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This post is all about indoor activities for 2 year olds.
Toddlers have soooo much energy! Where does it come from? Why do they have so much energy lol?
Winter months always feel so long, especially when you're stuck inside for days with toddlers.
These indoor activities for 2 year olds will help burn that toddler energy and help you survive the winter blues! Also known as keep you from pulling your hair out lol.
INDOOR ACTIVITIES FOR 2 YEAR OLDS
Why Are 2 Year Olds So Energetic
Seriously, where does their energy come from? Has anybody found a way to zap it from them, bottle it up, and sell it to the overly tired adults yet? Hands up if you would buy stock in that!?!!!
God designed little children to move and explore. This is how they learn and develop new skills.
At this age, their attention span is very short, often lasting only 2 minutes on a single activity. This is why they are constantly on the move. Why, we always need to have engaging, fast, and low-prep activities in our back pocket.
Winter Activities For Toddlers
Listed below are activities for high-energy toddlers. Each activity has several variations you can do to change it up and keep the activity interesting. Pick one activity for the week. Maybe tweak it a little each day to keep it fresh and fun!
- Bring snow inside! Put snow in a container with spoons and tools for the children to explore. Or give them paint and paintbrushes to paint the snow.
2. Bring the gym inside with toddler climbing gyms and slides.
3. Mini trampoline. Change it up by using music. When the music stops, they stop jumping. Or when the music gets faster and louder, they jump faster and harder! Practice counting skills by jumping the number of times you say.
4. Balloon toss. Keep the balloon from touching the floor by hitting it up in the air. For an extra challenge, use more than one balloon at a time, really creating movement.
5. Bowling. Using recyclable bottles and a small ball. Practice counting skills by having your toddler count the "pins" they knock down. Write numbers or letters on the bottles and have your toddler aim for what you call out.
6. Stepping Stones. There are so many variations to use with these. The floor is lava; jump from stone to stone without touching the ground. Write different shapes on post-it notes, and they jump to the shape you call out. Or write numbers or letters for them to jump to. You could use different colored post-it notes and shout out a color for them to figure out a way to get to it without touching the ground. Pro tip: save the post-it notes for the next time you play this game!
7. Snowball fight or toss. Using balled-up socks or fake snowballs, toss them into a basket. Change it up by moving the basket further back or placing it higher. Create towers to knock down with snowballs. For some extra fun and movement, have a snowball fight.
8. Scavenger hunt. Either have pictures of simple items from around your home that they find, or you can tell them the item to find. Hide letters of their names or numbers around the house on post-it notes.
9. Hide-and-seek. This can even be played by hiding their stuffed animals or toys. Change it up by setting a timer and finding the toy before the timer buzzes.
10. Put them to work! Give them the vacuum or broom, even if it's not done you're way. Have them sort the laundry by color, math skills being practiced! Match the socks, another math skill at work!
11. Brain break videos. Search Danny Go on YouTube, it's a great one for littles. The children can jump, run in place, hop, and move left to right following the directions given. Creating movement, burning energy, and practicing listening skills all at the same time.
12. Kids yoga. Find a kid yoga video on YouTube. This would be great right before nap, helping them to calm down.
13. Sink or float. Have your toddler run and grab items around the house, that can be wet, then have them test the theory if they will sink or float in the bathtub or a container of water. For more stem activities, check this out!
These are low-prep but extremely engaging indoor activities for 2 year olds that can easily be varied to burn toddler energy.
Related Posts:
11 Engaging Stem Activities For Toddlers