite them to wash it off before it dries.

34. Bubble Foam Sensory Bin

• A large plastic bin
• Hand mixer or whisk
• Food coloring (optional)
• Cups and spoons for playing
• Create Bubble Foam:  In the bin, mix water and a generous amount of dish soap. Use a hand mixer or whisk to whip the mixture until you get thick, fluffy foam. If desired, add a few drops of food coloring to make colored foam.
• Add Tools for Play:  Provide cups, spoons, or other utensils for your toddler to scoop and play with the foam.
• Play Area:  Set up the bin either outdoors or in an easily cleanable area, as this can get messy.

35. Window Washing

• Water with mild soap
• Sensory bin or bowl
• Prepare Solution: Mix water and a bit of soap in a bin or bowl.
• Wash Windows: Give your toddler a sponge to wash an outdoor windows.

36. Pom Poms Sorting

• Prepare Mega Bloks: Turn Mega Bloks upside down.
• Sorting Game: Use tongs to sort pom poms by color into the Mega Bloks.

37. Snack Necklaces

• Embroidery needle
• Snacks (e.g., cereal with holes, soft fruits)
• Thread Needle: Thread a string through an embroidery needle.
• Create Necklace: Have your toddler thread snacks onto the string, making a snack necklace.

38. Elastic Bands over Paper Towel

• Elastic bands
• Paper towel roll
• Elastic Band Challenge: Invite your toddler to see how many elastic bands they can wrap around a paper towel roll.

39. Ivory Soap Experiment

• Microwaveable plate
• Prepare Soap: Unwrap a bar of Ivory soap and place it on a microwaveable plate.
• Microwave: Heat the soap in the microwave for about 1 to 2 minutes and watch it expand.

40. Turtle Boxes

• Cardboard box
• Prepare Turtle Shell: Place a cardboard box on your toddler’s back to pretend it’s a turtle shell.
• Decorate: Let your toddler decorate the “shell” with markers, enhancing creative play.

41. Elastic Bands Around Feet

• Elastic bands or scrunchies
• Choose Bands:  Select a few soft elastic bands or scrunchies. Ensure they are gentle and not too tight.
• Demonstrate:  Show your toddler how to stretch the bands and place them over their feet.
• Encourage Participation:  Encourage your toddler to try it themselves, which helps develop their fine motor skills and dexterity.
• Discuss Similarities:  Explain how this activity is similar to putting on socks to help them understand the practical application of what they’re learning.
• Supervise:  Keep a close eye on your toddler while they play with the bands to ensure safety, and remove the bands immediately after the activity is over to prevent any circulation issues.

42. Bug Whisk Rescue

• Small toys (e.g., bugs, LEGO, pom poms, socks, cotton balls)
• Place Toys in Whisk: Insert the small toys into the whisk’s wires.
• Rescue Time: Encourage your toddler to pull the toys out, stimulating fine motor skills and problem-solving.

43. Dinosaur Bones Sticky Wall

• Contact paper
• Black construction paper
• Tape (painter’s tape or masking tape)
• Cut Dinosaur Shapes:  Use scissors to cut out dinosaur shapes from black construction paper.
• Prepare Sticky Wall:  Unroll a section of contact paper, with the sticky side facing out, and use tape to secure it to a wall or vertical surface.
• Create Bones:  Break Q-tips into smaller pieces to resemble dinosaur bones.
• Attach Dinosaur Shapes:  Stick the dinosaur shapes onto the contact paper.
• Add Bones:  Invite your toddler to use the Q-tip pieces to create skeletal structures on the dinosaur shapes, sticking them directly to the sticky contact paper. This activity encourages creativity and fine motor skills.

44. Laundry Basket Dump Truck

• A laundry basket
• Heavy items (e.g., bags of flour, bottles of vinegar or oil)
• Load the Basket: Place heavy items in the laundry basket.
• Push and Pull: Challenge your toddler to move the basket around, mimicking a dump truck.

45. Balloon Bug Tennis

• A cardboard tube, paper plate and tape
• Make a Racket: Use the tube and plate as a racket.
• Play Tennis: Use the balloon as the ball, encouraging active play and coordination.

46. Body Trace

• LEGO DUPLO or MEGA BLOKS
• Trace Body: Lay down butcher paper and trace your child’s body.
• Decorate with LEGO: Use the blocks to outline or fill in the body trace, enhancing creativity and spatial awareness.

47. Finish the Animals

• Draw Animal Outlines: Sketch incomplete animals on butcher paper.
• Use LEGO: Have your child complete the animals using LEGO pieces, fostering creativity and fine motor skills.

48. Step Stool Jumping

• A step stool
• Safe Jumping: Ensure the area is safe and supervise as your toddler climbs and jumps off the step stool, aiding in physical development.

49. DIY Cardboard Puzzles

• Large pieces of cardboard
• Markers or paint
• Create Puzzle Pieces:  Draw and cut shapes out of the cardboard to create puzzle pieces.
• Decorate:  Use markers or paint to add colors and designs to the puzzle pieces (optional).
• Puzzle Play:  Mix up the pieces and encourage your toddler to put the puzzle back together, enhancing their problem-solving skills and spatial awareness.

50. Fizzy Ice

• Ice cube tray
• Baking soda
• Dropper or small squirt bottles
• Place ice into sensory bin. Sprinkle baking soda on top. Prepare bowls of vinegar with food coloring added to them.
• Fizzy Reaction: Provide droppers or squirt bottles for your toddler to squirt onto the ice cubes, watching the colorful fizzing reactions.

51. Stick Ladder

• Sticks, broomsticks, or painter’s tape
• Create a Ladder: Arrange sticks or tape on the floor to form a ladder.
• Climb the Ladder: Encourage your child to step over or along the ladder, promoting balance and coordination.

52. Book Drop

• A cardboard box
• Make a Book Drop: Cut a slot in the box.
• Return Books: Let your toddler ‘return’ books through the slot, mimicking a library book drop.

53. Pom Pom Water

• Large plastic bin
• Colorful pom poms
• Optional: cups or scoops
• Fill the Bin:  Add water to the bin until it’s about halfway full.
• Add Pom Poms:  Drop pom poms into the water.
• Provide Tools:  Give your toddler cups or scoops to play with the pom poms in the water. This encourages sensory play and motor skills development.

54. Magna-Tile Colour Sorting Boxes

• Magna-Tiles or similar magnetic tiles
• Caps, Pom Poms or anything colorful for sorting
• Prepare Boxes:  make magnetic tiles boxes in different colors
• Sorting Activity:  Encourage your toddler to sort them into the boxes based on the color of the tiles boxes.

55. Fly Swatter Bubbles

• Fly swatters
• Make Bubble Solution: Mix water with dish soap in a bowl.
• Create Bubbles: Let your toddler make bubbles by dipping fly swatter in solution and waving it around, providing a fun way to develop gross motor skills.

56. Clouds in the Sky Picture: Cotton Ball Gluing

• Blue construction paper
• Cotton balls
• Glue Clouds: Apply glue to the blue paper.
• Attach Cotton Balls: Have your toddler stick cotton balls onto the glue to form cloud shapes.

57. Water Pouring Station

• Towel or sensory bin
• Arrange Station: Set bowls and cups with water on a towel or in a sensory bin.
• Pour Water: Let your toddler practice pouring water between containers.

58. Ice Cream Cone Balloon Toss

• Brown construction paper
• Create Cones: Twist the brown construction paper into cone shapes and secure with tape.
• Blow Up Balloon: Inflate a balloon.
• Play: Invite your toddler to toss the balloon using the cone and try to catch it again.

59. Taste Test

• 4-5 containers
• Various foods (sweet, sour, salty, bitter)
• Prepare Samples: Place different types of foods in containers—sweet (honey, chocolate), sour (lemon, lime), salty (chips), and bitter (kale).
• Taste and Discuss: Have your toddler taste each and discuss the flavors. Ask which one they like best and why.

60. Pull the Pipe Cleaners

• Pipe cleaners
• Insert Pipe Cleaners: Stick pipe cleaners through the colander holes.
• Pull and Play: Encourage your toddler to pull them out and reinsert them, enhancing fine motor skills.

61. Spice Container Measuring

• Various spice containers
• Explore Measuring: Use empty spice containers to measure different items around the house, like toys or parts of their body.

62. Pillow Walk

• Pillows and cushions
• Create a Path: Arrange the pillows and cushions on the floor to form a path.
• Walk the Path: Have your toddler walk along the path, improving balance and coordination.

63. Giant Nail Salon

• Fine paintbrushes or Q-tips
• Set Up Salon: Draw nail shapes on the cardboard box to mimic hands.
• Paint Nails: Pour paint into the ice cube tray and let your toddler paint the nails using Q-tips or brushes.

64. Wash the Toys

• Plastic toys
• Dish soap or bubble bath
• Sensory bin or outdoor setup
• Prepare Washing Station: Fill a bin with soapy water.
• Clean the Toys: Let your toddler scrub and clean their plastic toys outdoors.

65. Oat Sensory Bin

• Plastic animals
• Sensory bin or large container
• Fill the Bin: Pour oats into the bin.
• Add Animals: Place plastic animals in the oats for your toddler to find and play with.

66. Draw A Farm

• Markers or paint sticks
• Farm animal toys
• Prepare Paper: Lay out a large sheet of butcher paper.
• Draw Habitats: Draw different farm habitats or let your toddler draw and place farm animal toys accordingly.

67. Pom Pom Drop

• Cardboard tube
• Painter’s tape
• Secure Tube: Use painter’s tape to attach a cardboard tube to a wall or chair.
• Drop Pom Poms: Let your toddler drop pom poms through the tube, watching them fall and collect at the bottom.

68. Prepared Playdough Kits

• Prepared Playdough Kit
• Purchase one here .
• Open and play.

69. Tube Pattern Matching

• Cardboard tubes (toilet paper rolls, paper towel rolls, etc.)
• Decorate Tubes:  Cover the cardboard tubes with washi tape.
• Create Pattern Cards:  Cut holes large enough to fit cardboard tubes down. Decorate opening with washi tape.
• Matching Game:  Spread out the patterned tubes. Have your toddler match each tube to the corresponding opening in the box and push it through. This activity enhances visual recognition skills and pattern matching.

70. Painting with Water and Chalk

• Colorful chalk
• A bowl of water
• A paintbrush
• Wet the sidewalk or payment with water.
• Water Painting: Have your toddler draw with the chalk on the wet surface.

71. Salad Spinner Art

• A salad spinner
• Coffee filters or cut circles of paper
• Prepare Paper: Place a coffee filter or paper circle inside the salad spinner.
• Add Paint: Drop a few drops of different colored paints onto the paper.
• Spin and Reveal: Close the lid and encourage your toddler to spin. Open to reveal the created art.

72. Pasta Threading

• Penne pasta
• Threading Materials: Provide penne pasta and a few pipe cleaners.
• Thread Pasta: Show your toddler how to thread the pasta onto the pipe cleaners.

73. Car Wash Sensory Bin

• Mild soap or baby shampoo
• Sponge or brush
• LEGO Toy cars and other small vehicles
• Towels for drying
• Fill Bin with Soapy Water:  Mix water and a small amount of mild soap or baby shampoo in the bin.
• Add Cars:  Place toy cars and other vehicles into the soapy water. Build a simple car wash using the LEGO. Optional: Add a car wash brushes out of a foam sheet.
• Provide Cleaning Tools:  Give your toddler a sponge or brush to wash the cars.
• Dry Station:  Set out towels where your toddler can dry the cars after washing them. This sensory bin helps develop sensory awareness and practical life skills.

74. Oobleck

• A container
• Make Oobleck: Mix cornstarch and water in the container until you achieve a non-Newtonian fluid that is hard under pressure and liquid when still.
• Explore Textures: Let your toddler play with the oobleck, exploring its unique properties.

75. Popsicle Bath

• A bathtub or large container
• Prepare Bath: Fill a bathtub with water.
• Enjoy Popsicles: Let your toddler enjoy a popsicle while taking a bath, adding a fun twist to bath time.

76. Clothespin Pattern Match

• Clothespins
• washi tape or colorful tape
• A piece of cardboard or sturdy paper
• Prepare Clothespins:  Put different patterned or colored tape on each clothespin.
• Create a Matching Board:  Place matching patterns on the cardboard.
• Match and Clip:  Your toddler will match each clothespin to the corresponding pattern on the board by clipping it in place.

77. Fizzy Experiment

• Eye droppers
• A sensory bin or Tupperware container
• Prepare Base: Spread baking soda in the bottom of the bin or container.
• Mix Vinegar: In separate bowls, mix vinegar with different colors of food coloring.
• Fizzy Fun: Use the droppers to squirt colored vinegar onto the baking soda, watching the fizzy reactions.

78. Toilet Paper Rolling

• Toilet paper roll
• Unroll the Toilet Paper: Carefully unroll the toilet paper along the floor.
• Place a Toy: Put a small toy at one end of the unrolled toilet paper.
• Invite to Roll: Ask your toddler to roll the toilet paper back onto the roll, trying to keep the toy balanced on top without falling off.
• S Play and Learn: This activity not only entertains but also helps develop fine motor skills and patience.

79. Feed the Baby Sensory Bin

• Rice or beans
• Baby dolls or animal figurines
• Fill Container:  Place rice or beans in a large container.
• Set Feeding Stations:  Place baby dolls around the bin with small bowls.
• Feed Babies:  Use a spoon to transfer rice or beans to ‘feed’ the babies.

80. Fill the Letters

• Sensory Bin
• Beads or rice
• Foam letter
• Fill sensory bin with beads or rice. Tape foam letters to 3-4 bottles.
• Fill Letters:  Call our a letter sounds and have your toddler fill the bottle with that letters with the beads or rice.

81. Cotton Ball Names

• Write Name:  Write your toddler’s name on paper with large letters.
• Apply Glue:  Cover the letters with glue.
• Stick Cotton Balls:  Have your toddler stick cotton balls onto the glue to form their name.

82. Alphabet Sensory Bag

• Ziplock bag
• Alphabet letters (plastic or foam)
• Prepare Bag:  Write bubble or block letters on bag. Fill each letter with washable paint.
• Seal and Play:  Seal the bag, removing as much air as possible. Let your toddler trace and paint each letter. Identifying the letters and sounds.

83. Watercolors and Rocks

• Smooth rocks
• Watercolor paints
• Clean Rocks:  Ensure the rocks are clean and dry.
• Set Up Painting Station:  Lay out watercolors and fill a cup with water for rinsing brushes.
• Paint Rocks:  Let your toddler paint the rocks with watercolors, exploring color mixing and texture.

84. Rainbow Milk Experiment

• A shallow dish
• Milk (whole or 2% works best)
• Cotton pads
• Washable Markers
• Prepare Milk Base:  Pour milk into the dish to just cover the bottom.
• Decorate the cotton pads using washable makers.
• Magic Reaction:  Place a drop of dish soap on the cotton pads and gently place on the milk’s surface to see the colors explode and swirl.

85. Nature Cutting Bin

• A bin filled with natural materials (leaves, soft twigs, flower petals)
• Child-safe scissors
• Fill Bin:  Collect and place natural materials in a bin.
• Cutting Practice:  Allow your toddler to practice cutting the materials with safe scissors, enhancing their fine motor skills.

86. Painting Ice Cubes

• Ice cubes or block of ice
• Sensory bin or tray
• Paint and Paint brushes
• Place ice in a sensory bin and paint.

87. Color Sorting Box

• A shoebox or similar container
• Popsicle sticks colored or painted in various colors
• Small slits or holes in the box lid, each labeled with a color
• Prepare Box:  Cut slits or holes in the lid of the box, each labeled with a different color.
• Sorting Activity:  Your toddler can sort the popsicle sticks by color, inserting them into the corresponding colored slit.

