Activities for Your Toddler
If you’re looking for FREE and FRUGAL toddler games and activities, check out this list at BabyCenter.com.
This collection will keep your child entertained, week after week, boosting development and offering a fun way to spend quality time with your toddler.
These suggestions are for 12 to 23 months old, but can be great with younger or older kids too. Some of my personal favorites are:
Monkey Motions
Scarf Dance
Knees and Toes
Where o where?
Robo-Parent
Free Cheap Fun for Kids
BabyCenter has some great resources for more games too, from babies, to toddlers, to preschoolers, to school-age kids! Like this article on free cheap fun for kids.
One of our baby favorites is flashlight games. And as summer is approaching, we are looking forward to switching things up for their mealtime, like moving their highchair outside. Our son loves to point at the plane, or mimmic the fire siren he hears while he is eating.
A truly frugal idea for toddlers is “fancy wrappings” game. If you’ve ever watched a toddler open a present, you know that she’s likely to ignore what’s inside and focus all her attention on the box, wrapping paper, and ribbon. If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em! Wrap up something small, such as a pretty postcard or a toy you already own. Make sure to use lots of ribbon and paper (Sunday comics work great).
With spring approaching, gardening is a fun option to consider with your preschoolers. BabyCenter suggests radishes – they pop up in a matter of weeks! Find a sunny patch of yard and have your child plant the seeds directly in the ground or in a small planter. You can even grow radishes inside in a container set in a sunny south-facing window. Your little gardener will love digging a hole, sprinkling in the seeds, and covering them up.
There are some great suggestions for School-Age Kids too. One of my favorites growing up, was the camping in. We’d make “tents” with sheets and blankets draped over kitchen chairs. You can pull out your sleeping bags, tell stories and sing songs around an imaginary fire. And when the lights go out, make a beautiful galaxy appear on the ceiling of your tent by shining a flashlight through a colander.