Toddler Games & Activities for Home

12/05/2014

Toddlers are high-maintenance, nonstop creatures constantly learning, growing and developing. It really is amazing, but can at times be exhausting trying to keep up. They can also be incredibly messy, which is important for their development but too much for mommy if it’s messy activities all day long.

Here are five of our favourite toddler games and activities to do at home – they are mess-free and low-maintenance.

1. Hide and Seek

My daughter will be three at the end of January and she loves hide and seek! It has helped her learn how to take turns, reinforces her numbers with counting and requires her to think for herself to find a new hiding spot. Her shrieks of delight when she finds her daddy or I are priceless. This game is great and can easily be played with younger children paired with an adult or at family functions. We love hide and seek!

2. Cards – the game of war

My daughter loves numbers, but as a teacher, I really don’t want her to feel like I am constantly trying to “formally” teach her things. At this age kids should be learning through experience and observation. So we decided to start playing cards with the simple game of War. It’s easy for her to grasp, doesn’t require a lot of extra work for her little hands and is helping immensely with numbers and math, without her even realizing it. Give the game a try with your toddler or preschooler! She just might surprise you.

3. A whiteboard and marker

She loves to draw, but I was really starting to feel guilty about throwing away all of her drawings. Then I realized there is a whiteboard on the easel we have. So I set her up with some washable markers and the easel and she draws whenever she wants. We also have a smaller, handheld whiteboard for the basement just in case.  With a whiteboard, she has learned the importance of putting lids back on markers and if there is an extra special drawing I can snap a quick photo before she erases it without consumer or mom guilt.

4. Puzzles

Up until recently I thought puzzles were the worst. We were always losing pieces and she never quite focused on any of them for too long. I realize now the problem was two things: she had way too many toys to choose from and the puzzles were beyond her interest and ability.

Now she loves her name, alphabet and number puzzles and with way fewer toys she pulls them out frequently and puts them away in their special bin when she’s done.

5. Karaoke

My hubby recently won a Karaoke machine at his work Christmas party and before he even woke up that morning my daughter and I had it out of the packaging and ready to go. We actually just use the microphone on the machine and then the Karaoke Channel on Telus TV. My daughter loves to sing and dance (and let’s face it, so do I), so Karaoke Pyjama parties happen all day long at our house now.

Invest in a karaoke machine or microphone. It’s so fun!

What are your favourite low-maintenance games and activities to do at home with your toddler?

~chelsey