88. Salt Dough Dinosaur Fossils

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup water
• Dinosaur toys or shapes
• Baking sheet
• Oven (optional, for permanent fossils)
• Make Salt Dough:  Mix the flour, salt, and water in a bowl until it forms a dough. Knead the dough until smooth.
• Shape and Press:  Roll the dough out on a flat surface and let your toddler press dinosaur toys into the dough to make fossil imprints.
• Cut Out Fossils:  Use a cookie cutter or a knife to cut around each imprint, creating individual fossil shapes.
• Dry or Bake:  Allow the fossils to air dry for a couple of days or bake them in the oven at 200°F (about 93°C) for 2-3 hours to harden. This step should be handled by adults if using the oven.
• Discovery Time:  Once the fossils are dry or cooled, your toddler can use them for imaginative play or as a learning tool about dinosaurs and fossils.

89. Foil Painting

• Q-tips or brushes
• Prepare Foil:  Spread aluminum foil sheets as a canvas.
• Apply Paint:  Squirt some paint on the foil and give your toddler Q-tips or brushes to spread the paint.

90. Fingerprint Patterns

• Ink pads or washable paint
• Dot stickers and paper
• Prepare patterns using dot stickers on a larker sheet of paper.
• Prepare Ink/Paint:  Set out ink pads or small plates of washable paint.
• Create Patterns:  Show your toddler how to dip their fingers into the ink or paint and make patterns on the paper.

91. Magnetic Treasure Hunt

• A variety of magnetic and non-magnetic items
• A magnetic wand or large magnet
• Colored rice
• Sensory bin
• Hide Items:  Scatter magnetic and non-magnetic items in a sensory bin filled with rice.
• Search with Magnet:  Give your toddler a magnetic wand to find out which items are magnetic.

92. Tubes & Rainbow Rice Sensory Bin

• Colored rice (dyed with food coloring and vinegar)
• A large bin
• Fill Bin with Rice:  Pour colored rice into a large bin.
• Add Tubes:  Place various lengths of cardboard tubes upright in the rice.
• Explore and Pour:  Let your toddler scoop and pour rice through the tubes, watching as it cascades down (find full instruction here ).

93. Cereal Box Magnetic Tile Puzzles

• Cereal boxes
• Magnetic tiles
• Make Shapes/Tiles:  Cut shapes from cereal boxes and attach magnetic tiles to the back.
• Match and Stick:  Have your toddler put the cereal; box back together on the fridge.

94. Button Counting

• Buttons of different sizes and colors
• Paper and marker
• Draw simple shirts on paper each with a different number of buttons from 1 to 5.
• Match and Count:  Have your toddler place the correct number of buttons on each shirt using glue.

95. Bathtub Paint

• Food coloring or washable paint
• Small containers or muffin tin
• Prepare Paint:  Fill each container or muffin tin section with shaving cream.
• Add Color:  Mix in a few drops of food coloring or washable paint into each section.
• Bathtub Fun:  Let your toddler use the bathtub walls as a canvas for their colorful creations.

96. Fridge Shape Match

• Dry erase marker
• Trace magnetic tiles using a dry erase marker on the fridge (test for staining first).
• Invite child to fit the correct magnetic tile on the fridge.

97. Shapes Parking Lot

• Large paper or cardboard
• Foam or paper shapes
• Draw Parking Lot:  Draw a large parking lot with different shapes in each parking spot on the paper.
• Park Cars:  Label each car with a foam shape sticker and ask your toddler to park the cars in the matching spots.

98. Make Silly Putty

• 2 parts cornstarch
• 1 part dish soap
• Mix Ingredients:  Mix cornstarch and dish soap in a bowl. Add food coloring if desired to create vibrant silly putty.
• Knead and Play:  Let your toddler knead the mixture until smooth, then play with the stretchy, moldable putty. (Full instruction here ).

99. Shape Match Sensory Bin

• A variety of shapes cut from different materials (felt, cardboard, wooden etc.)
• A bin filled with a sensory medium (shredded paper, rice, beans)
• Paper an marker
• Trace shapes on a piece of paper.
• Prepare Bin:  Fill a bin with sensory material.
• Hide Shapes:  Mix the shapes into the sensory material.
• Find and Match:  Have your toddler dig and find the shapes, matching them to corresponding outlines on a side sheet.

100. Sticky Tape Shapes Activity

• Create Shapes with Tape:  Use tape to make large shapes on the floor or paper. Place the tape facing upwards so the sticky surface it up.
• Trace and Fill:  Trace the larger shape by sticking the foam or paper shapes on the tape.

101. Homemade Playdough

• 2 tablespoons cream of tartar
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups boiling water
• Mix Dry Ingredients:  Combine flour, salt, and cream of tartar in a large bowl.
• Add Oil and Water:  Mix in the vegetable oil, then carefully add the boiling water and stir until the mixture comes together.
• Add Color:  If using food coloring, divide the dough and knead in different colors.
• Play Time:  Once cool, the playdough is ready for your toddler to mold and shape.

Play2Learn Toddler & Preschool Programs for Curious Toddlers

There is no limit to your toddler’s energy and curiosity. That energy and curiosity although a joy can be challenging at times. Their interest in just about everything around them is what makes them great learners. One and two year olds can soak up so much just from their senses!

But as a teacher or parent that thirst for learning can be exhausting. That is why I created this toddler and preschooler program. To help you get the most out of this time with your curious toddler without having to come up with creative ways to play and interact with them.

Play2Learn for Toddlers  includes 20 Units for toddlers. Each 2-week toddler unit has 20 super easy to set up and engaging activities for toddlers 18 months to 3 years.

Play2Learn Preschool  which includes 20 Units for preschoolers. Each 2-week preschoolers unit has 20 unique and easy to set up and engaging activities for preschoolers 3 years to 5 years.  That’s over 800 learning activities for your toddler and preschooler at your fingertips! So many ideas you and your child will never be bored again! 

These  toddler and preschool lesson plans and activities  will definitely keep you and your toddler and preschooler busy playing and learning!

Click here for more information: Play2Learn

Book:  Exciting Sensory Bins for Curious Kids

Did you know I wrote a book of sensory bins? Click here for more information  Exciting Sensory Bin for Curious Kids . Or grab your copy at  Amazon . 

Boring afternoons are made exciting with awesome animal-based bins, like Salty Shark Bay or Yarn Farm. Pretend play bins like Birthday Cake Sensory Play or Bubble Tea Party encourage creativity and imagination. And your kids will have so much fun they won’t even know they’re getting smarter with STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) activities like Sink or Float Soup, Magnetic Letter Hunt or Ice Cream Scoop and Count.

Designed for toddlers 18 months and up.

Book:  Super STEAM Activity Book for Kids

Learning all about science, technology, engineering, art, and math sets kids up for scholastic success―and it can be so much fun! Watch kids enjoy building STEAM skills as they color friendly fish, help water find its way to tree roots, solve math problems with mazes, and more. 

Find out more and grab your copy  here .

Designed for preschoolers 3 years old and up.

Book:  Big Book of Riddles for Kids

Riddle me this: What’s an exciting way to practice critical thinking while having a blast?  The Big Riddle Book for Kids , of course! From hilarious puns to tough brain teasers, kids can build problem-solving skills with hundreds of riddles tha. t show them how to think outside the box.

• 350 riddles for kids —Have hours of fun with riddles, puns and jokes, and math and logic puzzles that’ll get their wheels turning!
• Level up their skills —Riddles get trickier as kids progress through the book, challenging them as they get better at solving puzzles!
• Double-check their work —Kids can check their answers in the back of the book with a handy answer key.

Help children expand their minds while having fun with this puzzle book for kids!

Designed for kids ages 6 years   old and up.

TV Show:  Curious Crafting

I’m so excited to share my crafting TV show  Curious Crafting  which launched in July 2022 on  TVOkids  and  TVOkids YouTube ! Season 2 aired in August 2023! My show was also nominated in 2023 for Best Live Action Preschool Series by the Youth Media Alliance Awards of Excellence.

Curious Crafting Season 1 is also now airing in Australia on ABC ! Watch it here !

Set in the ultimate crafting space, Curious Crafting is a short form pre-school age series about the joy of making crafts. I lead a rotating cast of adorable little preschoolers (including my own) making magic out of common household objects.

In each episode we transform recycled items into magical crafts like a milk carton school bus, paper bag puppet or cotton pad turtle. The crafters learn and laugh their way through each activity while demonstrating what their young imaginations can create. 

Curious Crafting shares the adventure and joy of making art with takeaway lessons for creating crafts at home.

This show designed for toddlers and preschoolers 2.5 years old and up. 

Filed Under:

• Three Year Olds
• Two Year Olds

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20 Best Learning Activities for Toddlers to Get Them Ready for Kindergarten

Have fun with letters, numbers, and shapes using these educational activities for toddlers.

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Just because your toddler isn't in elementary school yet, it doesn't mean their path to learning hasn't started. Encourage them to experiment with the concepts behind math, reading, science — even engineering and social studies — with these fun, at-home learning activities for toddlers and preschoolers, most of which can be done with items that you've pulled from around the house (which makes them easy to enjoy any time there's an unexpected rainy day and you need some fun indoor activities for the kids ). Pretty soon, they'll be counting, reciting their letters, and sorting their toys by color or shape. After that ... the world is theirs!

A word of caution though: Even though toddlers and preschoolers seem so big compared to the babies they once were, they still have no common sense at all, so any activity still has to be closely supervised. This is especially true for counting activities or projects that involve small pieces, which may present choking hazards, or anything involving water, which could be a drowning risk (even if it's just a small bucket of water). But with you guiding them through, they'll love these projects so much, the'll forget all about those buzzing, blinking toys in the toy bin.

Clothespin Color Match

Not only does this activity help toddlers shore up their knowledge of colors, it works on their fine motor coordination, since they have to pinch, pull, and place the clothespins.

Get the tutorial at Chalk Academy »

RELATED: 20 Learning Activities for Kids to Entertain Students While Boosting Their Brains

Paper Building Blocks

Paper can't be as strong as a wooden block — can it? For this engineering activity, you can show kids how even a flexible material like paper can become sturdy enough to hold up a weight (like a couple of Oreos!) if you shape it a certain way.

Get the tutorial at Babble Dabble Do »

Water Walking Experiment

A super-easy way to bring a bit of the science lab home, the "water walking" experiment illuminates two concepts: First, the water "walks" over the paper towel bridges (demonstrating capillarity), and then the colors mix to make new ones (the yellow water and the blue water "walk" into the same cup to make green). All you need is cups, food coloring, and paper towels.

Get the tutorial at Fun Learning for Kids »

RELATED: 23 Easy Science Experiments for Kids You Can Do at Home With Everyday Items

Number Pom Pom Challenge

Another activity that uses hand-eye coordination as well as number recognition, this cardboard tube maze is an exciting challenge for little counters. The object is to tilt the box so that the pom pom rolls through the tubes in number order.

Get the tutorial at Raising Dragons »

Shape Scavenger Hunt

Sure, your tot can recognize shapes in block form, but can they find the same shapes out in the wild? Send them on a scavenger hunt to see how shapes are used in everyday life.

Get the tutorial at The Many Little Joys »

RELATED : 22 Fun Scavenger Hunt Ideas to Keep Your Kids Guessing

Adding Boxes

What's 2 + 4? This simple machine will help kids figure it out. Put two poms in one tube, four in the other, and count the total in the box at the end.

Get the tutorial at The Best Ideas for Kids »

Word Family Houses

For preschoolers who are learning to read, "word families" show how one group of sounds can form different words. Spin the wheel to show how the "-un" word ending can turn from "run" into "fun" or "bun."

Get the tutorial at The Measured Mom »

RELATED: The 20 Best Toddler Activities

Muffin Tin Counting

Muffin tins are perfect for sorting and counting activities, because the whole point is keeping all the pieces neat and tidy. In addition to sorting by number, you can also use them to match colors if you line the tins with different shades of construction paper instead of the numbered circles.

Get the tutorial at Early Learning Ideas »

Craft Stick Names

Teach them to spell the most important words ever: their names. This easy matching activity lets kids practice the order of the letters in their names; if you don't have craft sticks on-hand, clothespins would also work.

Get the tutorial at Play-to-Learn Preschool »

RELATED: 20 Fun Activities for 1-Year-Olds You Can Make With Items You Already Have

Sink or Float

It's an introduction to the Scientific Method: Kids can make a hypothesis about whether or not an object will sink or float in a tub of water, test out their theories, and record their results.

Get the tutorial at the Stay-at-Home Mom Survival Guide »

Feed the Monster

The monster is hungry! But what does he want to eat? Move the strip of paper below him to reveal his lettery cravings, then have your tot find a block to match.

Get the tutorial at Happy Tot Shelf »

Missing Number Match

If they're counting from 1 to 10, give them a little challenge: Write a number line on a craft stick, but leave a blank space that needs to be filled by one of the numbered clothespins. Once they've mastered the matching game, move on and do 10–20!

Get the tutorial at Planning Playtime »

Felt Board Shapes

Remember Colorforms? Felt shapes can offer the same kind of pleasure, and kids can combine and re-combine the shapes to make different pictures. It's a learning activity and wall art in one.

Get the tutorial at Wait 'Til Your Father Gets Home »

Rhyming Dominoes

Traditional dominoes are good for practicing numbers, but with a few tweaks you can also make the game a way to practice rhymes, too. For kids who can't read yet, you can use pictures instead of words and still match up word sounds.

Get the tutorial at No Time for Flash Cards »

Counting Carrots

Part-craft, part-counting practice, this activity gives kids a chance to put the correct number of sprouts on top of a construction-paper carrot. The geometry of this craft is so simple, too, you can also use it as a shape refresher for triangle and rectangles.

Get the tutorial at Housing a Forest »

Shape Match Game

A twist on the classic memory game: Instead of flipping over cards, kids can make matches by pulling craft sticks out of an old egg carton. The great thing about this game is that it's so easy to pack up, it's the perfect activity to bring to Grandma's house.

Get the tutorial at Days With Grey »

"Bear Hunt" Map

Plot out the route that the characters take in the We're Going on a Bear Hunt book (or song ), and teach kids how certain geographical features (water, landmarks) are represented by certain symbols on a map. If they're excited by maps, show them how to make one of their rooms, their backyard, or even their neighborhood.

Get the tutorial at Buggy and Buddy »

DIY Musical Instruments

It's easy to make different percussive instruments out out household items. Experiment to see how different fillers (beans, rice, pebbles) make different sounds, then try using them in different rhythms to sharpen those counting skills, too.

Get the tutorial at Team Cartwright »

Monster Craft

This craft ties in multiple subject areas: After reading the book Love Monster , kids can design and create their own creatures, then count the number of eyes, teeth, ears, and feet.

Get the tutorial at Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds »

Tape Shape Sorting

Combine shape sorting with a scavenger hunt, and use painter's tape to make different outlines all over the house. Then, kids have to take their construction-paper shapes and search high and low to find a match.

Get the tutorial at Toddler Approved »

Marisa (she/her) has covered all things parenting, from the postpartum period through the empty nest, for Good Housekeeping since 2018; she previously wrote about parents and families at Parents and Working Mother . She lives with her husband and daughter in Brooklyn, where she can be found dominating the audio round at her local bar trivia night or tweeting about movies.

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7 Easy Educational Crafts for 3-Year-Olds

Looking for some educational arts and crafts for 3-year-olds? These seven clever options promote growth and development while keeping your little one entertained.

When a child turns 3, their growth and development are well underway. Indeed, the 3-year-old brain is capable of orchestrating ever more complex cognitive and physical skills, like jumping and hopping on one foot, pedaling a tricycle, walking up stairs, completing three- or four-piece jigsaw puzzles, naming colors, and following simple directions, says Laura Phillips, PsyD, ABPdN, a clinical neuropsychologist at the Learning and Development Center for the Child Mind Institute .

One great way to encourage learning and fine motor skill development is through at-home crafts and learning activities . When doing crafts with your 3-year-old, it's important to facilitate reciprocal verbal and non-verbal exchange. For example, when a toddler is coloring and chatting about their yellow sun, even if the chatter is nonsensical, Phillips encourages parents to make comments and reflections.

Try asking open-ended questions. "These rich and meaningful exchanges facilitate language development , attachment, self-concept, and lay the foundations for continued learning and growth," she says.

Here are seven easy educational craft ideas for 3-year-olds you can do at home. These engaging projects encourage learning at home, helping your child reach important milestones before starting school. Once you've mastered one, why not try the rest?

