5 fun indoor activities for your active toddler

Outdoor play is a great way to encourage big muscle movement, but sometimes it’s too hot or too cold—or your toddler still has energy to burn after being outside for hours 🙃 Try these ideas to get the wiggles out inside.

Rescue the critters

Spread the critters from the Quilted Critter Pockets on a large surface, like a coffee table or couch. Walk to the other side of the room with the Critter Pocket. Ask your toddler, “Can you go get the butterfly and bring it home?” Continue until your toddler returns all 12 critters to their pouches, one by one. Along with cognitive skills, like searching and matching, this activity builds balance and agility when your toddler stops, squats, and reaches. 

See inside The Realist Play Kit from Lovevery

The Realist Play Kit (Months 19-21)

Equip your toddler’s with real-world skills with toys from The Realist Play Kit

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 Conquer an obstacle course

A simple obstacle course in your living room or down a hallway can meet your child’s need for whole-body movement. Limit the course to just two or three of these obstacles to keep it toddler-friendly: 

1. Make an 8-inch wide “balance beam” on the floor with two strips of painter’s tape.
2. Put a few rolled-up towels or pool noodles on the ground to step over. 
3. Place a yardstick across two kitchen chairs to duck under.
4. Use painter’s tape to make a few staggered “X” marks on the floor for your toddler to jump on.
5. Set up the Play Tunnel for your toddler to crawl through.
6. End the course with a soft ball for them to kick or a basket with a few soft toys for them to throw.

The Play Tunnel

A crawl-through tunnel to help develop strength and balance.

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Climb cushion mountain

Stack couch cushions or pile up some pillows for your toddler to climb up and down. The uneven surface will require them to make small unconscious adjustments to maintain their balance and manage their muscle force. 

Mimic animal moves

Encourage your toddler to stomp like a dinosaur, creep like a spider, or flap like a bird. These movements all coordinate the right and left sides of their body, building critical communication pathways between their brain hemispheres. You can also show them how to hop like a bunny, waddle like a duck, or prance like a pony. Even if your toddler’s bunny hops look more like bunny squats, their efforts will strengthen their body and brain.

Move to the music

Your toddler is learning how to adjust their speed to external demands, like slowing down when a dog walks into their path or reaching for a ball as it rolls by. A dance party can help them practice those on-a-dime adjustments. Put on the Lovevery “Time to Dance” or “Silly Songs” playlist and show your toddler how to move faster and slower to match the tempo.

Learn more about the research

Adolph, K. E., & Hoch, J. E. (2019). Motor development: Embodied, embedded, enculturated, and enabling. Annual review of psychology, 70, 141-164.