Daycare activities for toddlers can be hard to think of by some parents or daycare owners because so much of daycare is targeted towards elementary age children. So many activities required a certain level of physical movement and comprehension that many toddlers simply don’t have at their age.
If you’re at a loss for daycare activities for children at a toddler age, you may be looking for some fresh ideas. Here are some of the most fun daycare activities for toddlers:
1. Balloon activities
Daycare activities for toddlers often involve balloons and there’s a good reason for this. Balloons are always fun to be around and are a sure-fire activity that’s not going to hurt anyone. Volley it back and forth, or try playing some basketball or soccer. Balloons can help a toddler move or if you just want to have their attention for a little bit, they work that way as well.
2. Toddler obstacle course
Carefully re-arranging furniture can be a nice way to create a little obstacle course although some parents may think it is a little too dangerous. Be aware of any sharp corners and use plenty of pillows. Obstacle courses might be fun daycare activities for toddlers, but just make sure you’re careful with supervising the children at all times.
3. Build a fort
Speaking of pillows, another fun activity for toddlers in a child care environment is to build a fort. You can even assign them a certain number of materials and encourage them to create their own fort design. With your help, this can be a great way to celebrate their own curiosity and creativity.
4. Kitten play
Every city has a local shelter probably with plenty of kitten and cats. Contacting them, you may be able to encourage them to bring in a few kittens for the children to touch and pet. Under supervision, this can be a fun way to introduce a toddler to animals. Kittens are generally less temperamental than puppies and less intimidating as well.
5. Oat sensory play
If you’re looking for daycare activities for toddlers that are a little more intellectually stimulating, the oat sensory play is simple. Grab a shallow bin and some dry oats to fill it with. Then, you have your toddler fill the container with oats, and encourage them to transfer the oats between different containers. They can run their hands through the oats for a full sensory experience. Although pretty basic, it can help keep them calm and entertain their sensory curiosities.
6. Container and lid play
This is another intellectual activity that plays on a toddler’s sensory pleasures. Gather together various containers and bottles as well as their lids and caps. Choose different shapes and colors, if they exist. Present the containers separate from the lids and encourage your toddler to match the lids to the container. Give them space to play a little with the containers. They may pretend to use them for eating or drinking, might fill them with other objects, or might try stacking them.
7. Water pouring
Another toddler activity we can suggest is getting a shallow bin, various bottles or containers, and some water and food colouring. Now, color different cups of water and show the toddler what you’re doing. They may dump all the water out into the bin, they may want to combine colours to see what shakes out, or they may simply play. This activity, like many of the suggestions on this list, is all about giving a child the opportunity to have some fun.
8. Water painting
Although you can go the route of providing a color some watercolor paints to use, when we’re talking about ‘water painting’, we mean literally water in a cup, a paintbrush, and colored construction paper. A toddler might just stir the water, or may press or wipe the wet brushes onto paper.
9. Noodles in a container
Get together an empty spice bottle or an empty water bottle and provide them with something they can fill it with like spaghetti noodles. They may explore the spaghetti noodles or the jar, put the noodles into the jar and try to shake it, or simply explore a mix of it all. This is another example of an invitation to play. All you need to do is to provide them a combination of safe items to handle and then, give them the space to experiment.
10. Physical activity
Toddlers need at least three hours of physical activity a day, according to the latest research. They need some time to help develop their neck and back muscles, and all that’s required for that is for a toddler to be on their tummy at least 30 minutes of the day. This allows these muscles to get into different positions while forcing the baby to use their neck and back muscles to look around. Any sort of reaching, grasping, pushing, pulling, or crawling can help with this as well.
11. Crafts for their parents
There’s a long list of craft ideas for toddlers that they can make for their parents, especially for Christmas, Halloween, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and similar holidays. It can be as simple as having them create something out of noodles or giving them the chance to do some finger-painting.