I’ll come out and say it—I’m not a creative or crafty person. I knew I would be home raising our kids, and that lack of creativity muscle really weighed on me!
Being home with them meant they wouldn’t be in daycare where there are structured activities every day. And I felt like I might be holding them back by keeping them cooped up at home with me.
I started to wonder if they would be getting enough stimulus every day, if I was doing enough for their development, and if I should possibly be doing more…
If you resonate, then keep reading because we’ll cover some great activities that you can do with your little ones at home.
I’ve learned that you don’t have to be the most creative, skilled, or best DIY-er to create fun activities to help your child’s development. I created a list of more than 45 activities for you to do with your children that promote healthy development and skills that they’ll possess for a lifetime. And you might be surprised by how simple these activities can really be!
Why Is Play So Important For Child Development?
Playing allows kids to be kids—and helps them to become well-rounded individuals. It allows children to grow into who they are through creativity and the exploration of the imagination. The physical, emotional, and cognitive development during play is also of huge importance.
Play allows children to engage and interact with the world around them, by helping them develop social skills, understand cause and effect, and see communication in action. Playing is unique as it reinforces children’s skills and individuality that can’t be achieved through screen time or bookwork.
A clinical study notes that play is an essential aspect of holistic well-being for children, especially in early childhood.¹
If you’d like to also develop your holistic wellness, then you should check out my article here for great health and wellness tips for moms.
Specific Benefits Of Play:
- Stimulate early brain development
- Improves intelligence and concentration
- Spark’s creative thinking
- Improve communication, vocabulary, and language
- Promotes impulse control and emotion regulation
- Helps to improve social competence and empathy
- Enhances physical and mental health
- Teaches life lessons
For more information on the specific benefits of play for children, check out this article by Parenting for Brain.
Benefits Of Structured And Unstructured Activities
Structured Play
Structured play is any type of activity that has a set of instructions with a goal and specific learning objective. It allows you to get your little one involved in a variety of activities that he or she may not have naturally implemented on their own.
For example, get your child involved in things like folding the laundry, helping with dishes, or picking up their toys. It teaches responsibility and other skills while they think they’re just having fun and helping you!
Structured play also promotes problem-solving, critical thinking, and allows for social interaction—all in the frame of learning. This type of play helps to build strength, balance, and coordination by initiating movement games with your child. It helps them learn and master gross motor skills, whilst staying active too.
Unstructured Play
Unstructured play doesn’t usually have any rules or instructions. The possibilities tend to be unlimited, and open-ended, with no specific learning objective.
This is playful learning, where children take the lead and follow their own curiosity. Unstructured play encourages social skills and teamwork because children ‘hash it out’ together.
They learn to take turns, listen, share, and make decisions together. Children are urged to show their individuality and independence when they are allowed to ‘just play’.
Ultimately, this type of play promotes the freedom to explore and be creative without set rules, while still fostering cognitive development and boosting physical, social, and emotional development.
Speaking of discovering yourself, if you’re interested in learning ways that you can rediscover yourself in motherhood, then check out my blog article here.
Structured Vs Unstructured Activities
Both ‘play with a purpose’ and ‘free play’ are crucial to your child’s development. Unstructured play aids in your child’s imagination and creativity while structured play is directive and goal-oriented. Ultimately, children need a mix of both structured and unstructured play for their well-being, learning, and growth.
They both help to develop:
- Problem-solving
- Critical thinking
- Social skills
- Team building
- Communication
- Self-confidence
- Motor skills
- Emotional skills
45 Simple Developmental Activities To Do At Home With Your Kids
- Paint on construction paper with a paintbrush and water
- Put food coloring in (yogurt, shaving cream, cool whip, etc) and let them enjoy sensory play. I prefer edible ingredients—because you just never know!
