15 MESS FREE TODDLER ACTIVITIES THAT YOU CAN EASILY DO AT HOME

Tired of cleaning out the mess after your little one is done playing? Find 15 easy and fun mess free activities here for some much needed quiet time.

If I have to describe toddlers in two words, then it would be limitless energy and high curiosity. Aren’t toddlers just like that? Always jumping and hopping everywhere and so inquisitive to explore and feel everything that passes by them. Although there is so much that we can learn from our little tots like their excitement for everything new around them or finding happiness in simple things like spotting a butterfly, but they are also huge mess creators!

Living with a small toddler of my own, I can totally understand the mess that a toddler is capable of creating especially with activities like painting or sensory bins. And once she is done playing, all I am left with is the mess and the unending cleaning tasks. Sometimes, I wish I had my own magic broom so that I could enjoy an absolutely mess free life but since I cannot give you a magic broom I can still share with you 15 easy and fun MESS FREE activities that my toddlers love to do at home and the best part it gives me the much needed quiet time that I need for myself.

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15 Fun & easy mess free toddler activities that your little ones will love

Mommy tip – While introducing an activity to your little one especially toddlers, it is important to walk them slowly through the entire process so that they can pick it up easily. If you want to learn more about how to introduce an activity to a toddler, check out this blog post here!

Running out of ideas to keep your little ones engaged at home for long. Download this FREE 45 list of activities that you can do with your kids to keep them engaged for long.

1. Color sorting activity

Things ‘ll need – paper plate, masking tape, small items to sort (pom poms, buttons, pasta). Also, you can get these assorted craft supplies set. (Great for kids craft!)
Method – Take a medium-size paper plate and using the masking tape divide the plate making four areas in the plate. Then in a small bowl mix any four different items to sort like buttons, pom pom, pasta, etc, and let your little one sort those items out by collection each in one corner of the plate.
Make it challenging – Get creative with the masking tape and make more areas to sort like 5 or 6 and give your little ones multiple items to sort.

2. Creative shapes with playdough

Things ‘ll need – Play dough, playdough tools.
Method – Let your little kids imagination run wild with creating fun shapes using play dough. It is one of my daughter’s favorite activities. I also give her a few playdough tools like a rolling pin, cutters, etc and she spends hours having fun with it. Also if your kid is anything like mine who likes to eat everything off the ground, then you can check out this easy to make homemade playdough recipe that is toxin-free and safe to play with.
Make it challenging – Give your child a playdough challenge like building a tower using playdough and pasta or make a face mask with eyes, nose, and mouth cutouts. You can cut out the face on a piece of cardboard and ask your child to trace it on the playdough.

Related resources for kid activities on the blog

30 Playful activities for one year olds

20 Playful activities for three year olds that you can do easily

18 Indoor activities to do with kids when you are at home

3. Masking tape racetrack

Things ‘ll need – masking tape, small cars (this one or this)
Method – Draw straight tracks or zig-zag tracks in your gallery using masking tape and let your child play by driving their cars on the racetrack.
Make it challenging – You and your little one can race on the tracks making sure that the car does not fall off the track or you can draw out more complicated race track ideas to sketch for your little ones.

4. Bubble wrap walkåway

Things ‘ll need – Bubble wrap, painters tape
Method – Using painters tape, tape the bubble wrap to a wooden floor in your home and let your little one enjoy jumping and running on the bubble wrap. It is a great sensory activity for kids.
Make it challenging – Using painters tape, block areas in the bubble wrap walkway where your kid cannot step into. Challenge your child to jump over the blocked out zones that they pass as they walk along the bubblewrap walkway.

5. Solve a puzzle

Things ‘ll need – Puzzles
Method – They are engaging but they do require initial help from parents to help the kid get started to solving simple puzzles. You can get a simple puzzle set with a few pieces that your kid can put together like this one or this.
Make it challenging – As your child makes progress you can challenge them by solving more complicated puzzles like this one or this.

