Toddlers are eager learners. They need activities to stay busy all day every day. Toddlers have the ability to play with the same thing in so many different ways as they grow.
However, some activities keep them busy for longer if they have other siblings playing with them.
You should try these activities at home if you have a work-from-home schedule so you can keep kids busy while you work.
Painting Activities for 3 to 5 years old kids
Painting Activity
You can do different sorts of painting projects with kids. In case if you are not worried about them painting the walls when you are not around or seem busy, you can choose the safer option that works best for you.
Tip : Always use washable paints for them, so you can easily wipe them off with a wet paper towel.
Canvas painting
Painting is my favorite activity and my kids love it too. We have got small size canvas frames so we can paint them together as a quarantine memory.
You can create a kids keepsake kind of canvas painting that reminds you of being home and being safe. To be thankful of the blessing you have, a cozy bed and good food even when so much sad going on outside.
For canvas painting you need:
You can make painted canvas frame and glue kids’ pictures on them.
Veggies Painting
For a random every day painting activity you cannot use canvas obviously. Thus, you can do painting with veggies on a paper or a paper plate whatever interests your kid more.
Broccoli Painting – You can try painting with vegetables, like broccoli, potato, onion, etc to have a variety of prints on the canvas as they have different textures.
Potato Painting – Cut a potato in half- you do not have to peel it. Dip it in the paint and start printing.
Kids will learn about different textures and various strokes every vegetable has. Definitely worth a try. My kids enjoyed painting with potatoes more than broccoli.
Homemade Flour Slime Activity for kids
Although I didn’t try to make slime using all-purpose-flour, and when the mixture got ready, my kids named it “slime.” For that reason, I would call it a Flour Slime activity.
You need a few things from your kitchen closet. Nothing fancy.
A couple of mixing bowls – one for each kid.
A whisker for each
All purpose flour
Water
Food color or a kids paints
In order to save your kids from messing up their clothes, you may want to have aprons as well.
To my surprise they did so well with mixing and it was not even lumpy. Then you can add food color or a paint. I added paint as I didn’t have food color at home. My kids are 4 and 2.5 years old and they know its not edible so they apparently not going to eat.
Although it’s a messy activity still it’s worth trying. You can have an old shower curtain underneath so they can be as messy as they want. In my opinion, it is much easier if they are on a bare table that can be cleaned up easily.
At this stage give your kid(s) a scooper, a ladle, a cup, a pourer, and a dropper or whatever they can be creative with.
It’s an amazing pouring activity, with a right consistency of a slime.
You can get a dropper and a scooper set online.
Cards Activity
For four years old – a card game is a super engaging activity.
You can use UNO Cards, Playing Cards, flashCards anything you want. Even if kids do not recognize the numbers and words, still you can teach them about taking turns.
Randomly divide the cards – keep one half with you and have him hold the other half. Now you can teach him to put cards one by one -taking turns – so whoever is going to finish cards first, is a winner at the end.
If your child recognizes the numbers, you can sure take advantage of UNO or playing cards. It is a great way to have your child improve the grip of his hand as well to hold a sufficient amount of cards altogether.
I used these baby shark card with him and it was really exciting activity for my son.
Get more inexpensive activities ideas for kids
Play Dough Activity
Kids love playing with a Play Doh. Although play-doh gets messy when dried, still you can save at least an hour of peace so you can do your pending work while your kids get busy. I had actually stopped buying play-doh as it gets messy but as the kids grow up, they are super creative with it.
The best ways to keep kids involved for a longer time are:
Give your kids Play Doh with a gap of at least 2 to 3 weeks so that kids do not get bored of playing with a it often.
Definitely you need a couple of fun cookie cutters, rolling pin, and whatever you think is age-appropriate. The one has almost 100 shapes in less than 10 bucks.
Playdough Toolset could spare you more time. Ideally, try to keep playdough in the reach if you think they are old enough to play on their own.
It does get dry and crumby over time, so the best way to contain the mess is using a clear bin with a lid so, later on, you may want to make sensory bins sand out of it.