Get Creative With Art Supplies

Three-year-olds have the capacity to create art with markers, crayons, paint, and pencils—all of which improve fine motor dexterity and hand-eye coordination. Handing your child a blank canvas also inspires imagination and joy.

“Open-ended art—as opposed to specified crafts or projects—encourages creativity, flexible thinking, and problem-solving,” says Phillips. She adds that playing with art encourages kids to take risks.

Make Homemade Playdough

Search for an easy taste-safe playdough recipe online. Your 3-year-old can help make it. They’ll practice patience when waiting for the playdough to cook and cool and playing with the finished product improves fine motor skills, encourages creativity , and provides an engaging sensory experience. Your kid can also learn to follow directions by imitating your movements: rolling out the play dough, flattening it like a pancake, rolling it into a ball, etc.

Make Recycled Collages

Gather items to recycle as art supplies from around the house, like buttons or newspaper clippings. Have your preschooler glue them onto paper for a makeshift collage.

“While working with different materials, you can encourage awareness of basic concepts and categorization,” says Phillips. “Talk about and play with texture, size, shape, color, letters, and numbers.” (For example, tell your toddler to glue two buttons to the paper, and then have them attach something blue or bumpy.)

Trace Letters, Shapes, and Numbers

Getty Images / tolgart

“Many 3-year-olds are learning about letters, especially those in their names. They may be interested in and capable of tracing letters and numbers,” says Phillips. You can print out tracing worksheets or make your own template.

Here’s another idea: Draw your child’s name in large letters on a poster board, and have them “trace” the letters with stickers, buttons, or pipe cleaners. Or write their name in glue on paper and have your child attach bits of colorful paper or sprinkle glitter on each letter. This craft for 3-year-olds will teach them about spelling and writing, and it’ll also improve their fine motor skills.

Sort Stickers by Color

Getty Images / Sandra Milisavljevic

Give your child a stack of stickers. Have them divide them based on color. This fun sticker activity helps with primary and secondary color recognition and sorting skills. Then, they can use fine motor skills to stick them onto paper. You can also complete this sorting craft with buttons, pompoms, paper cut-outs, or any other small colorful crafting items you have around the house.

Stamp With Potatoes

Have extra potatoes on hand? Cut them in half and carve shapes like a heart, diamond, triangle, or smiley face into the flat, cut surface. Then, supply your child with paper and ink pads in a variety of colors. These potato stamps are a unique way to craft, and they can also teach your child shapes. Your 3-year-old will be delighted with the unexpected use of old produce!

Cut Straws and String Bracelets

Children need lots of dexterity for writing, and using scissors can be a precursor to holding pencils. Have your 3-year-old cut up drinking straws, which make a satisfying snap when the scissors break through. Then, they can string yarn through the straw pieces to make an easy DIY bracelet.

This craft relies heavily on fine motor skills and coordination—and your child will also learn patience and frustration tolerance. (You can also make jewelry with pasta, beads, or O-shaped foods!)

Optimizing Fine Motor Coordination, Selective Attention and Reaction Time in Children: Effect of Combined Accuracy Exercises and Visual Art Activities . Children (Basel) . 2023.

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Parent Resources for Learning > Core Skills > 7 Play-Based Learning Activities for 3-Year-Olds

7 Play-Based Learning Activities for 3-Year-Olds

by Dr. Jody Sherman LeVos | Aug 10, 2023 | Core Skills

Pop quiz: What’s a better way to get a 3-year-old to learn, pop quizzes or playtime? 

If you guessed playtime, you’re right! Play-based learning activities for 3-year-olds help them develop the skills they need for school and life by tapping into their natural love of play . It’s a lot easier to get a toddler to play a learning game than to sit down and study—plus, they’ll actually learn more!

The Short Cut

• Learning activities for 3-year-olds can help them develop Core Skills , Creativity , Critical Thinking , and the other 5 C’s that help them thrive
• Play-based learning activities work well because kids learn more when they’re doing something they’re interested in
• Many of the best activities are simple and use everyday items from around the house

We’ve put together instructions for seven of our favorite play-based learning activities for 3-year-olds, plus some general tips, to get you started.

Why Learning Activities for 3-Year-Olds Work

Three-year-olds have a lot of energy, and they’re often eager to have new experiences. You can take advantage of their natural Curiosity (one of the 5 C’s) to help them learn valuable skills and see where they are in reaching their developmental milestones .

When kids do an activity they’re interested in, their brains literally light up on researchers’ scans. They learn more and retain more of what they learn, including important abilities.

For instance, hands-on activities —in which your child molds, cuts, sticks, sorts, or manipulates objects—help them develop motor skills. They also help them learn to follow directions for precision and accuracy, improving their Critical Thinking. Similarly, activities like putting puzzles together and playing with building blocks help develop reasoning skills and Creativity (another of the 5 C’s).

All of these abilities will help them as they get older and start working on more complex skills like writing and tying shoelaces.

The first six years of a child’s life are a critical time for brain development. The things they learn in this period help them perform well in school, excel in work, build healthy relationships, and live happy, fulfilling lives.

How Should I Teach My 3-Year-Old?

Keep It Simple

Parents sometimes think early learners need an elaborate game or flashy toy to hold their attention. But three-year-olds are fascinated by lots of simple things—different colors and shapes , how these colors change when you mix them (e.g., red and blue make purple), kicking a ball, storybooks about dinosaurs, baking cookies, and so on.

You don’t need anything complicated to create engaging learning activities for 3-year-olds. In fact, you’ll often be more successful if you keep it simple and use everyday items you already have.

Allow for Creativity

Life is full of right answers for 3-year-olds (and a lot of them, like “Can I hit someone when I’m mad?” are important!). But focusing on process over the finished product when you’re playing helps kids maintain their natural Creativity. If they decide to paint a blue dog, that’s OK! And if they choose to create a 10-legged cat, that’s great too. 

Give them time to play with no “right answers” to strengthen this important skill.

Be Flexible and Patient

Not every activity you try is going to be a hit with your kids. That’s OK!

At this age, your child is learning who they are and what they’re comfortable with. Exploring their likes and dislikes (which can change quickly!) is part of their development.

7 Top Learning Activities for 3-Year-Olds

1. number hunt.

What You’ll Need

• A set of fun items—from teddy bears to building blocks to balls, anything goes!
• Hide the items around a room
• Ask your three-year-old to find a set number of an item or a group of items (for example, ask them to find one teddy, two socks, and three balls)
• If this is too easy and they lose interest, try turning it into a race against the clock (can they find the items in just one minute?)
• If they find the game a little tricky, ask your child to search for one item at a time (e.g., one teddy, and then one sock, and then one ball) and progress from there

We love this activity because it helps develop working memory and numeracy, important areas of both Critical Thinking and Core Skills.

2. Pasta Necklaces

• Dry, uncooked cylindrical pasta
• Sealable plastic bags
• Food coloring
• A cotton thread or string (you can also use an old shoelace)
• Paper towel
• Beads (optional)
• Place the pasta into the plastic bags, then add a few drops of food coloring to each bag
• After adding the coloring, seal each bag and let your kids give it a good shake
• Line the trays with paper towels, pour the colored pasta on top, and allow it to dry
• While the pasta dries, cut the string so it’s the right length to make a necklace for your child and tie a knot on one end
• Once the pasta is dry, your child can slide the pasta (and beads if you use them) onto the string to make a necklace. When they reach the end of the string, tie the two sides together and you’re done!

This is a fun way to help your child practice counting (“How many pieces of pasta are you adding?”), develop fine motor skills, and explore Creativity.

3. Trace Yourself

• Have your child place part of their body (like their hand) on a sheet of paper
• Show them how to trace around it using a crayon
• Let them take over tracing and finish
• Encourage them to decorate their tracing however they’d like—maybe their hand needs eyes and a mouth!
• The simplest body part to start with is your child’s hands. Once your child has mastered tracing out their hands, they can progress to their feet.
• For even more fun, use a very large piece of paper and trace your child’s whole body. They can then add features and clothes.

This activity requires little prep and can be great for an easy afternoon when you’re in the mood for low mess levels. And it’s an excellent way to help your child practice their fine motor skills!

4. Make an Ocean

• HOMER Sail the Sea printable coloring page
• Crayons, markers, or colored pens
• Help your child color in the printable and discover the interesting creatures that live in our seas
• As your child colors, point out the letters and say their names, the sounds they make, and creature names that start with them (“S” makes a “sssss” sound, for “seahorse”)
• Try to get your child to make the letter sounds too
• Lean into process over perfection. The goal is to introduce your child to letters, sounds, names, and the links between them—if all they want to do is say “sssssss” and color, they’re still learning!
• To make things even more fun, give the creatures silly names and make up stories about them

This is a great activity for developing Core Skills like letter-sound recognition and fine motor skills!

5. Build a City

• Building blocks
• Get out the blocks and start making things, giving each building a name (“This is a candy store. This is an apartment building. This is a playground.”)
• Invite your child to name their own creations as they build alongside you
• If they’re enjoying the game, ask them to copy buildings you’ve made (“This is a candy store. Can you make one too?”)

This quick, simple activity helps develop Critical Thinking (copying your buildings), Core Skills (fine motor skills), and Creativity, all at once!

6. Watch It Grow

• HOMER printable seed growth tracker
• Crayons or pencils
• Large jar (glass or clear plastic)
• Fast-growing seeds (e.g. peas or beans)
• Paper towels
• An old milk or juice carton
• A ruler or measuring tape
• Ask your child to fill the jar with paper towels, then pour water onto the paper towels until they’re slightly damp
• “Plant” the seeds in the damp towels, positioning them close to the jar’s edge so you can watch them grow
• Use the printable to decorate the “watering can” (the milk or juice carton) and add a tag with the plant’s name
• Each day, make a fun moment of checking the jar and asking your child to note any changes you can track in the field notes (“Oh! We finished breakfast! Time to check the jar!”)
• If the paper towels dry out, add water

This activity introduces kids to how plants grow, stoking their Curiosity (another of the 5 C’s) as they explore the way the seed changes day by day!

7. Create Your Own Color Hunt

• Five objects that match each color of crayon, located in or around the house
• Optional: HOMER Make a Color Hunt printable
• Draw a square in the center of a piece of paper (or use the optional Make a Color Hunt printable)
• After drawing the square, use just one color to color it in
• Hand your child the paper and ask them to find five items in or around the house that have the same color
• For kids who aren’t counting yet , you can place items in a bucket or box and ask them to find all the items inside that match the color on the paper

This is a great activity to help with sorting, learning colors, and counting!

Continue the Adventures with Begin!

There are lots of ways to help your child stay entertained, engaged, and learning at home! These activities should help your 3-year-old develop a wide range of important skills.

And if you need more, don’t worry—we’re here to help. Sign up for our emails or check out our award-winning products, from kid-safe learning apps to hands-on activity kits , or try our Early Learner Bundle to see how it all comes together to give your child their best start to achieving their fullest potential.

Jody has a Ph.D. in Developmental Science and more than a decade of experience in the children’s media and early learning space.

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Dr. Jody Sherman LeVos

Chief Learning Officer at Begin

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35+ Best DIY Games & Learning Activities For Kids In 2024

My favorite memories growing up are spending time with the family, a great way to do that is with the best DIY games for kids I could find! Quality bonding time with your kids is so important and with these tutorials, you can create super fun games and learning activities that you can use even after the craft session ends. These DIY games for kids make all of the crucial learning easier on you, and your kids. Plus, any activities you choose are going to be a blast!

2022 is the year of GIVING and I am happy to say I have so many different awesome printables available for grab to make your life just as easy as these activities! Looking to get on track in 2022 with an awesome meal planner? Got your covered! And these templates make art simple!

Here are the DIY Games For Kids!!

DIY Cardboard Board Game

Looking to create a fun board game for your kids? This will not only test your kids counting abilities but also their ability to follow rules and general discipline. Plus, they will absolutely love The colors and all of the cute little animals. Love it!

Cardboard DIY Connect Four

Who doesn’t love Connect Four? I think we can all agree it is such a beloved game for kids and adults alike. But an oversized connect four? That is something you’ll have to see to believe! With your main item needed being cardboard, this is not only simple and cheap to make, but it will keep your kids engaged and excited. This is seriously awesome!

DIY Color Matching Project

If you want to test your kid’s ability to distinguish colors and practice their fine motor skills, then you will be all about this game! Take any drawing and shapes you want, and make it a fun learning game for any age

Rubberband Fine Motor Skill Game

When your kids are young keeping them engaged while also teaching them their fine motor skills is crucial. This activity is a wonderful way to do just that! You’ll need some elastic bands in different colors, as well as some other household items. Interested to see how it looks? Check out this tutorial

Pizza Box DIY Painting Game

Is your little one art-loving? Maybe even a future Da Vinci? They NEED an easel. Unfortunately, these run pricey, so why not make your own? This is about as cheap as it gets as you only need a cardboard box, preferably any old pizza box! Let your kid’s creativity run wild with this one!

DIY Addition Learning Craft For Kids

Math can be a challenge kids, let’s be real. I have a hard time even attempting to try to get my kids excited about math. This, however, is a game-changer. With this “Say It, Make It, Write It” game, you can use different materials, like counters and play dough to help teach them simple math logic and problems. I really love this one!

Cheap Fine Motor Skills Game For Kids

Are your kids bored at home? Out-of-game ideas? I’ve got you covered! Grab some cardboard and old shoelaces and create this! Your kids will practice their motor skills and you will enjoy some family time. Win-win!

Homemade Counting Game For Kids

If you want to help your kids practice counting, then you will definitely want to check this out! The fruits and vegetables hanging to dry definitely add a touch of color to this activity and make it more interesting, and the setup is so easy using a cardboard box. I “COUNT” my blessings with this one!

Moon Phase DIY Learning Activity

Ready to teach your kid everything about the moon in the most fun way possible? Easily achieve it through this little art project! This will show all the moon’s phases, thus making it easier for your little one to understand and identify them. Shoot for the stars, and hit the moon with this one!

Cardboard Counting Game For Kids

Want to teach your kids numbers in a practical way? These easy and cheap to create cardboard cards have different items on them and different numbers. Just watch how easy counting becomes with this game!

Roll The Dice DIY Kids Game

With Halloween just around the corner, I am so excited to have found an activity that is Halloween-themed, fun, and educational. This hungry monsters game is all that and more! It teaches your kids to identify colors, count, and more all while having a ton of fun with it. Plus, it’s suitable for the Halloween season!

DIY Game With Old Pouch Caps

Teaching addition can be hard to do, as it takes a lot of time for our little ones to understand the concept. Here’s an activity that will help you with that! Learning and playtime have never come together better

DIY Toilet Roll Color Drop

Ready to teach your toddler to distinguish colors quickly and easily? Use whatever items you want for the “color drop”, add a couple of extra items like a cardboard box, and watch them enjoy and learn. Awesome!

DIY Alphabet Learning Activity

Let’s face it. Sometimes we just don’t have the time. This “Letter Match” game will be the easiest activity to prepare, and it will entertain your children for weeks! For this game, you will need some recycled cardboard to write lowercase letters and uppercase letters on pegs. It’s as simple as that. Love it!

DIY Maze Game For Kids

Mazes aMAZE kids, don’t you think? Teach your little one how to create a maze themselves! Plus, this will help them with their fine motor skills as well as create problems with practical solutions. Check it out!

Letter Match DIY Game For Kids

A fun game your kids will enjoy while learning? I think YES! This Tape and Play Letter Match game will quickly teach your kids to match the uppercase letters to their lowercase correspondents, and I love how colorful and bright it is too. This one is a serious game changer!

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DIY Matching Activity For Learning

Geography is such a hard concept for our little future travelers, and it’s so important to help them learn all about the world and the places that make it what it is. Now you can help them with a fun memory game! With only using cardboard and some markers you can give them such a fun way to learn, and you can even make the continents in different colors to make the learning brighter! Love it!

DIY Pom Pom Learning Game

An abacus is a great way to learn to count. But an abacus made of pompoms? even better! This activity won’t cost you a ton of money, won’t take up a lot of time to put together, and will be worth making as it will help your kids learn counting the FUN way!