6. Coloring & stickers fun

Things ‘ll need – Mess free colors (pencil colors, crayons), construction paper (single or multicolor), stickers
Method – Another great activity that keeps my daughter engaged for hours is coloring and stickers fun. I usually give her plain white construction papers, crayons, pencil colors, or even glitter glue sometimes. We usually do our coloring activities on her high chair or on this toddler table set that I had bought for my daughter from Amazon.
Make it challenging – There are many ways how you can make this activity challenging. Like for instance, I use this sticker book to motivate my daughter to pull out a sticker and match the shape or we use coloring books like this one, where I teach her to color in the shapes.

7. Cutting paper strips

Things ‘ll need – Scissors, construction paper (single or multicolor), stencils
Method – Throw in some small pieces of construction paper and give your child a kid-friendly craft scissor and let them have fun cutting the paper. You will be surprised how much your little ones will be engrossed in trying to master this art.
Make it challenging – Once your child has mastered the art of cutting with the scissor, using stencils draw shapes on the construction paper like squares, circles, etc. and challenge your child to cut these shapes.

Download this FREE list of 45 activities for kids to keep them engaged for long hours. From indoor to outdoor activities, find something fun to do with your little ones.

8. Being a chef

Things ‘ll need – Kitchen play utensils, kitchen set (optional), food set
Method – Are you ready to start a game of restaurant with your kids? Kids love to be a chef and imitate what parents make in the kitchen.
Make it challenging – Ask your child to make you a muffin or an ice cream or line up his toys and ask him to make a meal for all of them. Kids can get really creative in their kitchen!

Related: 15 Best pretend play toys for toddlers in 2020

9. Play with a card box

Things ‘ll need – Old cardboard box, items to decorate (pencil colors, crayons, stickers)
Method – I am sure you must have a ton of old cardboard boxes lying in your basement. Pick one and remove one side of the box and then let your little one play with the three-sided cardboard box.
Make it challenging – Give your little one some colors and let them have fun decorating the box. Motivate your child to draw and color shapes on the box.

10. Help with chores

Things ‘ll need – list of child-friendly household chores like folding laundry, help with loading the dishwasher
Method – Teaching your child to participate in the household chores teaches them a sense of responsibility. Start with asking your child to help with small tasks like folding clothes, helping load the dishwasher or cleaning a glass window.
Make it challenging – As your child learns to take responsibility, you can motivate him to take bigger challenges like making their bed or arranging clothes in their closet. You can also treat them if they do all their household chores for the entire week or month.

11. Build a tower

Things ‘ll need – old cans, utensils, caps, etc
Method – Ask your child to use these items lying around the home and build a tower. Make sure that the cans do not have any pointed ends.
Make it challenging – You can give him some playdough and ask him to build a tower by stacking the pieces together with play dough.

12. Play with fridge magnets

Things ‘ll need – Fridge magnets
Method – Let your child have fun and use his imagination to make fun shapes on the fridge using fridge magnets.
Make it challenging – Get the numbers or letters fridge magnets and motivate your child to stick them on the fridge in the correct sequence.

13. Clean your garage and let them play in it

Things ‘ll need – Clean garage. Make sure that there are no dangerous items lying around in the garage.
Method – Clean out your garage completely and let your child ride his bike in it or skate.
Make it challenging – You can draw race tracks using painters tape in the garage and challenge your child to drive his bike on the race track.

14. No mess finger painting

Things ‘ll need – Ziploc bags, washable paint
Method – Squirt a few drops of different washable paint in the Ziploc bag and seal it properly. Using a masking tape the Ziploc bag to a window or a table. Let your child have fun mixing the colors in the Ziploc bag in the plastic bag. Best way to have a mess free painting session!
Make it challenging – Throw in a small piece of cardboard sheet or a thick paper sheet along with the paint in the Ziploc bag and let your child try and paint on the sheet without actually touching the paint. Once he is done, you can remove the sheet from the Ziploc bag and let it air dry to show it to your kid.

15. Play with Lego

Things ‘ll need – Lego kits
Method – They are another great engaging activity for 3 year olds. Give them a set of easy to build lego kit or building block set and let them have fun building new structures with it. My husband and I love to play Zenga and my daughter has a lot of fun building towers using the Zenga blocks too. Great game for adults as well as kids!
Make it challenging – Lego blocks come for different age groups. Once your child has mastered his lego kit you can get him a new one with advance and more complex features.

I hope you found these mess free activities helpful and you found things that can help you keep your kids engaged for long!

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