6 Ideas to Try Right Now
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#1·5–10 min
Sensory Sound Shaker
🛒Materials: Plastic bottle, dry rice or pasta, tape
- 1Fill a clean plastic bottle with dry rice or pasta.
- 2Tape the lid shut securely.
- 3Let your toddler shake, roll, and make noise!
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Use different fillings (beans, bells) for different sounds.
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#2·10–15 min
Toy Car Wash
🛒Materials: Plastic toy cars, tray of soapy water, toothbrush
- 1Fill a shallow tray with warm soapy water.
- 2Give your toddler plastic toy cars and a toothbrush.
- 3Let them scrub the cars clean.
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#3·10 min
Crayon Scribble Art
🛒Materials: Large sheet of paper, thick crayons
- 1Tape a large sheet of paper to the floor or table.
- 2Give your toddler 2-3 thick crayons.
- 3Let them scribble freely, building arm strength.
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#4·10–20 min
Tupperware Tower
🛒Materials: Plastic containers of different sizes
- 1Stack plastic containers from biggest to smallest.
- 2Let your toddler knock them over — they love it!
- 3Help them rebuild and try stacking themselves.
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The 'knock down' phase is just as developmental as the building phase.
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#5·20–30 min
Cardboard Box Tunnel
🛒Materials: Large cardboard box
- 1Open both ends of a large cardboard box.
- 2Place it on the floor as a tunnel.
- 3Hide a toy at the other end and encourage them to crawl through.
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#6·10–15 min
Pom-Pom Post
🛒Materials: Empty tissue box or container with hole, pom-poms
- 1Cut a hole in the top of a container (or use a tissue box).
- 2Show your toddler how to 'post' pom-poms through the hole.
- 3Dump them out and repeat — toddlers love the repetition.
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This is a classic Montessori object permanence activity.