DIY Weather Learning Activity

Teach your kids all the different seasons and all about weather through a fun board you can put on the wall or your fridge! With cardboard, paint, some pegs, glue, scissors, and markers you will have all four seasons and all sorts of different weather patterns going on! I’m predicting SUNSHINE with this one!

Homemade Fine Motor Skills Game

A sensory activity with a little hammer? I know that would be fun for my little man! Not only is it a great way to teach your kids to distinguish colors, but also a fun way to get rid of frustration. Sounds like an easy nighttime routine after playing this game!

Shape Learning DIY Game For Kids

Want to help your kids learn geometric shapes? This little booklet is the real deal! In it, your kids will find the page which corresponds to the shape, the color, and the pattern of the geometrical shape they have in their hand. Amazing!

Color Learning DIY Cardboard Game

Don’t just taste the rainbow, play with the rainbow! With some cardboard, paint, and paper clips in different colors, your kids will love looking at, and learning all about the colors of the rainbow!

DIY Scissor Skills Game For Kids

Not exactly impressed with your kid’s cutting skills? Here’s a way to improve them! This fun Halloween-themed activity is simple to make and extra simple to play. Easy as will be to create, it will make a HUGE difference in cutting errors. Love it!

DIY Toilet Roll Matching Game

Wouldn’t it be great if there were an activity that you could use for shape, number, and letter recognition practice? Wishes have come true because With some toilet paper rolls and dot stickers you can make this activity that will keep your kid entertained for hours and help them with their shapes, counting, and alphabet!

Egg Carton Alphabet DIY Game

Grab your empty egg cartons because this is EGG-TASTIC! This egg carton puzzle is not only a fun time-filling activity but also a craft that will teach your kids the alphabet too! You’ll definitely want to check this one out!

Days Of The Week DIY Game

This mood board is so simple and includes SO MUCH! The days of the week, seasons, weather, and feelings are just some of those things, and it leaves so much room to add even more if you have other concepts to work on. I love it!

DIY Mermaid Sensory Game

I don’t know about you, but my kids seriously cannot get enough of play dough. We’ve had play dough for a couple years now, and it’s still a weekly thing they choose to get out and use. Make it a DAILY thing, and an educational thing too! You’ll definitely want to check this one out!

Animal Matching Homemade Game

If you want to focus on your child’s language development, this activity is definitely the one for you! Have your kid match the lowercase letter with the picture and words written in lowercase letters, and watch them grasp it! It’s definitely just as simple as it sounds!

DIY Pattern Match Learning Game

Getting your kids to recognize shapes, colors, and patterns isn’t always an easy task. That’s why this activity should be your go-to game! It’s cheap, easy to make, and you’ll be able to use it endlessly. Absolutely love this one!

Paper Towel Roll DIY Game

Motor skills, motor skills, motor skills. We ALL know how important motor skills are. A game to practice these skills with only two supplies? PLEASE! With only a paper roll and some popsicle sticks, you will have such a great activity for you and your kids!

DIY Cardboard Cutting Machine

Does your littlest one enjoy using their little scissors? I really believe practicing cutting at an early stage is crucial for helping them get ahead in school, and this activity makes doing that fun! You can draw any shapes and lines that you want your little one to make, and watch them go to town. This is so easy, and so helpful!

Lego Shape Matching Game

Kids love Legos, and this will turn that Lego love into a practical thing that will help them learn! This activity is so easy to put together and the results are impeccable! You can draw or print any shape or letter you want on a piece of paper, have your kids make that shape out of Legos with the same color, and voila!

Cheap Counting Activity For Kids

If you want your little one to practice their fine motor skills and counting, this activity will be your new best buddy. For this game, you’ll need a few simple supplies and your creativity to make those flowers extra colorful. That’s it! Easy and entertaining, does it get much better?

DIY Paint Chip Matching Game For Kids

How cute is this paint chip pizzle craft? If you are working on learning shapes and colors with your young ones, this activity is here to save the day. Pick up some free paint chip samples from the store and make learning that much more fun!

DIY Cardboard Activity

A game with treasure? Say no more! Roll a dice, move the piece to its respective place, say the sound out loud, and put a treasure on it. So perfect!

I hope learning becomes easier this year with all of these DIY educational games and activities to choose from! Now your kids will be begging to play these educational games. Don’t forget to check out all of the free templates I have to offer, too!

Related Free Printables:

• Free Space Word Search Printable
• Free Animal Word Search Printable
• Free Science I Spy Printable

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30 DIY Sensory Toys and Games to Stimulate Your Child's Creative Growth

Modified: Dec 1, 2023 by Vanessa Beaty · This post may contain affiliate links · 4 Comments

How many times do you walk into a shop and have to remind your child, “Don’t touch anything?” 

Hearing that when you’re a kid can get old fast, especially since kids need to touch, smell, and taste the world around them. 

While you still need to tell your kid not to touch anything at the store, when you get home, that’s another story!  

Nothing is more rewarding and engaging for your child than a fun sensory DIY project!  Here are some awesome ideas you can do with your child.

Make easy crayon rubbings to explore texture.

Sensory diy toy: play “what’s in the bag”, make rainbow soap foam., freeze water beads inside balloons., make edible “water beads.”, play with glowing ice and oil., guess the scent., teach the difference between wet and dry., make flubber., let your child excavate edible dinosaur fossils., play with scented ice and water., make edible finger paint., make rainbow pasta., give your kids colorful cloud dough., get your cloud dough to fizz., make fizzy lemon suds eruptions., play with rice krispies., make candy cane cloud dough for the holidays., use jello paint to teach colors., prepare travel boxes with toys for car trips., take children on a sound walk., teach your kids about letters and numbers in a sensory rice bin., create “princess snot.”, make silky-smooth goop., create really cool slime using fiber supplements., make sundaes out of pom pons., play, “what’s in the balloon”, try painting with epsom salts., make beautiful rainbow oobleck., fun diy project for kids – make your own paper.

Brass rubbing was a popular method for reproducing metal plaques on paper in the Middle Ages.  Children can do a similar activity using crayons and paper.  You just set the paper on top of any surface with a texture, and you rub over it with a crayon. 

This is a great way for children to wrap their minds around the concept of texture.  It also is a fun way of creating “texture snapshots” while you are out and about. 

Your kids can collect textures they like and bring them home and save them.

DIY Instructions and Project Credit:  earlylearning

One fun game which is easy to set up in a matter of minutes and endlessly entertaining is, “What’s in the Bag?”  Just get a few brown paper bags and put some random objects inside them. 

The objects can be anything: cottonballs, toys, cereal, fruit, noodles, paperclips, whatever.  Try to pick some “easy” objects and some “hard ones.”

Give children the bags and have them try to guess what is inside without looking. 

They can start by shaking the bag and squishing it and lifting it.  Then they can stick their hands inside and feel for the objects. 

Ask them to use deductive reasoning to come up with a prediction, and then let them check what is inside (you can give them as many guesses as they want).  This is a wonderful way to develop cognitive skills, and also a great idea for an activity for a birthday party.

DIY Instructions and Project Credit:  amyscookingadventures

Even as a full-grown adult, I find this idea exciting!  Who doesn’t love playing with soap foam?  And didn’t you always wish that the bubbles came in whimsical colors?  This tutorial will teach you how you can make rainbow soap foam for your kids to play with. 

For the recipe, you just need Dawn dish soap and food coloring.  Alternately, you can use liquid watercolors.  If your water is very hard or very soft, you will have to pick up some bottled water as well. 

Put it in a large container outside somewhere, because your kids are guaranteed to make a mess. 

Then watch them have fun swirling the colorful bubbles around and building mountains out of them.

DIY Instructions and Project Credit: funathomewithkids

You know those crystal water beads you can put in your planters?  They are very fun from a sensory point of view, which you will quickly find out if you give a handful of them to your kid to play with. 

There are a lot of cool things you can do with them too.  Learn Play Imagine has an interesting tutorial for putting water beads inside balloons and freezing them.

There are interesting colors, textures, and sensations to play with throughout this sensory journey.  It’s s somewhat random activity, but just looking at the photos is exciting! 

For kids who love colors and textures, this will be an awesome project.  Children who are interested in photography and old enough to use a camera may also have a great time capturing the light and color of the water beads and balloons through a lens.

DIY Instructions and Project Credit: learnplayimagine

One problem with the colorful water beads that are used in so many sensory activities for kids is the fact that they look temptingly like food to many children.  This is easy to understand—they do look a lot like tapioca.  In fact …

If you want to thrill a kid who wishes they could eat water beads, you can do the next best thing: cook them up some tapioca pearls! 

Tapioca pearls come in many different colors now, not just white.  You can even buy rainbow packages. 

You just boil them for a few minutes and they are ready to go.  If you want to brighten their colors, you can add a splash of food coloring.

You can then add the colorful tapioca beads to a plastic container full of water.  They will float around and bleed their colors, and kids can swirl them around and play with them.  Best of all, they can eat them. 

The tapiocas keep for two to three days.  Store them with a little bit of water to keep them moist, but not too much or the colors will bleed out.

Tapioca beads are a safe, edible alternative to water beads, and they work great for many of the same activities you would do with water beads!

DIY Instructions and Project Credit:  kidsplaybox

Kids love to play around with oil and water, breaking up the bubbles and watching them re-form.  This activity takes oil-and-water fun to the next level by introducing an exciting glow-in-the-dark element!

Get an ice tray and mix up some glow in the dark paint and florescent paint with hot water.  Pour it in and let it set. 

Once it is frozen, you will have glowing ice (depending on the type of paint you use, you may need to hold it up to the light to recharge it before you use it).

You then fill a pan with oil and float the ice in it.  As the ice melts, beads of glowing water will break off and float around inside. 

Your kids will learn about liquid densities and have an awesome time doing it!

DIY Instructions and Project Credit: growingajeweledrose

This idea is my variation on the Ten Scents of Christmas sensory card idea from A Little Learning for Two . 

The original activity just involves putting scented items in little sachets attached to cardboard trips and then labeling them appropriately. 

This can already be amusing for small children, but you can add another dimension by turning it into a guessing game.

Make the scent cards with your child to teach which scents are which.  But then mix up the cards, have your child close her eyes, and hold out each scent. 

See if she can guess which ones are which by smell alone. 

This will help to develop olfactory awareness, and like the “What’s in the Bag?” game, it can be a lot of fun for kids to test their deductive powers!

DIY Instructions and Project Credit: alittlelearningfortwo

The things you take for granted and have for as long as you can remember you did have to learn once upon a time.  When you have toddlers, they are still learning these fundamental basics.  One of those basics is the difference between wet or dry.

This messy activity is a great way to demonstrate that difference.  Just get dry goods like cornmeal, oatmeal, or seeds, and pour them in plastic containers.  You can use anything you want for this activity. 

You might even let your kid pick a few options.  Hand your child a big bowl of water and a measuring cup, and let him have at it. 

Kids will entertain themselves for hours slowly (or quickly) pouring in water and seeing how the texture changes the wetter something gets.  Expect a big mess with this one!

DIY Instructions and Project Credit: fantasticfunandlearning

This sensory activity is so much fun that even older kids will enjoy it (I made it in science class during middle school and loved it). 

Deriving its name from the classic movie The Absent-Minded Professor , Flubber, also known as oobleck, is an unusual substance that behaves very strangely. 

Classified as a non-Newtonian fluid , it flows when it is under low stress, but breaks when it is subjected to pressure. 

So you can drop it from one hand to the other and watch it spill and pool like a liquid, and then you can close your fist around it and crush it like a solid.

Kids can make Flubber quickly and easily using a combination of water, borax, and glue.  You can add food coloring to make it even more awesome.  The stuff is endlessly fun to play with, and a great way to introduce children to physics concepts.

DIY Instructions and Project Credit: livecrafteat.com

This idea comes from Love Play Learn .  This is a messy idea, so you probably want to do it outside. 

You make salt dough and then press plastic dinosaurs against the dough to create an impression. 

After the salt dough is baked, you have “fossils” which you can hide in the tub with some “dirt.”  The dirt here is edible; it’s cake mix, flour and crushed Oreo cookies.

I love this idea, but I would take it a step farther.  Since the “dirt” is edible, it would be great to make the “fossils” edible too (salt dough is a molding material; even though you bake it, you definitely can’t eat it). 

One idea might be to substitute sugar cookies cut into dinosaur shapes and hide those in the “dirt’ instead.  That way your child can eat the fossils she finds.  A very cute idea and a great way to foster the interests of your little paleontologist!

DIY Instructions and Project Credit: loveplayandlearn

This is a very easy activity that takes very little prep time.  You just need to mix water and Kool-Aid together and freeze it into ice cubes.  The cubes you get are colorful and of course they smell and taste delicious.  Kids love the flavored ice cubes on hot days, and have fun tasting them or watching them melt.

DIY Instructions and Project Credit:  learnplayimagine

Edible activities for kids are the best!  Unfortunately, a lot of children immediately associate anything brightly colored with food.  If your kids love finger painting, but you constantly are having to stop them from trying to eat the paint, now you don’t have to worry about it.  The recipe uses gelatin, water, cornstarch, and food coloring.  The paint is perfect for exploring colors and textures.

DIY Instructions and Project Credit: invitationtothebutterflyball

For the kid that loves pasta, nothing will be more exciting than a bowl full of rainbow-colored noodles.  Just think how your child reacts to those store-bought noodle packages with the spinach and carrot-flavored noodles in green and orange.  Now think how he’ll react to a bowl full of pasta in every shade of the rainbow!  Learn how to do it in this video tutorial.

DIY Instructions and Project Credit: Youtube

Cloud dough is a favorite sensory activity for small children.  It’s a lot like regular dough, except it doesn’t stick to your hands.  You can mold it into shapes (like “clouds”), but then it breaks apart again and you can create new shapes.  This recipe will teach you how to make cloud dough in soft pastel shades.

DIY Instructions and Project Credit:  powerfulmothering

Cloud dough is already pretty awesome, but wouldn’t it be even cooler if it bubbled and fizzed?  This recipe substitutes in some baking soda.  The dough behaves the exact same way as regular cloud dough, but since you have a base, you can add in an acid and watch them react.  Get an eyedropper and gradually add in vinegar.  You get bubbling, foaming reactions.  The textures and colors are fun to watch, and this is an easy chemistry lesson for kids.

DIY Instructions and Project Credit: powerfulmothering

If your kids enjoy the fizzing dough, they will love this activity!  This is another science experiment in combining acids and bases, except you are substituting lemon juice for the vinegar (you could just use vinegar if you prefer).  Fill bowls with soapy water and adding food coloring.  Your kids are then pouring in lemon juice or citric acid.  With the acid combines with the baking soda base, you get an eruption of soft, effervescent foam.  The reactions last a long time, and kids can add in more food coloring in different colors to get a dazzling effect.  Once your children try this easy science experiment, they will always remember that acids and bases react!

DIY Instructions and Project Credit: kidsplaybox

Here is one of the easiest ideas in the world, which requires literally no prep time.  Just give your kid some Rice Krispies and some water.  You won’t believe how entertaining popping rice is for a small child (then again, if you’re like me, you still remember how fascinated you were with Rice Krispies as a kid).  Hand your child a spray bottle full of colored water or even more popping rice fun.

Looking for a Christmas-themed sensory activity?  One of the best things about cloud dough is just how easily you can adapt it into different activities.  Candy cane cloud dough is just like regular cloud dough, except that you use peppermint extract for an amazing scent, and you can add in red powdered paint to get a spectacular seasonal color.  Children can mold the cloud dough into different shapes and create clouds for Santa’s reindeer to fly through.

DIY Instructions and Project Credit:  growingajeweledrose

Create mosaics on the wall.

You know those geometric wooden blocks that come in different shapes and colors that kids play with in school?  Normally you just create patterns and pictures out of those blocks on the floor.  You can use contact paper though to stick them to your wall.  That way kids can get the experience of making a wall mosaic.  The block stick to the contact paper surprisingly well, and should remain adhered for a couple of days.  That gives your children a chance to display their artwork.  After the blocks fall off, they can make a new mosaic.  This is an endlessly creative project that can really foster a creative young mind!

DIY Instructions and Project Credit: mamasmiles

Kids can have a hard time learning colors, but the more senses you can get involved in the learning experience, the easier it is to create strong mental associations that help color concepts to stick. 

