65 Toddler Bucket List Ideas
The best toddler bucket list so you can get some ideas on how to spend time with your child who is 18 months to 3 years old.
Toddlerhood comes and goes pretty quickly. It seems as if you blink, and boom they are 5 years old. I’ve been there twice already, and if I blink again my baby will be a toddler and beyond soon too! As I write this article, my newest baby is 4 months old and sporting 2 teeth!
It’s all right. It’s impossible to have a fantastic day every day. An exciting outing cannot be planned for every day. There are dishes to wash, bills to pay, and you don’t want to be seen in public if you haven’t taken a shower in a long time. I understand.
Toddlers are pretty busy little people. If you’re not watching, they can get up to no good in mere seconds.
Once upon a time, one of my sons got up before 5am and toddled out to the kitchen at the ripe age of 3.
I woke up at 5am and discovered the entire kitchen floor covered in white sugar, topped with bread and cereal.
YES toddlers do keep you on your toes. They also provide some funny stories to tell to their wives and husbands later on.
But this messy time of life is just a blur, and before you know it you’ll be begging your kids to spend time with you.
If you are looking for some ideas on how to spend time with your toddler, or you need a bucket list so you make sure you don’t miss out on any precious moments in this short time, here is a toddler bucket list for you.
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Why Make A Toddler Bucket List
A toddler bucket list can be a great way to enhance your child’s development and make meaningful memories together.
Toddlers are constantly growing and exploring, and creating a bucket list tailored to their interests and abilities can provide a sense of accomplishment and excitement for them.
It can also help parents to focus on spending quality time with their children and foster a strong bond.
From simple activities like visiting a farm or playing in the park, to more ambitious adventures like going on a train ride or camping, a toddler bucket list can provide a framework for creating positive experiences and promoting growth and learning.
The Toddler Bucket List
Pom Pom Sorting
How it helps: This activity teaches color recognition and enhances fine motor skills as toddlers use their fingers to pick up and sort the pom poms.
How to do it: Provide your toddler with a variety of colored pom poms and several small bowls or containers. Show them how to sort the pom poms into the containers based on color.
Dance Party
How it helps: Dancing is excellent for developing gross motor skills, coordination, and balance. It’s also a fun way to encourage physical activity.
How to do it: Play some child-friendly music and encourage your toddler to dance freely. You can also teach them simple dance moves or follow-along songs.
Play Dough Creations
How it helps: Manipulating play dough helps with hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills. It also encourages creativity and imagination.
How to do it: Give your toddler some play dough and tools like rolling pins, cookie cutters, and molds. Let them create whatever comes to their mind. Sometimes I like to print out a picture and have them “color” the picture with the play doh (or clay!)
Sensory Bin Exploration
How it helps: This activity stimulates the senses and can be calming for toddlers. It also encourages exploration and discovery.
How to do it: Fill a large bin with a sensory material like rice, beans, or water beads. Add scoops, cups, and small toys for them to find and manipulate within the bin. I actually use an indoor water table as a sensory bin, but you can totally use any bing you have access to.
Homemade Bubble Wrap Runway
How it helps: Walking or crawling on bubble wrap provides sensory feedback and helps develop gross motor skills.
How to do it: Lay out a large piece of bubble wrap on the floor. Let your toddler walk, crawl, or roll over it to feel the different sensations. This can be an activity that keeps on giving – something about popping those bubbles toddlers just love.
Ice Cube Painting
How it helps: This activity is both a sensory experience and an art project, enhancing creativity and sensory processing.
How to do it: Mix food coloring with water and freeze it in ice cube trays. Once frozen, let your toddler use the colored ice cubes to paint on paper.
Sticky Note Match-Up
How it helps: This simple game improves memory and matching skills and can be used to teach colors, numbers, or letters.
How to do it: Stick colored notes on a wall and give your toddler objects or more notes to match with those on the wall. This can work with dot dot stickers or tape too.
Egg Carton Counting
How it helps: Counting and sorting with an egg carton can improve number recognition and fine motor skills.
How to do it: Give your toddler an empty egg carton and small toys or objects. Encourage them to place the objects in the carton while counting. You can even paint the egg carton and get colored construction paper to match colors.
Laundry Basket Fun
How it helps: Pushing or pulling a laundry basket is great for developing gross motor skills and can be a fun physical activity.
How to do it: Place toys or lightweight objects in a laundry basket. Encourage your toddler to push or pull the basket around a safe area. This is not something I ever set up, it just naturally happens at our house!
Animal Parade
How it helps: This pretend play activity enhances language skills and imagination as toddlers engage in storytelling.
How to do it: Line up various animal toys and lead them in a parade. Encourage your toddler to name the animals and make up stories about where they are going. I love little toy animals like these for this activity but also you can use little people or any other small parts toys you may have.
Water Table Exploration:
Benefits: Enhances sensory play and fine motor skills.
How to do it: Use a water table or a large container filled with water. Add toys like cups, boats, and water wheels. Let toddlers explore, pour, and splash. Here is a big list of water table activities or if you’re in need of a water table, here is some good ones.
Driving Toy Cars on Painter’s Tape Roads:
Benefits: Improves hand-eye coordination.
How to do it: Lay down painter’s tape on the floor to create road patterns. Give your toddler toy cars to drive along these tape roads. You can use different colors of tape to create complex roads, or use a marker to make this play more interactive.
