My Toddler Playtime Tips

With having 3 toddlers in my home, I’m constantly trying to come up with special activities that I can pull out for them whenever they’re needing the distraction. I’m a big believer in free play, but sometimes Mia and Lucy try to play fight club. So I’ve got to get creative sometimes.

I use our coat closet to store some of our activities.

Kids get overwhelmed with having so many toys available and therefore bored with them. I like to “hide” toys that I can pull out occasionally. They get excited because it’s like getting a brand new toy all over again.

For sensory play

My girls have some sensory needs, so I have a collection of sensory toys that they love.

  1. Mini trampoline
  2. Crawl through tunnel
  3. Sensory boxes (Blog post coming soon!)
  4. Indoor Swing (swing & pull up bar)
  5. Slide
  6. Bean bag aka crash pad
Mia and Lucy snuggling on the trampoline

We have so much fun creating a sensory play room out of the living room. The girls will take the couch cushions off and use them to create crash pads for them to jump onto. I keep most of these toys (especially the bigger ones) put away because they can also just be overwhelming. Bringing them out for specific times allows them to have a more focused sensory input.

Of course couch cushions are always a good toy

For toys

Some toys are good for play occasionally or we lose the pieces and therefore their play potential, which leads to clutter, which leads to frustration, which leads to boredom.

They love the ball popper
  1. Ball popper
  2. Hot wheels and car rug
  3. Shape sorter and cup stackers
  4. Mega blocks
  5. Bristle blocks

These are toys that are highly entertaining for the girls, and they’re fun to play with for a shorter time period. When they’re done, we collect the pieces and put them away so they’re again not overwhelmed with the amount of toys around them.

Plus these are toys that I can easily play with them that doesn’t end up with me being tortured. It’s a great opportunity to bond as I track their playing with my words (therapy tool) and give them my undivided attention as we play together.

These toys are also toys they can play with independently that distracts them enough so I can get things done like dinner.

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