One way you can use your child’s sense of smell to help teach colors is by using Jello paint.  Create pictures of fruit and have your child paint them in different colors using Jello-based paint.  Since Jello has a strong fruit odor, the scent will stick around for days afterward.  Your child can pick up the pictures and smell them.  Smell is linked to memory, so your child will have an easier time ingraining color concepts (just watch out, lest you convince your kid that raspberries are actually blue).

DIY Instructions and Project Credit:  erin-specialeducation

Do you get into the car with a purse full of toys every day? 

One great way to free up room in your purse and to keep your kid entertained while you’re running errands or on vacation is to pack some boxes in the car with a variety of toys. 

Your child can keep his or her senses engaged, and you can focus on your driving.  This idea comes from Plain Vanilla Mom . 

I love that Jen decided to fill the boxes with old toys that tend to be forgotten or neglected at home.  It’s a way she can remind her child of just how exciting those toys still are.  In the car in a different context, they take on new life.

DIY Instructions and Project Credit: plainvanillamom

One way you can teach your children the concept of noise and how it relates to objects in the environment is to go on a sound walk.  On Buggy and Buddy, you will find a free printable which has pictures of bugs, birds, cars, and so on, along with checkboxes.  The images provide kids with a visual cue to help them identify corresponding sounds.  They can then check the box with each as they go along, and it turns into a game.

DIY Instructions and Project Credit:  buggyandbuddy

Here is another fun idea for a bin activity!  Get some rice and dye it with Kool-Aid so you get a variety of fun colors and scents.  Put the rice in a bin, and then get some foam letters and numbers and add those to the bin too.  Kids will have fun playing with these ingredients (the rice alone could be endlessly entertaining), and can also learn about counting and spelling.

DIY Instructions and Project Credit: pinterest

This fun recipe comes from Kids Play Box.  It is made using gelatin and corn syrup, and results in a gooey, sticky substance that you can stretch. 

You can add different food coloring and scents to different bowls to achieve different results.  Adding glitter makes for even more gelatinous fun.

There really are no end of goopy activities for kids to learn about their senses.  This one is a recipe for silky-smooth goop that has a really extraordinary texture.  It’s another one that uses cornstarch, together with liquid starch.  The recipe is similar to the one for Flubber, except you are not going to get a non-Newtonian substance, just a liquid one (you have to use water instead of liquid starch if you want the Flubber).  Be ready for a big mess with this one!

Who would have thought you could do something so odd using fiber supplements of all things?  All you need to create this recipe is water, food coloring, a bowl that is safe for the microwave, and psyllium seed husks.  Mix them together and put them in the microwave for five minutes.  The substance you get when you pull out the container will amaze you and delight your children.  It is a kind of oozing slime which you can pour from container to container.  You can stretch it out into a thin film (like bubble gum), and squish it into all kinds of shapes.  Simply by adding more fiber and less water, you will get a less-sticky version of the slime which is closer to solid.  Let your kids experiment with different recipes.  They’ll have a blast!

A lot of kids love to play “pretend kitchen.”  For the child who loves ice cream, it can be fun to play “pretend ice cream shop.”  All you need are some bowls or cones, a bunch of colorful pom pons, and some leftover Easter grass.  You could add sparkles or any other kind of embellishment you wanted, though.  Let your child come up with the ideas!  Just remind her that the sundaes are not edible.

Remember the “What’s in the Bag?” activity from before?  Another fun variation is “What’s in the Balloon?”  Get some items from around the household like coffee beans or cottonballs and fill up some balloons. 

Hand them to your child and see if he can guess from touch, sound and smell what is inside each balloon.  This activity works really well for tactile exploration because it is easy to feel through rubber.

DIY Instructions and Project Credit: tottreasuresnorthbay

If your child enjoys painting, this is a fun way to bring in a new dimension of texture to a familiar activity.  You just mix food coloring and water and add in Epsom salts.  The resulting paint has an interesting gritty texture.  When it dries, the salts sparkle like little gems.

If your child liked the Flubber activity from before, then he will love rainbow oobleck!  For this activity, you are just creating Flubber in a range of bright, vivid colors.  You then pour them into a plastic bin. 

Your child can reach down and swirl around the colors and experiment with the amazing non-Newtonian consistency of this incredible substance.  This one is guaranteed to keep your child entertained for hours.

You can literally make just about anything you want if you really set your mind to it. Case in point, the homemade paper instructions that we found on Kiss the Groom. You begin with recyclable paper like old newspapers and add a few key ingredients. This is a really cute idea that the kids will absolutely love. What’s not to love about making your own colorful paper, after all?

You will need to follow the directions precisely and it takes a bit of blending, tearing and other fun tasks. Making your own paper is a great way to spend those cold, rainy days or just any time that you want a DIY project that is fun and easy.

DIY Instructions and Project Credit: kissthegroom

Now you have a ton of great ideas for exciting sensory play!  These projects are as educational as they are fun, and will help your child to learn about his or her senses and explore the world in new and creative ways.  They are also a great way for you to spend time with your child!

Our lives are expressed and enjoyed through the use of our five senses: sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste. 

For our kids, sensory play is an essential part of early childhood development.  Children grow emotionally and physically through sensory exploration. 

It sparks joy, stimulates creativity, and fosters cognitive and linguistic development.  Children who learn through their senses also learn to appreciate them throughout their lives.  These kids grow up in touch with the world around them.

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October 07, 2015 at 11:45 pm

These are some great ideas and many of them are so simple to do.

October 08, 2015 at 11:06 am

Every thing seems to be working okay. Thank you.

Richelle Brito Carvalho

September 22, 2018 at 4:57 am

These ideas are so much fun, thank you for sharing this

Mary Amelia

March 08, 2019 at 8:17 am

Great ideas you have shared. Child development is most important. Now there are different toys and child development class provider are there to take care. Bloom Wellbeing is one of them to provide the baby sensory classes to develop their mind easily.

No Time For Flash Cards

preschool activities, preschool crafts, and preschool books.

August 6, 2013 | 76 Comments

75 Everyday Activities For 3 Year Olds

What are your favorite activities for 3 year olds? These simple activities aren’t just for 3 year olds, they are great activities and preschool learning games for older kids too! Don’t miss my new book Everyday Preschool , it’s the best book for parents who want to make sure their child is learning every day.

Finding the right activities for 3 year olds should be easy… but it isn’t. This summer my daughter and I have had a lot of time to play. Extra time in fact because she decided when she turned 3 to give up naps. With her brother home from school for the summer, my attempts at forcing the issue have been met with refusal. I am going to try again in a month when her brother returns to school but in the meantime, she has quiet time, earlier bedtimes and lots of simple activities like these peppered throughout the day. For more specific games for 3 year olds check out our post here with our favorites! If you have a younger child check out our similar list of 75 TV Free Activities For Toddlers . These 3 year old activities have been the bulk of what we’ve done this summer. Big projects are fun but day in and day out this is what we do.

This post contains affiliate links.

Fun Activities for 3 year olds

• Playdough sculptures with dry spaghetti.
• Fill a table with books and read, read, read.
• Play doctor with dolls.
• Take a walk and hunt for colors.
• Play with puzzles.
• Look at family photos together.
• Create with peel and stick jewels .
• Read through catalogs.

Need more preschool learning games and fun? Keep Reading!

• Eat lunch outside.
• Play in a box.
• Paint with watercolors.
• Play with stickers.
• Play sports in the yard.
• Play-Doh and sequins.
• Play Simon Says.
• Make a balance beam out of painter’s tape and walk it!
• Play in a kiddie pool.
• Water some plants

What are some easy things to do with a 3 year old? Keep reading!

• Play with a light table ( easy DIY here ).
• Play with cold cooked spaghetti.
• Cook together.
• Play with the hose.
• Dress up some dolls.
• Take silly pictures together.
• Play hide and seek.
• Play with stamps.
• Paint your toenails with kid-safe nail polish .
• Run Through the sprinkler.
• Write in a journal with markers, stamps, and crayons.
• Go to the beach.
• Learn about emotions with Mr. Potato Head.
• Go to the library.
• Read with a sibling.
• Call Grandma ( or Aunty, Uncle… you get the picture.)
• Help clean.
• Play dentist with dolls.
• Finger paint.
• Draw with chalk on black construction paper.

What are the best activities for 3 year old ?

• Play dress-up.
• Take markers and paint onto the porch for art outside.
• Play School
• Mix sidewalk chalk and other toys for pretend play outside.
• Scrap paper collages. All you need is some paper and glue!
• Jump in puddles. I don’t know of a better activity for a 3 year old than this one!
• Build a tower out of recycling.
• Wash the car.
• Backyard nature hunt. Tape painter’s tape sticky side out on a window or wall and have your child stick what they find on it.
• Take some pictures.
• Have a tea party.
• Practice cutting with playdough!
• Make a ramp with cardboard and drive matchbox cars down it.

• Play-Doh with pipe cleaners.
• Wash push cars, scooters, and bikes.
• Go for a hike.
• Play airplane or train with your kitchen chairs.
• Wash windows with water and vinegar.
• Turn snack bars into shapes and practice using a knife at the same time.
• Play alone. Yes, it’s more than OK, it’s incredible to let kids play alone . Let your 3 year old think up their own activities. We don’t need to entertain them 24/7 !

What is your family’s favorite everyday activity? Not listed? Add it in the comments and tell us why your kids love it!

Need more activities to do with  3 year olds?

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76 Comments

August 6, 2013 at 9:08 am

Thank you for the fun reminders! Sometimes it’s easy to fall into similar patterns and it’s nice to mix it up with simple, but different fun activities.

July 9, 2020 at 7:26 am

This is so great I am going to be running a camp soon for 4 little girls that are toddlers and I am 13!

Pragmaticmom says

August 6, 2013 at 12:56 pm

What great ideas to keep toddlers busy!

June 26, 2020 at 12:13 am

72 is an everyday lately and I didnt even teach her to do that. Kids and their natural fascination with choo choo trains.

To add to the list, how about build a castle out of blocks

April 19, 2024 at 3:51 pm

We take a pail and go outside and have a scavenger hunt. Bring the items in the house and use them for a decoration or make a picture.

Kirstylee @ Moms Have Questions Too says

August 6, 2013 at 12:58 pm

These are so great. I often get caught up in the big projects and forget to do the simple things like these. Plus, this is a great list to turn to when netflix is getting tempting. 😉

Allison McDonald says

August 6, 2013 at 3:57 pm

Exactly! My 3 year old is watching Ni Hao Kailan right now , every day isn’t always perfect and that’s OK.

September 18, 2019 at 11:28 am

Great post. Thank you very much. I’m not a big fan of TV, so this compilation should definitely help us a lot as a family to have lots of fun away from TV

Liisa Direen says

August 6, 2013 at 3:22 pm

That’s a great list, thank you. I’d like to share of my favourite activities with my 3 yr old son. I have a container of junk I have collected, scraps, bottle tops broken toys etc. and we set it up as rubbish tip. He loves getting his toy Rubbish truck and moving the junk around and taking it to the pretend rubbish dump. Simple and entertains him for ages 🙂

June 12, 2016 at 11:29 am

I love this idea!

Peggy Carbajal says

December 9, 2020 at 7:44 am

I have empty boxes of various sizes that I have taped shut. We use to stack and topple over. Also can be used to sort from smallest to largest , shortest to tallest.

Lori Morales says

August 6, 2013 at 4:03 pm

Luv the of handy fun! We play with shaving cream quite often on paper, a tarp, cardboard or even the tub. Adding food coloring and sponge brushes if we feel like making it rainbow fun.

August 6, 2013 at 4:09 pm

Balloons and noodles

OneMommy says

August 10, 2013 at 7:22 pm

Terrific collection of ideas! Definitely sharing this!

Naveen Jain says

November 14, 2013 at 11:42 am

We do beans/rice/pasta in measuring cups to teach about volume

January 11, 2014 at 9:01 pm

This is a great list of activities for 3 year olds. I particularly like the one about playing dentist with dolls. Never thought of that one. I put something similar together on my website http://www.excitedkids.com

Feel free to use any of the ideas their for your website.

Danielle says

February 14, 2014 at 11:02 am

My 3yrs old likes to paint the exterior of the house with water and a paintbrush

October 19, 2014 at 6:49 am

I used to do this for hours when I was a kid! So much fun!!

EMMA ASTILL says

March 4, 2014 at 4:02 pm

Dishwashing liquid some food colouring and a straw. Blow Bubbles above the height of the container then place a piece of paper over the top to make a cool bubbly picture.

Suzanne says

March 28, 2014 at 2:50 pm

Allison, this is an amazing collection of activities. I have been doing a series of everyday activities and the different developmental domains. I just had to add a link to your activities to the end of my post on Cognitive Development. Of course, I have pinned & shared on fb, & twitter, too. Thanks for all the work that went into this post.

March 29, 2014 at 7:19 pm

What a great idea or series. So often we get wowed by the big shiny complicated things when really the basics are what kids need the most.

Caitlyn says

April 6, 2014 at 8:51 am

Thanks for the creative Ideas I have a 3 year old brother and it gets hard to think of different things to do with him when I watch him!!!!!

Kellie says

August 24, 2014 at 8:03 pm

I just stumbled across your blog via Pinterest, but I have to comment! This is a great list of everyday activities to do with a preschooler, but my favorite part about the list is that it isn’t activities for “girls” or “boys”. It is just a great list of kid friendly activities! Thanks so much for sharing!

August 25, 2014 at 9:28 pm

I have a hard time labeling children. I know and respect why some lists are like that but I prefer to just say kids.

June 12, 2016 at 11:32 am

That’s great! I got boys that love to play with dolls. No need to label kids. They all love to have fun!

Susan Morris says

August 9, 2016 at 1:52 pm

A hard time labeling kids? Since when did calling a girl – a girl – and a boy – a boy – become labeling? It’s what they are!?!?!?! What is wrong with you people???

August 11, 2016 at 8:28 am

I am referring to labeling an activity as something a boy would like vs what a girl would like. I don’t do lists like that – I have taught far too many kids who have busted all gender specific activities for me ever to write something like that and feel like there was any girth to it.

Richie says

January 27, 2017 at 7:18 am

Me and my daughter see how many clothes we can get on until we’re big and round.

January 27, 2017 at 7:46 am

This is my favorite comment ever 🙂

Gabriella Taylor says

April 22, 2016 at 11:37 am

Well, she did start this off saying these are activities with her 3 year old daughter. Yes, a lot of the activities don’t depend on the child’s gender, but there are girl specific ones in there. Unless, of course, you’re raising a boy on dress-up and dolls, although that would be unorthodox.

May 4, 2016 at 5:11 pm

So Barbie’s friend Ken and GI Joe aren’t dolls? When children play with dolls it’s an opportunity to discover how they interpret the world. Nothing unorthodox about that.

Melissa says

June 10, 2016 at 7:08 pm

My son has trucks, planes, duplo, Batman, an Elsa doll, multiple Disney figurines ranging from Buzz Lightyear to Cinderella…toys are just toys until we put a gender label on them.

RILEY! says

October 20, 2020 at 7:39 pm

i personally like the last one!

September 2, 2014 at 5:27 pm

Great ideas! My girls love when I hide a surprise (a toy, utensil, sock, etc) in a pillow case and they have to stick their hand in and guess what it is without being able to see it.

December 31, 2014 at 7:09 pm

When my son was little I would roll out butcher paper onto the kitchen floor and tape it in place. Then he would paint all over it and we’d use it through out the year for wrapping presents. You could use plain brown paper as well. Stores sell it in rolls. We also used to go for a hike in our local park and turn over rocks and look for lizards and snakes! we used to make Christmas ornaments together too. He’s 25 now and we made some together this year. Good memories:)

Natalie says

October 16, 2016 at 5:53 am

Love the idea of wrapping Christmas presents in the butcher paper! I have a little artist that’s just waiting to create some wrapping paper. Thanks!

