Keep your tots engaged with these fun activities and games for toddlers to try at home

Age group: Below 2

Managing toddlers can be a challenge for most parents. Parents often have to find ways to keep the little ones engaged all day while attending to their jobs as well as during work from home. To keep your little munchkin out of trouble, most of us readily hand over our phones or tablets to their eager little hands or turn on the television for some quiet time. We get that! However, before your toddler starts growing dependent on gadgets, it is time to pause and start over.

Toddlers love to explore every part of their little big world, be it under the carpet or the highest cupboard in the room. Get down on the floor with your little one, laugh with them, play games, or engage in activities such as drawing or crafts.

To help you with this, we offer you 20 exciting toddler games and activities that your little family can indulge in for some pure unadulterated family fun while staying indoors. All you need to do is pick from these 20 super fun ideas. Watch time fly by as you create memories of a lifetime!

Fun toddler games and activities (1-2 year olds)

Mirror act: Did your baby learn a new trick, like how to wiggle their tongue or say Dudu? Imitate them, in fact, mimic whatever they do and watch them giggle with glee. They will not tire of this any time soon.

Sink or float: Collect a few toys and household items. Drop the items into a bucket of water, one by one, to see which one sinks and which one floats. Use objects of different sizes and weights, so your toddler can understand the difference between the two. Shout out sink and float when it happens!

Listen and tell: Ask your child to close their eyes. Make different sounds with items around the house crumple a piece of paper or squeeze their favorite squeaky toy. Your baby must guess what the secret item is!

Sort it out: Give your toddler a jumbled mix of safe toys and household items in four different colors. Ask them to sort and categorize these items by the colors red, blue, yellow, and green. Voice out each color as your toddler sorts them!

Build a fort: Nothing like a cozy little fort with cardboard boxes, blankets, pillows, cushions, and bed sheets for your little one. Let your child put their favorite soft toys inside the fort and sleep in for the night

Guess what: Ask your child to close their eyes. Then, place an object right in front of them. Allow your little one to touch and feel the object. Ask them to try and guess what it is. If they guess it correctly, do a little jig with them.

Beany bowl: Give your child a mixed bowl of seeds, beans, lentils, and grains, and let them scoop them with a spoon and transfer them to another bowl. Let their hands touch the beans as they fall into the container. Be watchful to make sure your toddler doesn't put anything in their mouth, nose, or ear!

Coin trick: Take three cups, hide a coin under an upside-down cup, and shuffle the cups a few times. Now ask your toddler to guess which cup holds the coin. Do it slowly and do it fast just to liven up the game! Just imagine the reaction on your child's face when they guess it right.

Goofy faces: How about a contest? Who can make the goofiest facial expressions? Try to twist your faces as weirdly as you possibly can. This game is sure to leave both babies and you in splits.

Shadow play: Turn off the lights and use a torch to create shadows on a wall. Use your imagination (and fingers) to display some animals and objects. Ask your child to guess the shadow shape. Cheer when they are right. You can even make up a story with different shadowy characters and keep them entertained.

Tunnel crawl: Line up a few chairs. Drop a blanket over them. Ask your child to crawl through the tunnel made of blanket-covered chairs. And you can crawl right next to them on the outside. You could time it and make it a sport! Take caution with sharp edges or chairs falling.

Pots & pans: Make some musical merry as you and your child bang on some empty pots and pans with wooden spoons! Children love making noise join in and make it louder! So, what if your neighbor is unhappy?

Freeze dance: Play some music and bogey around. Stop the music abruptly and all those who are dancing must stop on the spot and not move. Once the music plays again, continue to wiggle and giggle. You can alternate this with the age-old passing the parcel.

Where is baby? Within safe boundaries, ask your baby to hide. Even if you can spot your baby, pretend you can't see them, and take some time to find them. As you search, keep reciting where is baby? where is baby? and when you find them, exclaim, there you are!

Puppet time: A puppet can always come to your rescue each time you need to read a book or sing a song to your tiny tot. You can make a paper one or buy one of those furry hand and finger puppets. Goof around, dance, and sing along with your child!

Line up: Kids enjoy lining up toys in a row. Together, try to make the longest row of dinosaurs, farm animals, or cars as possible. Make it challenging and ask them to line them up from the smallest to the biggest.

Splish Splash: Nothing like water. Just give them a bucket of water to sit with and let them just splash it around. Maybe together, wash some toys in it. With spoons and ladles, your child can scoop water and pour it into little cups or bowls! Be careful not to leave your child alone with a bucket of water even for a minute.

Crawling game: Get on all fours with your child and act like animals such as a hoppity rabbit, a spunky monkey, or a jumping kangaroo. Have fun!

Doctor-Doctor: Hospitals and doctors can be scary for children. Make it fun by playing a role-playing game. You can be the doctor and your child can be the patient. Switch roles. Ask the right questions, and check their temperature and heartbeat! Pretend, enact, and play.

Pretend play: Let your child embark into a whole new world of being doctors, parents, chefs, and teachers with you! Different playsets are available in the marketplace like the doctor set, cooking set, toolset, etc. Or just improvise with things around the house. Pretend, enact, and play!

Wasn't that a fun ride? Remember, the life of a toddler is all about the simplest and silliest of things. You don't need to go searching to pick the best ways to spend quality time together. They are all around you.

We hope that with these activities, you and your toddler can spend some fun, quality time together, creating happy memories and, most importantly, simply connecting with each other!

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