- Put snow in a bin or cupcake pan and give your child kitchen utensils to play
- Create your own tissue box by putting play silks in a box (or empty wipes container/Amazon box, etc)
- Put your child in a big cardboard box and let them draw and go wild
- Let your child draw on a whiteboard
- Make a sensory bin: fill it with toys and beans, rocks, or sand. And let your child find the hidden toys
- Pour paint into a ziplock bag and let them explore (shut the zip-lock of course)
- Put shaving cream and beads in a zip-lock bag (food coloring optional)
- Pour water and food coloring into a zip-lock bag
- Bathtub painting. Great for an easy clean-up!
- Make a jello bin and let your child play with their senses such as feel, taste, touch
- Play with popping bubble wrap (always supervised)
- Paint on the sidewalk with a paintbrush and water
- Put painter’s tape on their highchair and let them rip it off
- Put pom poms in a water bath and let your child scoop them out
- Tape a paper towel holder to the wall/door and drop pom poms through
- Use tongs to pick up pom poms and put them in an ice cube tray
- Mix vinegar, dish soap, water, and food coloring in a safe container. Add baking soda for a ‘volcano’
- Put post it’s on the wall and let them pull off
- Make water beads
- Put pom poms in a whisk and have your child pull them out. Have them put the poms in a separate bowl
- Put ping pong balls in a bowl with water. Pull out the balls with a utensil and put them into another bowl
- Go fishing in the tub (if you don’t have a toy fishing set, use your imagination for water play)
- Paint the sidewalk with chalk. Take a garden watering can and pour it over the chalk to magically see it clean the chalk away
- Build a fort
- Go on a walk or hike
- Reenact a book and role play
- Make sensory water bottles. Fill each with different items (pasta, beans, coins, water with food coloring). Remember to glue the tops on.
- Put magnets on the fridge (or baking sheet) and let them play
- Put ball-pit balls in a cupcake pan and cover them with painter’s tape. Have your child free the balls
- Put magnetic alphabet pieces on a cookie sheet and make words
- Put pipe cleaners in a strainer
- Make tunnels out of paper towels or toilet paper rolls and roll pom poms through them. Use painter’s tape to tape to the wall and put a pom pom through, etc
- Make homemade edible playdough
For Older Kids
- Set a dance party alarm for every hour
- Have a scavenger hunt
- Sort items by color
- Sort items alphabetically
- Play hide and seek
- Try a new recipe and cook together
- Play ‘Jack in the Box’ with a big box
- Make cards for loved ones (birthday, Christmas, Easter)
- Play parachute games with sheets on your bed
- Have them help with household chores
- Board game
- Enact different emotions through facial expression
Helping Your Child Learn Life Skills
Helping your child to learn life skills, fine motor skills, and hand-eye coordination doesn’t have to be hard or expensive. There are many daily activities you can get them to help with that help them build valuable life skills through positive parenting.
Here are some of my favorite ways to help your child learn life skills:
- Doing the dishes
- Helping with the laundry
- Taking out the garbage
- Chores and cleaning
- Cleaning up their toys
- Learning to tie their shoes
- Learning to zip their clothes zippers
- Dressing—putting on pants, shirt, socks
- Putting on a winter coat and winter clothing
- Putting clothes on a hanger
- Counting to 10
- Saying their ABCs
- Knowing their shapes
- Knowing their colors
- Sorting
- Matching
- Puzzles
- Jumping
- Standing on one foot
- Marching
- ‘Head, shoulders, knees, and toes’ game
- Throwing a ball at a target
- Skipping
- Obstacle course
- Walking up and down stairs
- I spy
- Simon says
- Putting yarn through a hole (hole punches on a paper plate)
- String beads
- Coloring – free draw
- Talk, talk, talk about every detail of your day
- Count stairs
- Count buttons
- Explain what you’re doing and why you do it
- Talk about nature on a walk
Conclusion
What did you think about these fun toddler activities to help build fine motor skills, hand eye coordination, gross motor skills, and concentration?
I would love for you to share your favorite activities to do with your kids in the comments!
*Affiliate Disclaimer: I only ever endorse products or programs that I have personally used and benefited from. This post may contain affiliate links which means I’d receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase using my links. If you do make a purchase – thank you for helping to support my family through my blog!
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