Sharon Chastain says

February 9, 2020 at 7:03 pm

When my brother and I were little, we used to roll out a big sheet of butcher paper and then draw an aerial view of a city complete with roads. We used to use his little cars and we would drive all over our city. The maps got bigger as we got bigger. I did this again with his grandson and we spent hours deciding what to put in our city. We had a library, a Starbucks Drive through, a school, a fire station you name it! We had a park and we had our homes. We built our houses out of blocks right on top of the city. Perfect for a 5-8 year old. Entertains for hours!

January 9, 2015 at 3:24 pm

Sometimes it’s a lot of fun with my niece to take different colored construction paper, kids scissors, and a glue stick and just let them cut out different shapes and glue it to another piece of paper, they can also color it. If you’re worried about a mess, you can use a plastic table cloth. Also fun to have a mini chalkboard and paint with water and a paintbrush 🙂 going to some place like a park with ducks and feeding then is always a lot of fun. I’ve also had a lot of fun making bread with them and letting them dump ingredients in and watching it rise. Always fun to put food coloring in too

January 20, 2015 at 10:34 pm

Its really great to see so many activities. all of the are fun learning activities.

July 30, 2015 at 11:46 pm

My stairs are carpeted. I put a single bed (foam) mattress on them. Kids have GREAT fun sliding down it! You could also use an open cardboard box.

March 20, 2020 at 8:02 am

Or a mummy sleeping bag I did this all the time as a kid in the house I grew up in!

August 2, 2015 at 5:10 am

This is brilliant! I have a three year old niece and all she ever wants to do is play doctors with me. As much as I love her, I absolutely hate playing doctors now. This list should keep us busy and hopefully distract her from the doctor game

When I was younger, we used to get a glass of washing up liquid and food colouring, blow bubbles through a straw and put a piece of paper underneath, keep blowing until the bubbles overflow and you get a lovely picture xx

November 23, 2015 at 9:39 am

My 3 year old has always loved tying knots in a 2 foot length of rope- tying chairs, trees, back of the seat in the car…keeps him busy and QUIET for hours! At some point I will get him a book of knots to see if he can follow the instructions.

April 8, 2016 at 7:24 am

Thanks for the tips!! Duly noted! A simple game my kids have enjoyed since they were babies is you screw up a piece of paper and put it in one hand. Then you pass it quickly from one hand to the next and then suddenly stop with the paper in one of your hands and turn both your fists down. The child then has to remember which hand the paper ended up in. It’s great when you’re out and about and need sudden entertainment.

August 20, 2016 at 11:15 am

If you have long-ish grass (clover works well), you can tie the end(s) of a blade of grass into loops and loop them together into a chain. With my three year old, I tie the knots and let her loop the next one in. After you get a long chain, you can decorate yourselves or a chair or a tree with the chains. When she gets older, she might be able to tie the knots herself.

Yogini says

December 8, 2016 at 9:48 pm

What about ball games. There is no mention of that.

December 9, 2016 at 12:31 pm

Theresa says

December 23, 2016 at 10:56 am

This is very cool but i wish it had more details and had more games rather than crafts. Thanks anyway.

February 9, 2020 at 7:54 pm

Pick up some used small tennis rackets at a second hand sports store. Get some big nerf balls or pressure-less balls and then go out to a local tennis court. Forget about the net. See who can hit the most balls. Teaches hand/eye coordination. Older kids can get a point every time the ball goes over the net. Let it bounce as many times as needed or even let it roll. Have fun and run and hit. See who can hit the farthest or play follow the leader.

Sandhu says

October 8, 2017 at 12:18 am

My 2.5 year old baby girl like cycling. She has a tri cycle. Water paints and colouring is also favoriout hobby.

Frankie says

March 18, 2018 at 11:46 pm

Love the ideas it should keep my bunch busy no matter what the weather is. Thank you

Deb Gillmore says

May 20, 2019 at 5:03 am

Walk around your local streets and look at all the different letterboxes

June 5, 2019 at 3:24 pm

We used to cut potatoes into shapes and use them to make paintings

Gina B says

June 17, 2019 at 5:34 am

Plant a garden with your kids. My kids absolutely love pulling carrots up, and will eat tomatoes and mint leaves right from the garden-only if they plant it though;). Also, worm digging and ant watching is hours of entertainment;)

Kim Bierma says

July 9, 2019 at 10:44 pm

My 3 year old grandson loves to: 1. Use a blunt Fiskars scissors to trim the bushes with me, or clean up weeds in the back patio. Cut cut cut. Also cuts pieces of construction paper and puts them in a cup.

2. He like to play his guitar (my ukelele) while I play my big guitar and Paw Paw joins us to sing familiar song, IE muffin man. He’s big into doing things “toGETHer” w Grammy and Paw Paw.

3 Each planted a lily. He had plenty of freedom during that tine to find worms, use his growl to dig, and water things to his heart’s content.

October 4, 2019 at 7:06 am

yo waddup this nice

March 22, 2020 at 6:08 pm

How about: In your house or apartment, find everything you can that is blue. Which is biggest? Which is smallest?

Make up a silly story about one of the things.

Shannon says

April 23, 2020 at 2:02 pm

My daughter loves to play kitchen! she watches me cook and she likes to do it, too… or at least she pretends too!!

July 22, 2020 at 6:33 pm

I think these are great Ideas for kiddos! Thank you for being so thoughtful and sharing. I have a small round table in my kitchen and I have a box of scratch paper in my home office that had a printing error or something on one side and blank on the other. I took them and taped them together overlaying them together, tucking them under the table and taping them under as well. I gave them markers and crayons and they just colored or drew all over it. I would leave it out for a week or so as a table cloth. One of my granddaughters drew all over one with me and it was a lot of fun. My grandson came over a couple of days later (after she had left) and we had to stay in because of sheltering in. It so happened it was his birthday a few days later and we added a few things to our colorful table cloth with extra drawings and said he had a very special birthday table cloth that was left by his cousin. It was a good time.

Nana Edwards says

August 19, 2020 at 10:06 am

Thanks for the nice list and the great ideas in comments also. This Nana has grandbabes who are 8 mo, 11 mo, 3 1/2, another 3 1/2 (one month apart), and 6 yrs old being home-schooled for kindergarten. Yep, we’re busy especially during the coronavirus isolation protocols. Two sons and their wives are ok with me just being around their two families. Anyway, here’s something that used to keep my 3 kids entertained for hours 30 yrs ago. They each got a ball of crochet yarn, tied one end to a doorknob at different places throughout the house, then walked around and wrapped there yarn ALL OVER the entire house looping around doorknobs in every room, table legs, bedposts, shower curtain bar, etc….not too tight as to pull things over and not too loose and drooping…so that for the day we all had to step over yarn or duck under yarn to get around. It was crazy fun! This didn’t happen too often, but on a weekend or icy snowy day it was perfect.

October 4, 2020 at 10:16 pm

I just came across your blog via Pinterest, but I’ve got to make a statement! Here is a wonderful list of day-to-day events for preschoolers, but my favourite part of the list is that it’s not “girls” or “people” events. It’s such a wonderful list of child fun events! Thank you so much for sharing it!

Andrea says

October 19, 2020 at 9:24 am

great help to get ideas for my college assignment. love the ideas all very fun.

Melissa Aldrich-Welch says

October 22, 2020 at 12:05 pm

use a cookie sheet with sides and allow child to play with Magic Sand using different objects like toy cars, plastic animals, etc. My grandson likes to bury the cars and use the animals to rescue them. Provide a small plastic spoon and fork to “dig” with. Take turns hiding the objects in the sand and have the other try to find it. Magic Sand is great because it never dries out. You can even mix the colors to make new colors.

December 4, 2020 at 12:12 am

It’s an amazing 75 lists of activities. Would love to bookmark for the future. Ting!!!

February 13, 2021 at 8:49 pm

My grandson loves to cut up sheets of craft foam because it’s so satisfying to cut through the spongy-ness! Great scissor practice! He just cuts and cuts at this point and really isn’t interested in doing anything with the bits.

February 13, 2021 at 8:54 pm

Forgot to say… my (Canadian) grandson also likes to pretend he’s a member of American “marching bands.” We use everyday objects to represent instruments and march around and around the house, in time to great American marches…. Stars and Stripes Forever on the computer is his favourite! A short curtain rod that he found in my sewing room has become a trombone, we use a chopstick for a piccolo, two pot lids for cymbols. You get the picture! Lots of fun for Nana and Papa too!

August 4, 2021 at 6:50 am

Excellent!!! Looks like I will try this activities with my niece.

Sam Hood says

August 20, 2021 at 5:16 am

Thanks for writing this will surely help us to get engaged in activities. Keep Sharing.

Amanda Torres says

September 23, 2021 at 1:16 am

My cousin is 4 years old and this will give her great company and time. Thank you for sharing.

Percetakan Murah Jakarta says

February 26, 2022 at 10:29 am

Great article. Keep up the good work!

Steve Smith says

July 1, 2022 at 8:18 am

I work with Head Start children 0-3 years old. One of the things I think is so important is the everyday aspect of learning. There are countless things in our world that fascinate children and they can use to learn and imagine. Thank you for all 75, PLUS! the comments. You miss out on some great ideas if you don’t read those, also. I still think its so funny and instructive to adults when children unwrap gifts and then end up playing with the boxes!

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Happy Hooligans

Crafts and Activities for Toddlers and Preschoolers to Tweens

70+ {Awesome} Homemade Toys You Can Make for Your Kids

Last updated on March 24, 2022

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If you make homemade gifts for your kids, grandkids, daycare kids or students at Christmas, you will love this collection of 70+ terrific homemade toys that you can make and give.

With the holidays not too far off, I’ve been busy gathering lots of homemade gift ideas.

Recently, I rounded up dozens of homemade gifts that kids can make for grown ups,   and that post was so popular, I thought I’d share  a collection of homemade gifts that grown-ups can make for kids .

I got a little carried away because, holy cow, there are a TON of homemade toy ideas floating around on the internet. Toys for babies, toddler toys, toys for preschool boys and girls. Toys made from old furniture or from items in your recycle bin, toys made from stuff you already have around the house, and toys made from inexpensive thrift shop finds.

All in all, I’ve found over 70 homemade kids’ toys that you can totally make at home. Whether you’re looking for a toy you can sew, craft or build for the child in your life, you’re sure to find inspiration in this collection. Enjoy!

70+ Homemade Toys to Make for Kids

All of these toys are fairly easy and inexpensive to make.  Some are knock-offs of brand name toys, and some of these toy ideas are truly original.  One thing is certain – they’re all perfect if you like to give kids handmade gifts at Christmas, birthdays or any day!

 Homemade Lacing Toys:

These simple lacing frames are easy to make and great for helping little ones develop their fine motor skills.  – Babble Dabble Do

Shaped foam lacers  are easy for little hands to grip and a fun way to practice threading skills.  – Powerful Mothering

I adore this all-natural, stick threading game by Mini Eco.

Homemade Felt Toys for Toddlers:

Here’s a soft and colourful way for toddlers to explore the alphabet: stuffed, hand-sewn felt letters by Buggy and Buddy.

Make a no-sew, alphabet pocket chart to help little ones learn their letters. – Lalymom

I see countless hours of creating and re-creating here with this gorgeous potato head felt set. – jocelynandjasonblogspot

DIY Activity boards for the playroom or classroom:

Babies and toddlers will LOVE exploring all the textures and gadgets on these awesome sensory boards by Fun at Home with Kids.

Make a  latch board like Domesticesq  did with random bits and bobs from the work shop or hardware store.

My boys would’ve LOVED a life-sized dashboard  like this one made from used parts. – And Next Comes L

You can buy similar latch boards and activity boards here with my affiliate link.

Upcycled Homemade Dollhouses:

Got cardboard? Handmade Charlotte shares 6 ways to make a dollhouse out of a cardboard box. 

Mama Papa Bubba shows you how she and her daughter made this simple but beautiful dollhouse from an inexpensive bookshelf. 

Learn how to turn an old dresser into a larger-than-life Barbie house.  Handy storage drawer in the bottom!

Upcycle the drawers from an old bedside table into this adorably charming dollhouse by Semi Proper.

Homemade Stamps:

6 ways to make  homemade stamps for toddlers  using common household items. – Happy Hooligans

Help your little one learn to spell his name with this simple homemade name stamp by Mama Papa Bubba.

Decorate homemade cards, wrapping paper or fabric projects with this spring flower wine-cork stamp.  Happy Hooligans

Kids can make imprints in play dough with these rustic tree block stamps by Two-da-loo.

Toys from upcycled furniture:

I adore this workbench/tool station that The Frugal Granny made from an old bedside table.

How about this AMAZING upcycle?  A deluxe play kitchen made from an old tv/entertainment cabinet! – Giggleberry Creations

Fresh Crush transformed a night-stand into a play kitchen for about $30 using cast-offs and inexpensive accessories.

Homemade toys for babies:

Turn your recyclables into a variety of  colourful, fine-motor toys  for babies and young toddlers. The Imagination Tree

Crafts on Sea has a homemade tag blanket that will delight babies with its crinkling sound and soft, satiny tags.

Childhood 101 shows you how to turn your family photos into a cloth baby book for your little one to enjoy.

Homemade Sock Toys:

Attempting Aloha transforms a sock into a glamorous hobby-horse that any little rider would love.

Turn a sock into an adorable baby rattle with some stuffing and a few simple stitches. – Homemade by Jill

Toys from the Recycle Bin:

An empty plastic bottle + 3 basic kitchen ingredients = a mesmerizing “ocean in a bottle” . – Happy Hooligans

Kids who love to build will enjoy this homemade construction set made from a few pieces of sturdy cardboard – Happy Hooligans

Teach shapes, colours, letters and numbers with this cardboard box turned drop box .  The kids have been using ours for years.

If your kids love playing with your good nativity set, make them one of their own. This toilet roll nativity set is easy to make (no sewing required), and your kids will cherish it for years.

Homemade Toys for Outdoors:

It would be so dreamy to spend an afternoon reading in one of these Hula Hoop Hideouts. (Link has been compromised, so I’ve removed it).

Ok, I totally want to hang out on this DIY water blob by Homemade Toast.  Bonus:  It’s leak-proof!

Check out how Dyan turned a few dollar-store shower curtains into this awesome toddler parachute . – And Next Comes L

Homemade Quiet Books:

A quiet book is perfect for those times when you need to keep your kids busy… and quiet. I love this no-sew version by Powerful Mothering.

This busy book by Mouse House has “pages” of colourful quiet activities to keep little hands busy and learning.

Homemade Activity Boards:

Turn an inexpensive oil-drip pan into a gigantic magnet board for the playroom or classroom. – Mama Miss

Make an outdoor easel for your kids to get artsy and creative with in the backyard. – Fantastic Fun and Learning

See how Mama Papa Bubba quickly turned an inexpensive frame into a homemade felt board .

*Want to know an easy way to cut your own felt pieces for your felt board?  Check out this awesome felt-cutting tutorial by Juggling with Kids.

Homemade Doll Toys:

Make a fabric doll sling for your little one to carry her babies around in. – Mama Smiles

Pick up wooden spoons at the thrift shop and paint a set of wooden spoon dolls (link no longer available).

Paint up a set of wooden alphabet dolls for play and learning. – No Time for Flashcards

This really is the best-ever play dough !  It keeps for months, so it’s perfect to make ahead and give as a gift.  – The Imagination Tree

Did you know you can make your own silly putty?  – Coffee Cups and Crayons shows us how.

Homemade Indoor Hopscotch:

I had fun making this homemade cardboard hopscotch.  Laying the tiles out helps the hooligans with their number recognition and ordering skills.

Make a new-sew hopscotch mat  that you can roll up and tuck away when not in use.  There are games on the reverse side too!  – A girl with a Glue Gun

You can also buy an indoor hopscotch mat here with my affiliate link.

Homemade Forts and Tents:

Set up a  5-minute teepee in the backyard!  What a magical place for a little one to spend a summer afternoon. – Mama Papa Bubba

For those of you who like to sew, Cakies shows you how to make a simple A-frame tent for the kids to use indoors or out.

Buy an indoor tent or teepee here with my affiliate link. 

Homemade Puzzles for Toddlers:

Adventure in a Box shows you how to make a wooden name puzzle for your child.  You’ll have this lovely keepsake for years.

