Activities for Toddlers at Home

Ask any parent what is the most difficult part of parenting and they will unanimously say it is keeping the toddlers busy! Children below the age of three and above one and half years are known as toddlers. During this age, they are still learning how to walk, talk and use their hands. At this age, babies and toddlers display a natural curiosity about every new thing. Keeping all these things in mind is very necessary when parents are planning activities for toddlers, to keep them occupied.

Talking
One of the fun activities for toddlers and parents is to engage in chatter or talk with one another. Although, the child might not be able to understand what the parent is saying, yet such an activity does help in improving his language, communication and listening skills. When an adult talks to an infant, he absorbs lots of words and retains quite a few in his memory.

Playing with Balls
Playing with balls of different sizes is one of the most interesting games for toddlers. It is not only fun, but also helps in building upon the motor skills of a child. What parents can do is to throw balls of different sizes at a distance and then ask the toddler to get them back. The toddler will walk, crawl or run towards the ball, then he will try to clasp it in his hands and get it back to the parents. Such outdoor games for toddlers improve his ability to work with hands, feet and legs.

Making Things with Playdough
Have them make different things and shapes out of the playdough. Parents will have to first of all teach them how to do it. Some of the simple things that can be taught to toddlers are rolling the playdough, making small balls out of it or giving it different shapes like a square or a circle.

Painting
Art activities are a must as the kids enjoy immensely while playing with colors. A fun activity is to have the kids make their different colored hand prints on a piece of paper. For this you will need water painting colors of various colors like red, blue, yellow, green, white and black. Keep a plain chart on the ground. Mix the colors with water and place them in dishes. Now, take the child's hand, dip it in the color and again put it back on the paper. The child will be thrilled to see the color riot he is creating with his hand imprints!

Scrapbooking
Make a scrapbook with them. For conducting this activity, parents have to choose some of the best family photographs, especially the ones in which the child is there. Once the photographs, glue, and scrapbook are ready, the parents should teach the child how to put the glue behind the photographs and paste it on the scrapbook. To entertain the child throughout this kids' crafts activity, show him each and every photograph before pasting it.

Picnicking
One of the ways for teaching toddlers about nature, the sun, sand, sea, trees, etc. is to recreate a beach scene in your own garden. So, one day you can plan this adventure wherein you carry things like a suntan lotion, a food basket, beach towels, straw hats with you to the garden. Carry a few pictures of the sea and the beach. Once at the garden, show the toddler the pictures and tell him about the fish, pebbles, sand, sunset, sunrise and everything else that is associated with the sea. To make such activities even more interesting, carry a lot of beach pictures with you. To extend this activity, teach your child how to draw a fish!

These activities will not only keep the child happy and busy, but will contribute immensely towards overall child development too!