Parenting a toddler can be quite a difficult task, especially if the toddler is mischievous and demands a lot of attention. Toddlers tend to keep their moms on their toes all the time. With so many other activities already lined up, keeping your toddler busy can be challenging. Therefore, we have come up with several interesting ideas to keep your toddler busy. These ideas are simple and easy to implement in very little time.
Playdough
There is something about play dough that it instantly becomes every kid’s favourite. The moment they lay their eyes on it, they start exploring it. They squeeze, smash, pat, throw and enjoy every action that they can perform on the play dough. Playing with play dough can not only be fun for toddlers, but it also develops their fine motor skills, builds their imagination, improves coordination, strengthens their hands, fingers, wrists and arms. A variety of play dough is available at online marketplaces like AliExpress and David Jones. You can also make play dough at home using simple ingredients that sit in your kitchen.
Pots, pans, and spoons
The best part of keeping your toddler busy is that you will not need complicated and expensive toys. Almost all toddlers are fascinated with the stuff available in the house, especially cupboards. Give your toddler some of your pots, pans and spoons from the kitchen and watch them leap in joy. Kids have fun beating utensils with spoons. Give them spoons made of different materials like wood, metal and rubber. Ask them if they can differentiate the sounds. Another fun activity is that you can ask your toddler to stack different utensils to build a tower.
Jigsaw puzzles
There are a lot of easy colourful puzzles available for toddlers. Jigsaw puzzles are a great activity for toddlers as it develops their fine motor skills and problem-solving skills. Moving the puzzle pieces and sliding these around helps them to develop their hand-eye coordination. Solving puzzles is also a brain exercise that helps boost a child’s memory as they learn to identify between shapes, colours etc. You can also make your own puzzles by following the do-it-yourself procedures available on the internet.
Building blocks
Give your kid some colourful building blocks of different shapes. Ask them to build things like towers, houses, etc. Colourful building blocks can keep a toddler engaged for quite some time. They are fascinated with bright colours and the way blocks can be assembled together. Playing with blocks is also another great way to develop a toddler’s hand-eye coordination.
Colouring
Colouring is an activity that is not only fun but also helps to develop your toddler’s cognitive and creative skills. Colouring also improves their motor skills by developing their finger, hands and wrist muscles. Give your toddler some crayons or markers and a sheet to colour. Kids do tend to get bored of colouring. However, you can make the process interesting by providing them a picture of their favourite cartoon character, fruit or toy, to colour.
Fun with water
Toddlers love water. Activities involving water are a great way to keep toddlers involved and entertained. The list of water-based activities for toddlers is huge. However, the one that tops the list is watering plants. Provide some watering cans to your toddler and ask them to water plants. You might have to demonstrate initially. You can also ask your kid to wash some toys using soap and water and then pat dry using towels.
Sorting shapes
Sorting shapes is good to keep your toddler busy. This activity is not only fun but also helps to develop a toddler’s cognitive skills. Use toy sorters of various shapes and watch your toddler explore. You can point out to a shape and ask your toddler to hold and feel it to understand and learn the differences. Recognizing shapes and sorting them might take a while, but gradually your toddler is sure to master the skills.
All the above mentioned activities are a great way to keep your toddler engaged. These activities are not only fun but also help to develop your toddler’s reasoning, attention and fine motor skills. And, finally, ensure that you supervise your kids as they are busy having fun while engaged in these activities.
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