Turn a set of wooden blocks and some family photos into these nifty, interchangeable people puzzles . – Meaningful Mama

Homemade Toys for Gross Motor Development:

See how Hello Wonderful turned a skateboard deck into homemade balance board to help develop core and large-motor strength.

Build a set of simple wood block stompers .  They can be used at two different heights depending on the age of your child. – I Can Teach My Child

This bucket and rope contraption  was free to make, and it’s provided hundreds of hours of open-ended play here in our backyard.

Homemade Coloured and Textured Blocks:

Fun with Kids at Home shows us how to easily add a pop of vibrant colour to a set of plain wooden blocks.  So gorgeous!

Babies and toddlers will love exploring the colours and textures of these homemade sensory blocks . – Fireflies and Mudpies

$3 bucks, a trip to the dollar-store, and some hot-glue will get you this fab set of coloured light blocks . -And Next Comes L

Fine Motor Toys to Make for Kids:

A colourful button snake is easy to make and helps little ones develop their fine motor and buttoning skills. – Happy Hooligans

Put together a sewing basket  filled with lots of goodies for a preschooler to explore and practice early sewing skills with.

I just love Crayon Box Chronicles’ homemade geo board .  Little ones can sharpen their fine motor skills while learning about shapes and geometry with rubber bands or fabric loops.

Stones for Play:

Make an adorable stone tic-tac-toe game to match your child’s favourite colours, like this one from Eighteen 25.

Paint up a set of non-traditional, rock dominoes for the kids to play and learn with. Unfortunately, Childcareland Blog seems to have disappeared from the internet, so you can check out these rock dominoes at The House that Lars Built.

Story Stones are fun and easy to make , and great for narrative play, and developing story-telling skills. – Happy Hooligans

Alphabet stones are perfect for a game of outdoor “hangman” or to simply teach your child their letters through open-ended play.

Homemade Toys for Car-Loving Kids:

Turn your old jeans into fabric roads !  Easy to make, and to stash in the diaper bag when you’re going out. – Lil Mop Top

Visit Picklebums to get these free, printable roads .  Your kids can build a whole city!

Buggy and Buddy painted up a set of simple wooden roads and ramps for her son.  Think of the hours of fun these would provide.

If you love to sew, this amazing car mat would be a super project and keepsake to make for your child or grandchild. – Homemade by Jill

Homemade Play Kitchen Toys:

And Next Comes L has some great felt food ideas that you can make for your child’s play kitchen.

Turn a package of inexpensive kitchen sponges into colourful foam cakes and cookies like the ones Inner Child Fun made.

LOVE this!  Turn a plastic storage container into a pretend cook-top .  Store the baking instruments inside! – And Next Comes L

Make an inexpensive, portable light box using a kitchen storage container and an LED light.  Store the toys inside!

And Next Comes L shows you how to turn a basic pegboard into a light bright game  for your home or classroom.

Want a full-size light table for much less than it costs to buy one? Check out this step-by-step tutorial from And Next Comes L.

More homemade blocks to make:

I love these colourful magnetic blocks that You Clever Monkey made for their magnet board.

How inviting are these Waldorf-inspired nature blocks that Adventure in a Box made.  What a lovely way to build and create.

And last, but not least:  take your block building into a new dimension (literally) with a set of these homemade velcro blocks  by Chasing Cheerios..

If you enjoyed this post, you’ll want to check out:

18 Free (or almost free) Things to Add to your Backyard Play Space

40+ Kid-Made Gifts that Parents Will Really Use and Love

Follow the Hooligans on Facebook !

for FREE crafts, 

activities & recipes!

Jackie is a mom, wife, home daycare provider, and the creative spirit behind Happy Hooligans. She specializes in kids’ crafts and activities, easy recipes, and parenting. She began blogging in 2011, and today, Happy Hooligans inspires more than 2 million parents, caregivers and Early Years Professionals all over the globe.

Reader Interactions

October 16, 2014 at 12:37 pm

Love the Water Blob !! We had a Water Day in school – I know what we’re making next time!!! THANKS!

Kate Williams

October 16, 2014 at 2:42 pm

Hey Jackie, thank you so much for sharing my tag blanket, thats made my day 😀 x

Nichole {youclevermonkey}

October 16, 2014 at 4:20 pm

What a fantastic collection of ideas! Thanks so much for including our mini magnetic blocks too 🙂

happyhooligans

October 16, 2014 at 4:23 pm

My pleasure, Nichole! Those blocks are awesome!

October 16, 2014 at 4:52 pm

Great list! I found so many great ideas and blogs to follow 🙂

October 16, 2014 at 11:11 pm

Awesome round up! Thank you so much for including my skate balance board among these great ideas!

October 17, 2014 at 9:54 am

Oh, Agnes! I’m so glad you saw the post, and I’m really pleased that you’re happy that I shared your balance board. I just LOVE that board! Your blog is so lovely!

pschooltoolbox

October 16, 2014 at 11:16 pm

Jackie – this is a great list! Lots of inspiration here!:)

October 17, 2014 at 12:43 am

amazing list thank you ! I can see a few Christmas presents in there!!!

Anna | The Imagination Tree

October 17, 2014 at 5:00 am

Great collection and beautifully presented Jackie! Thanks for including a couple of mine!x

October 17, 2014 at 9:53 am

My pleasure, Anna! You always have the loveliest activities!

October 17, 2014 at 5:53 am

I feel so lucky to follow you! My youngest grandchildren are quickly approaching 3, (identical twin girls), and I have preschool for them in my house twice a week. As someone that doesn’t have a single artistic bone in her body, we have made so many fun and adorable crafts because of your site. Paper plates have become our go to craft. We have made the ladybugs, the pumpkins, the butterflies and the skeleton hands. We just finished our monster mobiles this week. I look forward to your latest emails, and know that even I can conquer all the wonderful holiday crafts that our in our near future. Thank you so much for the inspiration.

October 17, 2014 at 9:52 am

Your comment just made my day, Kelley. To know that my blog is inspiring non-crafty folks to actually get crafty… well, that’s just the best feedback I could ever hope to get. Thanks so much for taking the time to let me know. Your grand-daughters will have such wonderful memories of these creative times you’re spending together. x

October 19, 2014 at 6:41 pm

This blog was honestly the coolest thing I’ve seen today. You did an amazing job! Thank you SO MUCH for all the WONDERFUL ideas.

October 19, 2014 at 8:08 pm

Wow, Faith! This is honestly the coolest COMMENT I’ve received today. Thank YOU. You made my day. x

December 28, 2014 at 10:35 am

Waauw!!!! You are AMAZING, so talented and so creative! You are really inspiring. You make me want to drop everything ang join you in your daycare!!(I’ve 2 little one, a 1year old and a 2 year old.)I don’t have a lot of time, because I’m a full time working mom, but whenever I can I try to create some toys (very easy one’s) and do some early childhood Learning activities with my kids. Surely, one of the best blogs I saw until now!!thank you

Kathleen Farr

February 7, 2015 at 10:52 pm

You always have great ideas for grandmothers! Thanks!

Julia @ Rock It Like A Mom

April 9, 2015 at 8:15 am

EPIC! This single post is where much of my summer planning time will be spent! LOL 🙂 Thanks so much for the fantastical roundup, love it!

April 19, 2015 at 9:16 am

Thank you!!! Such a great ideas!!!

May 27, 2015 at 7:15 am

Great activities for kids! Thank you

Danielle Flynn

September 29, 2015 at 8:21 am

This is a great bunch of ideas and links! There are great recycling ideas and interesting games. My girls will be very happy to recycle some old stuff to create some new toys for themselves and for their friends. Thank you for sharing!

Sherin jose

October 7, 2015 at 12:36 pm

Really great ideas…

October 8, 2015 at 4:54 pm

October 13, 2015 at 4:46 am

Great list of ideas.

October 15, 2015 at 3:06 pm

Thanks, Kate!

takis anestis

August 16, 2016 at 7:16 pm

Send me newsletter. I am fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

August 19, 2016 at 11:21 pm

You can sign up to receive my posts by email by clicking the red bar at the top of my blog. I’m not publishing much at the moment because I’m still on summer break, but I’ll get back into the swing of things in September. 🙂

Sally Rasmussen

September 8, 2016 at 3:55 am

please help. I need the instructions for making little bunnies as shown in Redbook magazine dated August 1978 on page 50. I want to make them for my great granddaughter as a gift when her new baby brother is born in January. Can you help me with this? thank you SallyRasmussen see address below

September 8, 2016 at 11:33 am

Is this it, Sally? http://www.meandmydiy.com/2013/03/farmer-bunny-family-in-a-carrot.html

March 26, 2017 at 3:29 pm

I especially love the Stones for Play. Such a simple idea! I hope you don’t mind but I added it to my DIY toy list. I have a little girl who will love doing this with her friend. We have craft day every Saturday and they will love this one. thanks

March 28, 2017 at 11:18 am

Glad you liked the ideas, Glen! Thanks for sharing it!

March 23, 2018 at 10:40 am

Amazing list!!! I bet my son would enjoy the light boxes. Thanks a lot for sharing!

surprisehub

November 27, 2018 at 2:57 am

What a thoughtful gifts ideas, I love it! And I love all of your ideas too.

February 14, 2019 at 2:21 am

Awesome ideas thanks for sharing.

May 27, 2019 at 6:02 am

July 29, 2019 at 9:54 pm

I think that is so great!! Both adults and kids alike become so attached to STUFF….material things that absolutely do not matter.

January 21, 2021 at 12:06 pm

Excellent roundup. Thanks for the inspiration!

MUKAYIMO LIMITED

February 11, 2022 at 5:50 am

I really appreciate your efforts put into this blog post. Thank you for sharing useful tips with us. Keep sharing…

February 27, 2023 at 5:26 pm

We started learning geometric shapes now, and I ve stolen the idea about animals on https://wunderkiddy.com/material/guess-the-animal . What fo you think? I show and repeat for my daughter names of animals, and she repeat after me a little bit. I ve cut, laminated and mixed all together, than let her choose the right one. Child is so interested, so later I ve decided to make also fruits maybe

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36 Activities For Your 3 Year Old (That You Can Do Inside!)

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission if you click a link and purchase something. Please check out my disclosure policy for more details. All opinions are my own!

Ideas & Activities for 3 Year Olds

My three-year-old is a super busy little guy. He’ll work on one activity, switch to another, or call for me to come play with him. While I LOVE playing with my little man, sometimes I run out of ideas or just need him to do some independent playing by himself for a little while.

Cue – the list of 30+ things for your toddler to do (even if they can’t go outside).

Whether it’s rainy, freezing cold, or you’re finding yourself in some other life-changing situation where you can’t (or don’t want to) head outside, here’s a list of 30+ activities for your 3-year old that you can do inside!

These 3 year old activities are easy for parents to set up and let your child play, while others require a little more supervision. Regardless of your plans, these fun toddler activities and ideas will help keep your little one entertained for hours.

1. Mess Free – Paint in a Bag – This project is EASY. What you’ll need is a zip lock bag, a paper to go inside it, and a few paint colors. First, drop globs of paint on the paper and then slide it in the zip lock bag and seal it up. Let your child smush and smudge and drag and draw all over the paper!

2. Water Doodle Mat Drawing – A water doodle mat is pretty awesome. So awesome and mess-free that I actually let my 1-year-old play with her big brother and I didn’t even flinch about them doing it on my new rug. The water doodle mat is reusable and easy for all little ones to figure out and enjoy. Check it out on Amazon right here .

3. Toddler Dance Party – “Into The Unknown”, “Where You Are”, “Down By the Bay” – trust me, Amazon Music and Alexa knows them all. It’s time to dance it out and let your toddler show you their best moves. And it’s super cute to hear your toddler say “Alexa, play Moana!”.

4. Sorting Games – You can create a sorting game with almost ANYTHING. Grab some colored balls and have your child sort them into matching colored buckets. Color a different colored dot in the bottom of each section of an egg carton and have your child find something that matches that color.

5. Play in the Bath – Someone once told me that if your child is having a tough day, put them in water or outside. My kiddos LOVE baths, so even if they’re not dirty, give them a bath and let them play! These are some of our favorite bath toys , along with plastic cups for pouring, and dinosaurs.

6. Build Towers – Grab some blocks and get building. Whether you use lincoln logs, squishy blocks, or these foam blocks we got a great deal on, get creative and make towers or castles.

7. Play with Kinetic Sand – We LOVE Kinetic Sand. If you’ve never felt it or tried it, it’s a must and a huge hit for toddlers. Out best decision was to get this giant pack and dump it into a large plastic tote for storage and playtime. Now it’s easy to use for playing with very little (to almost no) cleanup.

8. Play PlayDough (make pizzas, roads, cupcakes, etc.) + Cookie Cutters – Use playdough (or make your own!) and let your toddler get creative. Adding cookie cutters to the mix can make it fun and let them make new shapes and creations.

9. Bake with Mommy/Daddy – If you can, let your toddler bake or cook with you. Pull up a sturdy chair, find a spot on the floor, or use a helper stand (we love this one !) to get your 3 year old nice and close and let them pour, dump, measure, and stir with you!

10. Play Puzzles – Puzzles are so good for your toddler’s brain development. Find a few things they love and let them spend some time working on putting the pieces together.

11. Grow Water Beads and Play/Pour Them – Never seen water beads ? Get on it! These little beads grow in water and are a fun sensory toy for your toddler to play with. Get two bowls and a measuring spoon and let your 3 year old transfer the beads from one bowl to the other.

12. Toddler Balance Beam – Set up a small board in your home and put it flat on the ground. Let your toddler practice their balance and gymnastic skills at home!

13. Read – Read, read, read! Whether your child wants to “read” to himself, you’re reading to him, or you’re reading together. Interactive books like this one are a great way to keep your toddler busy on his own!

14. Stickers – Stickers on ANY paper can make a 3-year-old’s day. If you’re looking for a specific sticker book recommendation, we love these !

15. Cutting Practice or “Projects” – If your toddler is ready, let them practice their cutting skills. They might make strips or other cut outs and be SO proud of themselves. Use junk mail, magazines, or construction paper! We found these scissors to be the perfect size for our toddler and I wasn’t as terrified he was going to cut himself with them. Win-win!

16. Make Pasta Necklaces – Get the macaroni or the penne pasta out and let your toddler string the pasta on a piece of yarn or string. If they want to get more creative and colorful, they can color the noodles with markers or you can dye them before they make their necklace!

17. Sensory Noodle Bin – Put noodles of all kinds together in a big tote. Use measuring spoons, bowls, cups, and other kitchen utensils to let your 3-year-old dig and play. Tip: this toddler activity can be done with dry or cooked (and cooled) noodles for different textures!

18. Color on Dry Erase Boards – Still have some dry erase boards and markers lying around? Your toddler will love drawing and wiping. Also, don’t worry, they don’t all smell horrible – these would totally be worth a try.

19. “Wash” Dishes and Practice Pouring – I remember doing this as a kid, and my toddler LOVES it now. Let your toddler stand at the sink and pour water into cups, use bubbles, and just play in the water “washing dishes”. Pro tip: set up a towel on the floor before they start washing.

20. Create an Obstacle Course – Get creative! Use pillows, a hula hoop, a fun toddler tent or climber, balls, or a jump rope. Set up a fun obstacle course to keep your toddler busy and tired out!

21. Play with Balloons (Volleyball, Kickball, Don’t Drop the Ball) – Don’t let the balloon hit the floor, play kickball, or catch. Balloons are a great way to build your child’s hand-eye coordination without stress. Tip: if you’re worried about the balloon popping and little pieces going all over they make a balloon cover you can get here . Who knew!

22. Paint on Ice Blocks – Freeze of chunk of ice and get our your child’s watercolor paints. Let them paint on the ice!

23. Trace Your Child and Let them Color and Draw on It – Get a large piece of paper ( this roll is HUGE), or tape a few together, and trace your toddler. Let them add a face, clothes, and more to the picture.

24. Set Up A Scavenger Hunt – You may think your toddler is too little for a scavenger hunt, but don’t be so quick to judge. Draw or cut out pictures and have them find that item in the house for their next clue! If you want something to give as a gift or if you’re finding you’re constantly making a scavenger hunt, this would be a great addition to your toy bin!

