Top 10 Ways to Entertain Your Toddler Indoors

Charlie absolutely loves being outside.  As soon as he wakes up in the morning, he runs to the backyard door and tries to let himself out (which he has figured out how to do on more than one occasion!).  Thankfully, our climate here in PA allows us a lot of nice days throughout the year that we can spend in our backyard just playing and being busy exploring.  There are those days, however, when it is raining or just too darn hot to be outside, and those are the days that can seem excruciatingly long for a child that doesn't understand why he can't be outside (and for his mommy and daddy who are trying to entertain him!).  Since it has been so unbearably hot here lately, I've had to find several activities to keep Charlie busy inside.  I'd like to share with you now, some of our most successful activities!  Here (in no particular order) are my Top Ten Ways to Entertain Your Toddler when being outside is not an option!

1. Fingerpainting

I shared a post about our fingerpainting adventure earlier this week, which was great fun!  I made my own fingerpaint with everyday items in my kitchen.  

Time Killed: about 30 minutes (not counting clean-up time!)

Toddler Enjoyment: I'd say 8 out of 10.  He enjoyed smearing the paint around and driving his tractor in it, but once the paper was covered, he was tired of sitting (he's just such a busy little boy!).

2. Forts

What little kid doesn't love to play in a fort?  Scratch that - what PERSON doesn't love to play in a fort!?  Living room forts are super easy (heck, all you need is a sheet and something to drape it over!) and provide lots of goofy fun.

Time Killed: Charlie played in this fort for at least an hour.  

Toddler Enjoyment: Easily 9 out of 10.  Charlie giggled almost the whole time the fort was up.  He played peek-a-boo, took all of his toys inside, ate his snack in there, played with Daddy, played with his puppies.  So much fun!

3. Box Play

The old saying about a kid having more fun with a box than the toy that comes in it is absolutely true.  Charlie loves boxes - especially big ones that he can crawl in.  We save all of our packaging to reuse for shipping our Etsy items, so on rainy/hot days, we bring out a bunch of them for Charlie to crawl around in.

Time Killed: Charlie can easily spend several hours over the period of an afternoon crawling on, around, and in boxes.

Toddler Enjoyment: 10 out of 10.  This is one of Charlie's favorite things to do and it's so easy for Mommy and Daddy to facilitate.  There are lots of learning experiences here too - "in", "out", "on", "over", "under", etc.  

4. "New" Toys / Heuristic Play

My friend, Margaux from the Young Nesters blog, has a great post about heuristic play!  This picture is her little man (and Charlie's birth buddy) Darwin playing with his heuristic play basket.  Rainy days are a great time to break out these baskets of "new" toys.

Time Killed: The design of heuristic play is to have the child spend about 30 minutes with their baskets.

Toddler Enjoyment: 8 out of 10.  Charlie loves his heuristic play basket!

5. Rice/Bean Play

Spread a tablecloth out on your kitchen floor, put down some trays, spoons, and measuring cups, pour some dried beans or rice out, and watch your toddler play!  *Seriously - watch them... this, as with all activities, should be supervised play.*

Time Killed: About 20 minutes.

Toddler Enjoyment: 7 out of 10.  Charlie had a good time, but he's not one to just sit and play for very long, so he did get bored after about 20 minutes.

*Bonus perk: Mommy could sort through the beans for cooking later!

6. Make Music

We have quite the ensemble of instruments here at our house, and Charlie enjoys playing all of them!  Piano, guitar, bass, drums, maracas, he loves them equally!  Not only is music playing a great activity, it's wonderful for motor development in youngsters.  Charlie already knows the difference between pushing piano keys, plucking guitar strings, banging drums, and shaking maracas.

Time Killed: Charlie can spend at least an hour playing with different instruments.

Toddler Enjoyment: 10 out of 10.  Making music is one of Charlie's favorite pastimes!  I might have a little musician on my hands....




7. Cloud Dough

Ok, this picture is of Charlie playing with Cloud Dough outside, but it's easily done inside.  You can see his puppies really enjoy this activity too!  Cloud Dough is made by mixing 8 cups of flour with 1 cup of baby oil.  It's a really fluffy consistency that is safe and fun for kids to play with.

Time Killed: About 30 minutes.


Toddler Enjoyment: 7 out of 10.  Honestly, Charlie's favorite part of this is throwing it on his dogs.  Haha!

8. Bring the Outside Inside

If you don't have hula hoops, cones, balls, tunnels, and other fun outdoor items, check out your local rec center or YMCA.  Our rec center offers Friday Toddler Time, which is especially nice when it's too hot to be outside.

Time Killed: Charlie could spend at least an hour and a half playing with hula hoops and balls.  More time if there are other little kids around.

Toddler Enjoyment: 9 out of 10.  Charlie loves playing in the gym.  He also enjoys bringing his own outside toys inside at our own home.


9. Water Play

The water table that Charlie's Mimi and Papi bought for him is one of our favorite toys!  Spread out a shower curtain or tablecloth on the kitchen floor and let your little one splash to his or her heart's content!  Even if you don't have a water table, trays/pots/containers of any kind are perfect.

Time Killed: At least 30-45 minutes.

Toddler Enjoyment: 10 out of 10.  Water play is definitely one of our favorite activities - both inside and outside!


10. Reading

Nothing is quite as great as getting your busy little one to sit and read.  Charlie's tractor pillow is his reading pillow, and he'll sit next to that with all of his books around him, taking turns reading each one.  He loves turning pages, so we go through books very quickly, but he still has fun! :)

Time Killed: About 20 minutes.

Toddler Enjoyment: Depends.... if he's in the mood to read, 10 out of 10.  If he's not, 0 out of 10, haha.  He can't be coaxed into enjoying reading time, but when he's ready, he really enjoys it.





I know that there are many, many more fun things that can be done inside to keep toddlers busy, but those are some of our favorites.  What fun activities do you do with your little one?  Share your ideas here and if I get enough, maybe I'll do a follow-up post featuring your ideas!