4 Surprising Indoor Activities for Toddlers

Do you have an active toddler? Some toddlers are more than happy to sit, color, do a craft, or put together a puzzle. Your toddler, on the other hand? They need more physical activity, and that’s okay! However, this can be very difficult on days when you are stuck inside. Whether it’s the weather keeping you in, an illness, or no easy access to an outdoor area, you’re scrounging for new things to do with your busy toddler. We’ve compiled a list of four surprising activities you can do inside with your toddler. Keep reading for our favorite indoor activities, including indoor-friendly bubbles!

Living Room Forts

Forts are universally loved by children! While there are tons of fort-building sets available, nothing beats the simplicity of setting up a few pillows and a blanket. Whether in your living room, playroom, or bedroom, your child’s imagination will run absolutely wild in their very own fort!

Living room fort building isn’t just fun, it's great for their development, too!

• Develop problem-solving skills
• Personal sense of independence
• Physical exercise through crawling and lifting
• Motor skill development
• A cozy, safe, secure place to read or play with toys

Masking Tape Obstacle Course

If your toddler has a ton of energy and wiggles that they need to get out, doing a masking tape obstacle course is a great way to do just that!

Masking tape is such a great tool to use with toddlers because this tape is strong and durable, yet it won’t lift up paint or damage anything it sticks to.

You can use masking tape to create:

• A hopscotch board
• Lines, zig-zags, and squiggles for them to walk along
• Train tracks to ride along with

One of the most fun ways to use masking tape with toddlers is to create a hallway obstacle course!

Stick tape to one side of the hallway and string it all the way over to the other side. Repeat multiple times and watch your toddler try to walk, crawl, and jump through it all without breaking one. Think of it like trying to get through lasers in action movies!

This fun activity will get them moving and help with:

• Gross motor skill development
• Balance
• Coordination
• Strength
• Agility
• Problem-solving
• Thinking ahead
• Teamwork with siblings

Leveled-Up Play-Doh

Play-Doh is always a great indoor activity for toddlers. However, since it is such a frequent go-to, it can lose its luster pretty quickly in the cold weather season.

Here are some great ways you can level up Play-Doh time to freshen things up with your active toddler:

• Use Play-Doh on old dolls, cars, and trucks to completely cover them or create clothing
• Put beads inside the dough for your toddler to pick out, exercising their fine motor skills
• Create bowling pins and a bowling ball for a cute game 

Another fun way to level up Play-Doh time is to create your own! 

Here's a recipe from IHeartNaptime: https://www.iheartnaptime.net/play-dough-recipe/

Playdough ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup salt
• 4 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 2 cups lukewarm water
• 2 Tablespoons of vegetable oil (coconut oil works too)
• Food coloring, optional (I like Wilton gel food coloring or AmeriColor gel) 
• Quart-sized bags

Stir together the flour, salt, and cream of tartar in a large pot. Next, add the water and oil. If you’re only making one color, add the color now as well. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly. Continue stirring until the dough has thickened and begins to form into a ball. Remove from heat and then place inside a gallon-sized bag or onto wax paper.

Allow to cool slightly and then knead until smooth. If you’re adding colors after, divide the dough into balls (for how many colors you want) and then add the dough into the quart-sized bags. Start with about five drops of color (my favorite brands are listed above) and add more to brighten it. Knead the dough while inside the bag so it doesn’t stain your hands. Once it’s all mixed together, you’re ready to PLAY.

Indoor Bubbles

If your toddler loves bubbles, there is no reason to ditch them just because the weather is cold!

Bubble time doesn’t always have to end with a massive clean-up effort and tears. Our bubble solution does not contain any harsh detergents or soaps, only botanical ingredients! This is a plus if you have a baby in the home or if you have sensitive skin issues to keep in mind.

Toddlers struggle to blow them, spill the solution everywhere, and quickly get frustrated. This leaves parents doing WAY more than they want to when it’s bubble time. Now you can sit back, relax, watch your kiddo get some energy out, and not have to worry! 

All your toddler has to do is dip, twirl, and blow! They create a ton of bubbles with their one little breath, and don’t worry, we designed it so no backflow travels down the wand. No more solution in their mouths! 

Our bubble wand is lightweight for little hands, super easy to learn how to use, comes in two adorable colors, and helps with lip rounding and tongue cupping. It is great for speech therapy, oral and motor developmental exercises, visual tracking, and spatial awareness development. 

For more great toddler ideas, high-quality toddler stuff, and more family fun, head over to Innobaby.com!