25. Build with Cardboard Boxes – If you order from Target and Amazon Prime as much as I do, you probably have a few cardboard boxes around. Let your toddler build a tower, a house, a car, or anything they can dream with the boxes!

26. Color on Cardboard Boxes – Remember all those cardboard boxes? Some of them come with the cutest designs and pictures on them (I’m looking at you Target ). Set your toddler up with some crayons, markers, or paints and let them go wild!

27. Build a Fort – Pillows, blankets, couches, chairs. Use it all! Let your toddler design the fort and build it together. Complete with snacks of course.

28. Build with MegaBlocks and Legos – Legos and MegaBlocks are a great way to get your toddler’s imagination going. Let them build whatever comes into their head or suggest a fun challenge or competition.

29. Bring Snow Inside to Play With or Make Your Own Snow! – Grab a bucket or pan and fill it with snow from outside (or make your own with this 2 ingredient recipe ). Give your toddler a spoon, a little shovel, and some buckets to play with the snow inside. Hint: a towel underneath is a really good idea – just sayin’.

30. Make Homemade Ice Cream – Make homemade ice cream together in a bag! So easy and your kids will love getting to make it together (and eat it together ;)). Check out the how-to here .

31. Make Music (Bucket Drums, Kleenex Guitars) – Flip over that bucket or clothes basket and let your toddler start drumming. Or grab an empty kleenex box, put a few rubber bands around it and add an empty toilet paper roll to the top. Voila! A homemade guitar for your little one to serenade you.

32. Use Your Busy Bag! – Use your Busy Bag and let your child choose what they want to play. Learn how to create an on the go busy bag for your toddler here !

33. Free CREATE Time – This activity can be really fun for kids of all ages. Grab whatever you have (boxes, cardboard, paper, magazines, markers, paint, glitter, googly eyes, etc.) and let your child make whatever they want. Give them lots of free time to explore and create.

34. Make Sock Puppets – Find those socks with a hole or without a match and let your toddler make some fun sock puppets!

35. Write a Story and Color It Together – Fold up a few pieces of paper and staple them together. Write a story with your toddler and draw pictures to go along with it!

36. Use Large Paper and Draw a Town on It (Play with Cars, Polly Pockets, etc. on it) – Remember that huge paper we talked about earlier? Well, grab it again and this time draw a town on it! Let your toddler help you design and draw the town, then make it come to life by playing cars or Polly Pockets on it.

Fun Indoor Activities For Your 3 Year Old

These fun indoor activities for 3 years olds will help pass the cold winter days when you can’t get outside! Or even those rainy days when you might be wondering what should I do with my 3 year old today.

Do you have other favorite indoor activities to do with your 3 year old? Or have you tried some of these? Let me know in the comments below!

<— Don’t lose this post! Save it for later!

Jen is a Registered Nurse, owner of Minnesota Momma, and mom of two little ones. She loves to focus on topics that keep families happy and healthy from pregnancy through birth and beyond. 

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• Play & Activities

Easy DIY Games for Kids That They Will Love to Play

Fun Homemade Games for Kids

Benefits of playing diy games for children.

Games help kids to utilize their creativity while nurturing their imagination physical, cognitive, and emotional strength. It also offers a positive way to spend time, which helps deal with temper tantrums and enhance cognitive skills . Moreover, improving our body and mind acts as a resistance to many diseases. Games to play at home with family or friends can perk up game nights or kill boredom on a rainy day.

Those looking to save money and protect the environment can look for fun DIY games for kids that you can easily make from objects at home. They do not help kids develop their creative muscles and motor skills but  boost their confidence and resiliency, which are required to face new challenges in life. Read on to find some easy homemade games to try and recreate happy childhood memories.

Creative activities for engaging kids help develop their vital skills. Also, DIY game ideas involve different materials that provide different learning opportunities for kids of all ages. Educational baby toys can be expensive, and babies tend to outgrow them quickly. Simple DIY games for 2-year-olds are guaranteed to keep little hands busy. Regardless of the time of year, backyard games play a crucial role in developing the healthy body and brainpower of the child. You can make fun homemade DIY outdoor games with upcycled materials. Homemade carnival games are easy to make and can be made inexpensively. Here are some homemade games and DIY activities for kids that offer a hands-on learning experience for kids:

1. Paper Plate Ring Toss 

It is a modern version of the traditional ring toss game. You can make it with super simple household items. Kids can spend hours practicing their tossing skills after a painting session on a lazy afternoon.

What You Will Need 

• Paper Plates 
• Paper Towel Tube

Instructions 

• Stand paper towel roll upright in the middle of the plate. 
• Trace and cut out the circle outline by creating a small hole in the plate.
• Paint a paper towel roll and leave it to dry for 1–2 hours.
• Cut small slits about half-inch long in the bottom of the paper towel roll with a 1” gap in between.
• Lightly fan out slits and tape down in the middle of the new paper plate.
• Slide paper plate with a small hole below paper towel roll to make the ring toss base.
• Cut large holes in 4–5 additional paper plates and paint with different patterns and colors. Leave to dry for 1–2 hours.
• After the painted plates are dried, it’s time to finish the tossing rings by cutting out the center of the plates.
• Toss paper plate rings toward the base, trying to land the plates around the paper towel roll.

2. Spinning Bottle Cap 

Bottle caps can be collected and used to play this incredibly easy game with preschoolers. It is one of the simplest DIY  party games . It helps keep them entertained and work on a few fine motor skills needed in functional grasp patterns.

• Bottle Caps
• Holding with one finger, place the bottle cap on edge. 
• Flick the edge to set it spinning using the other hand.
• The child whose bottle cap spins the longest or spins more than 2 seconds consecutively wins.

3. Grab & Pull Letter Load 

This particular game is a fun outdoor activity for kids and helps with letter identification.

• Basket with holes
• Alphabets (foam, fabric, or magnetic letters)
• Index Cards
• Tie the rope to the basket.
• Spread the alphabet letters on the lawn.
• Make a “load list” on each index card. 
• Write 2-6 letters on each card.
• Hand the “load list” to your child. Ask them to find the letters on the list.
• Drag the basket, add the letters to it, and pull them back to the designated place.

4. Knock the Balls Down Nerf Target 

This simple game can be put together in 5 minutes from items in the recycling bin.

What You Will Need

• Cardboard box
• Lightweight plastic ball pit balls 
• Cut paper towel rolls into different sizes. 
• Add point values to the tubes with index cards and tape.
• Use hot glue to attach the paper rolls to the box.
• Shoot the balls of the cardboard tubes.

5. Q-tip Blow Dart Game 

This game helps foster independence,  solve problems and build the brain through play.

• Narrow Straws 
• Q-tips (Handful)
• Plastic Cups
• Build a tower with cups.
• Put a Q-tip inside the straw and blow the straw at the wall of cups. 
• The wall made with cups needs to be close enough with minimum gaps to stabilize the tower. With bigger gaps, the cups will fall as the darts hit them.

6. Racing Paper Caterpillar 

It is one of the easiest DIY fun games for kids.

• Colored Paper or Origami Paper
• Pen or Marker

Instructions

• Cut the paper keeping 1.25 inches in width and 6-8 inches in length.
• Fold the cut strip in half to form a crease in the center.
• Fold the paper towards the crease in the middle.
• Fold the other side of the paper strip.
• Now, fold the paper strip from the outside to the crease in the middle.
• Repeat the process on the other side.
• Fold the two halves together.
• Trim all 4 edges round using a scissor.
• Unfold the strip.
• Draw little  caterpillar  eyes and mouth on the head using a pen or marker.
• Turn the caterpillar around; count three sections up from the tail.
• Using a pen or marker, mark the third segment with a heart or any other shape. 
• Use a drinking straw to blow at heart to make the caterpillar crawl gently.

7. The Giant Kerplunk Outdoor 

This game is sure to help you kick your backyard bash up a notch and entertain kids of all ages for hours together.

• Sturdy Metal Side Table – 1
• Wire Fencing
• Gloves-1 Pair
• Measuring Tape
• Wire Cutters
• Wooden Dowels
• Spray Paint
• Plastic Play Balls
• Turn the metal table upside-down, and measure the circumference of the table base.
• Wear safety gloves and cut wire fencing to the necessary length to wrap around the base and create a basket-like shape.
• After cutting the wire fencing piece, roll it around the table base, and attach it to the base with solid wire. It can be done by looping a piece around the fencing wire basket and the base and twisting it until it is secured tightly against the two separate pieces. Cut out the excess wire.
• Repeat the process along the side of the wire basket so that the fencing is secured to itself and the base.
• Paint around fifteen wooden dowels in three bright colors to make game pieces. 
• Insert the wooden dowels randomly into the fencing wire to set up the game. Intricately woven dowels make the game more interesting. Once all the dowels have been inserted into the basket, pour plastic play balls over the top. Players can take turns to remove pieces until all the balls fall off. 

8. Cold Potato 

This fun Carnival game offers a twist to the Hot Potato game, except that the “potato” is an egg-shaped ball of ice made by freezing water inside small balloons. Just note that these hard frozen balloons are not for throwing at each other.

• Pour a bunch of ice cubes inside the balloon.
• Put the balloon back in the freezer for a few days.
• Then, burst the balloon and remove its skin from the ice, which will take the shape of a potato.
• Divide the kids into teams of five.
• Each team gets an ice cube. Each player from a team has to rub the ice cube on their palms and pass it to another player in the team.
• The team to first melt the ice cube will be declared the winner.

9. Homemade Angry Birds 

This adorable game helps bring your child’s favorite cartoon character to life and get them interested in playing it with friends.

• Toilet Paper Tubes-7
• Fuzzy Elastic Hair Bands  
• Cut one of the toilet paper rolls into three equal parts. Paint them green, inside and out. After they dry, add the noses.
• Use a Q-tip to make white paint circles on either side of the nose.
• Once the paint dries, add pupils, eyebrows, and a mouth.
• Paint the remaining tubes brown, inside and out. After they dry, use a brown sharpie to draw wood grain onto them. Flatten them carefully, first in one direction, then the other, so that the tubes can have four flat sides and can easily be stacked.
• Set up a challenge for each participant to play by arranging the pigs and logs on a chair. The shooter sits about 3 feet away and uses soft, fuzzy hairbands to send the pigs down crashing.  

10. Tic-Tac-Toe 

It is one of the most well-known indoor games that can be played with stationery items easily available at home. This game helps to improve fine motor and reflex skills.

• Pencil 

Instructions  

• Draw a grid of two horizontal lines intersecting two vertical lines. 
• Select a box and place the letter “O” or “X” to mark the box.
• Fill three pieces of the same mark in a row or stop your opponent from doing it to win the game.

11. Balloon Tennis

Balloon Tennis is a fun indoor game that mimics tennis but uses balloons and makeshift paddles for a softer and safer experience.

• Paper plates
• Large craft sticks or rulers
• Attach a craft stick or ruler to the back of each paper plate using tape to create a paddle.
• Blow up a balloon and use it as the “tennis ball.”
• Divide the room with tape or a piece of string to represent the tennis net, then start playing by batting the balloon back and forth over the “net.”

12. DIY Obstacle Course

Source: Pinterest

Create a homemade obstacle course to encourage physical activity and imaginative play.

• Pillows, cushions, or furniture
• Design a simple obstacle course using household items like pillows, hula hoops, and furniture.
• Set up a course that includes crawling under a table, jumping over pillows, and hopping through hula hoops.
• You can use tape to create boundaries or mark specific areas for different tasks.
• Encourage children to time themselves or challenge others to see who can complete the course the fastest.

13. Recycled Bottle Bowling

A simple bowling game using recycled bottles, perfect for indoor or outdoor play.

• Empty plastic bottles (10 for a traditional setup)
• A small ball
• Paint or markers (optional for decoration)
• Fill the bottles with a small amount of water or sand to stabilize them.
• Set them up in a triangle formation, similar to bowling pins.
• Roll the ball towards the bottles to knock them down.
• You can keep score to add a competitive element or just enjoy seeing how many bottles can be knocked down in one throw.

14. Sock Puppets

Create playful sock puppets and host a mini-puppet show with friends or family.

• Fabric markers
• Googly eyes or buttons
• Felt or other fabric scraps
• Decorate the socks with fabric markers, googly eyes, buttons, or felt to create unique characters.
• Once the puppets are ready, set up a simple puppet theater with a cardboard box or draped blanket and put on a show.
• Encourage kids to create their own stories or use familiar tales for inspiration.

15. Scavenger Hunt

Organize a scavenger hunt that takes children on an adventure, whether inside the house or outdoors.

• Paper and pens
• Small objects or toys to hide
• A large space to play (indoors or outdoors)
• Create a list of items to find or clues that lead to hidden objects.
• Hide the items throughout the designated area and give each child a list or clues to find them. You can customize the hunt based on age and skill level.
• Make it more challenging by adding riddles or puzzles to solve along the way.
• This game can be played individually or in teams for added competition.

DIY games often use simple materials and involve hands-on crafting, problem-solving, and teamwork. Here’s a look at some of the key benefits that children can gain from playing homemade children’s games:

1. Creativity and Imagination

Games to play at home with kids allow children to unleash their creativity. By creating their own games, they are encouraged to think outside the box and come up with unique designs and concepts.

2. Problem-Solving Skills

As kids design and build their games, they face various challenges. This process helps them develop problem-solving skills by thinking of solutions to overcome obstacles or make their games work better.

3. Fine Motor Skills

Making DIY games often involves cutting, glueing, drawing, or assembling parts. These activities help children improve their fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.

4. Teamwork and Collaboration

DIY games can be created and played in groups, promoting teamwork and collaboration. Children learn to work together, share ideas, and support each other through the process.

5. Confidence and Independence

When children complete a DIY project, they gain a sense of accomplishment. This boost in confidence encourages them to take on new challenges and be more independent in their pursuits.

6. Cost-Effective Fun

DIY games are often inexpensive, as they use materials commonly found at home. This makes them accessible and provides children with hours of fun without a significant financial burden.

1. What supplies are needed for DIY games?

Most DIY games can be created with simple, everyday materials. Common supplies needed for these games include recycled materials like cardboard, plastic bottles, and old magazines, which are great for crafting. Art supplies such as markers, paints, glue, and scissors are essential for decorating and assembling. Household items like rubber bands, string, and paper clips can also be useful for building and designing games. With these supplies, children can unleash their creativity and create games they’ll love to play.

2. What are some safety tips for DIY games?

Safety is an essential consideration when children engage in DIY games. To ensure a safe environment, always supervise activities that involve cutting or using potentially hazardous materials. It’s crucial to use age-appropriate tools and supplies, and to keep small items away from younger children to avoid choking hazards. Proper ventilation is also recommended if painting or using glue with strong fumes.

3. Can DIY games be environmentally friendly?

DIY childrens games can be environmentally friendly by using recycled materials and minimizing waste. Parents and children can reuse cardboard, plastic bottles, and other household items to create games, reducing the need for new materials. These games can also be designed to be durable, allowing for multiple uses, which contributes to sustainability and reduces the impact on the environment.

In this modern world of technology, it is important to get kids off their overload of screen time and play games together by playing games that they create by themselves. Quieter or more active games provide an alternative source of entertainment and act as a teaching tool that shapes a well-rounded personality for a child.

References/Resources:

1. Fine Motor Skills; Cleveland Clinic; https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/25235-fine-motor-skills

2. Your Child’s Self-Esteem; Nemours Kids Health; https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/self-esteem.html

3. How to foster independence in children; Harvard Health Publishing; https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/how-to-foster-independence-in-children-2019110518223

4. Growing Independence: Tips for Parents of Young Children; American Academy of Pediatrics; https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/preschool/Pages/Growing-Independence-Tips-for-Parents-of-Young-Children.aspx

5. Garaigordobil. M, Berrueco. L, Celume. M; Developing Children’s Creativity and Social-Emotional Competencies through Play: Summary of Twenty Years of Findings of the Evidence-Based Interventions “Game Program” (Journal of Intelligence); National Library of Medicine; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9590021/ ; December 2022

6. Kushnir. T; Imagination and social cognition in childhood (Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews, Cognitive Science); National Library of Medicine; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9539687/ ; May 2022

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