25 Fun and Easy Ideas for Busy Toddlers

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Inside: Trying to keep up with your busy toddlers? Here are 25 fun and easy ideas that will help them burn their energy at home and at school!

I am often asked about ideas for busy toddlers. They have short attention spans, would rather run or climb than sit, and simply want to be on the go every moment they are awake.

Does this sound familiar? Do you have a toddler like this?

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Now, older children can be just as energetic as toddlers and I did share ideas on songs that help get their wiggles out. But toddlers get frustrated more easily and need redirection during those times. So, I put together activities that have worked with our busy toddlers.

Scroll down to get your own free printable list!

Trying to keep up with your busy toddlers? Here are 25 fun and easy ideas that will help them burn their energy at home and at school!

25 Fun and Easy Ideas for Busy Toddlers

Squeeze Water

I am putting this first because I have yet to find a toddler who does not like this activity. For the active toddler, this can be very soothing. PLUS, it is a great activity for strengthening the hands and fingers! We love adding them to the water table, such as when we put together our 10 Rubber Ducks Sensory Activity.

Go Up and Down Steps

Learning how to negotiate stairs is an important part of a toddler’s development. All toddlers will benefit practicing how to walk up and down stairs, but busy toddlers especially love this task. Once they master the stairs, we put a tumbling mat beside it so they can jump off.

(Steffy Stairs and Boat)

(Tumbling Mat)

Pour Water

Pouring water is another super soothing activity. If we have a child who needs to calm his body down, this does the trick. You don’t need a fancy water table. A kitchen sink or a bucket work fine. You can see more about this in our Toddler Fine Motor Water Activity Post.

(Jonti Craft See-Thru Sensory Table)

Balance

All toddlers benefit from balancing activities, but busy toddlers especially enjoy them. These activities require the busy toddler to focus for an extended period of time. They also strengthen body awareness, muscular strength, and postural control.

(Bilibo Chairs)

(Balance Beam)

Throw a Ball

Busy toddlers like to throw, and it’s not always what you’d prefer them to throw. Having access to balls allows you to be able to redirect the throwing. Rather than just saying no, you can offer them a ball instead.

Scrub with Soapy Water

Painting and scrubbing with soapy water outdoors has always been a favorite with our busy toddlers. They can use big movements as they move the paintbrushes and scrub brushes. The best part is that this is super easy to set up and it will keep their interest for quite awhile. We simply provide a bucket filled with soapy water along with paint and scrub brushes.

Ride Scooters

A few years ago we were introduced to scooter boards. Our toddlers lie on their tummies and scoot around the room. Scooter boards strengthen both the arms and the core, important for motor development.

(Scooter Boards)

Move with Instruments

When our toddlers get energetic, we know to turn on the music! We have a box of instruments handy for this very reason. We especially love rhythm stick activities because they give the busy toddler something to hold, move, and hit.

Pound Golf Tees

Hammering golf tees is a very favorite for our toddlers. If you have a piece of styrofoam, they could hammer the tees into that. We also invite our toddlers to hammer items into play dough. In the fall, we love this activity: Hammering Tees Into Pumpkins.

Build with Blocks

block play for toddlers and preschoolers

Busy toddlers love to build with blocks! The larger ones are fun to carry, requiring fine and large motor skills. For more information on blocks, read this: Fun Block Play Ideas.

(Jumbo Blocks)

Toddlers are learning how to put things together, so they love to build!

Dance with Scarves

Fun Scarf Play During Music and Movement

Busy toddlers love it when we turn on our active music and hand them some dancing scarves! They use their entire bodies as they dance and move the scarves all over. This is popular during music and movement time.

(Dancing Scarves)

Move Big Things

Transporting big things is loved by busy toddlers. Have you noticed how they will carry these items across a room and then back again? Then they will stack them, knock them over, and transport them again.

(Big Waffle Block Set)

Draw Big Pictures

Take some sidewalk chalk outdoors and make big movements on a vertical or horizontal surface. Then, when done, take that scrub brush and water and rinse it off!

Scoop

Grab some kitchen utensils and give your busy toddler scooping activities! This was part of our alphabet soup activity and it was much loved.

Stamp with Paper Tubes

Stamping with paper tubes is another fun activity for busy toddlers. You can read more about this here: Little Blue and Little Yellow Paint Mixing.

Roll Golf Balls

learning with lego - 100+ activities for kids

Busy toddlers need to focus as they roll the golf ball towards one of the Duplo towers. You can read more about this activity here: Building Fine Motor Skills with Lego Bricks.

Push Carts

Pushing anything is fun for a busy toddler. We have these shopping carts available in our outdoor area at all times. Our toddlers will fill them with toys and push them back and forth. Lots of work!

(Grocery Cart)

Hop Over Hoops

We love hoops during gym time! Not only can busy toddlers jump in them, but they also enjoy chasing after them when we roll them across the room.

(Hoops)

Drive Through Paint

If you are stuck indoors with a busy toddler, try this fun activity: Painting with Fire Trucks.

Run

Well, but of course the busy toddler likes to run!

Dump Materials

Toddlers and dumping go hand-in-hand, so we make sure to provide activities that allow them to do so. You can see more here: Summer Sensory Bin.

Poke into Playdough

Play dough is a staple in our toddler classroom. Try adding materials they can poke and press into it! You can see more of this activity here: STEM Playdough Building Challenge.

Shake Discovery Bottles

Discovery bottles can also be known as calm-down bottles. We’ve found when our busy toddlers need some calm moments, we hand them one of these bottles. You can read how we make our own here: Winter Discovery Bottles.

Stack Duplo Bricks

Just as small Lego bricks help our busy preschoolers, the larger Duplo bricks calm our busy toddlers. These are also great to take along when traveling!

(Lego Duplos)

Transfer Cubes with Tongs

Focusing on transferring smaller pieces is a nice activity to slow down the busy toddler. You can see more of this activity here: Color Sorting Water Bin.

Paint with Balls

Activities such as this painting one are great because they allow the toddler to hold onto a cardboard lid, moving it around. Busy toddlers love this because it works their entire upper body as they move the ball around. You can see more here: Painting with Balls.

Spin

Our toddlers have so much fun with our sit ‘n spin that we had to purchase several! It takes coordination to start the spinning motion, working the upper body.

(Sit ‘n Spin)