Plastic Cup Stacking:
Benefits: Enhances fine motor skills and problem-solving.
How to do it: Provide a stack of lightweight plastic cups. Show your toddler how to stack them into towers and then safely knock them down. This also works great with stacking cups toys, but if you don’t have those around, any plastic cups will work.
Cookie Cutter Stamping with Play Dough
Benefits: A fun way to learn shapes and use play dough.
How to do it: Flatten play dough on a surface. Give your toddler cookie cutters of different shapes to make impressions in the dough. My daughters favorite part of this activity is the rolling of the dough! We also use light clay that air dries into this light, fluffy cool design!
Cardboard Tube Marble Run
Benefits: Develops problem-solving and engineering skills.
How to do it: Tape cardboard tubes to a wall or inclined surface. Let your toddler drop marbles or small balls through the tubes. You can literally make this as complicated or simple as you like. Depending your cardboard tube stash.
Pipe Cleaner Threading
Benefits: Enhances fine motor development.
How to do it: Make holes in a colander or cardboard and give your toddler pipe cleaners to thread through the holes. This usually gives me about 10 minutes of peace, but it is still a great activity to encourage those fine motor skills.
Finger Painting
Benefits: Encourages sensory fun and creativity.
How to do it: Spread finger paint on a large sheet of paper or a tray. Let your toddler use their fingers to create art. If your toddler doesn’t like getting their fingers dirty with the paint, use different materials around the house as paint brushes.
Rainbow Rice Play
Benefits: A colorful sensory bin activity.
How to do it: Dye rice with food coloring and vinegar. Once dry, place it in a bin for your toddler to scoop and pour. I do not have patience for ac activity like this because you need time to make the colors of the rice, but if you have the patience and time, this is a great idea.
Nature Walk Scavenger Hunt
Benefits: Explores nature and teaches about different objects.
How to do it: Create a list of items to find on a nature walk, like a leaf, a stone, or a feather. Walk with your toddler and help them find these items. Mark them off your scavenger hunt paper and maybe get a prize of hot chocolate or something after the adventure is done.
Toilet Paper Roll Crafts
Benefits: Encourages creativity and pretend play.
How to do it: Collect toilet paper rolls and use them to create figures, animals, or objects by decorating with paint, paper, and glue. Here are 79 ideas from Red Ted Art.
Treasure Hunt in the Living Room
Benefits: Develops problem-solving and language skills.
How to do it: Hide objects around the living room and give your toddler clues or a map to find them. This is a great indoor activity, and you can make it as hard or as easy as you like.
Simple Obstacle Course
Benefits: Enhances gross motor skills.
How to do it: Set up a course using cushions, boxes, and chairs for your toddler to climb over, crawl under, and walk around. I usually have the whole house re arranged when we do these but it’s so much fun.
Shaving Cream Fun
Benefits: Provides sensory play.
How to do it: Spread shaving cream on a flat surface or in a tray and let your toddler draw and play in it. You can add food coloring if you like for a little extra fun!
Warm Water Sensory Bin
Benefits: Sensory exploration with different textures.
How to do it: Fill a bin with warm water and add objects with different textures, like sponges, plastic toys, and floating items. This is something we do on a weekly basis, and it entertains for about an hour. Honestly, it’s my favorite way to use our indoor water table.
DIY Cardboard Box Car
Benefits: Encourages creativity and pretend play.
How to do it: Transform a large cardboard box into a car with decorations and cutouts. Your toddler can sit in it and pretend to drive.
Sticker Line-Up on Paper
Benefits: Develops fine motor skills.
How to do it: Draw lines on a paper and provide stickers. Show your toddler how to stick them along the lines. I love these dot stickers for stuff like this.
Musical Instruments with Household Items
Benefits: Creates sounds and rhythms.
How to do it: Use household items like wooden spoons, pots, and boxes to make simple musical instruments. Encourage your toddler to play and make music. We have toy drums and recorders in the house but pots and pans will always be the better choice for my toddlers.
Bubble Popping Game
Benefits: Develops gross motor skills and is a lot of fun.
How to do it: Blow bubbles and encourage your toddler to pop them by clapping hands or stomping on them. We like to do this outside so the floor doesn’t get slippery, but you can also do it in the tub.
Build a Fort with Blankets
Benefits: Encourages creativity and problem-solving.
How to do it: Provide blankets and pillows. Help your toddler drape the blankets over furniture to create a fort. I actually bought a fort set for my kids because they loved fort making SO much!
Color Sorting with Construction Paper
Benefits: Teaches color recognition and sorting skills.
How to do it: Cut different colors of construction paper into pieces. Ask your toddler to sort objects around the house by color onto the corresponding paper. This is one of the most simple activities, and basically doesn’t need any prep.
Feed the Monster Game:
Benefits: Encourages creativity and fine motor skills.
How to do it: Make a ‘monster’ box with an opening for a mouth. Have your toddler ‘feed’ it small toys or objects. It’s pretty silly, especially if you get your kids to decorate the monster!
Fishing for Magnetic Toys
Benefits: Enhances hand-eye coordination and understanding of magnets.
How to do it: Attach a magnet to a string and tie it to a stick. Spread out metal objects and have your toddler ‘fish’ for them. We bought a game for this, but you can make your own too.
Balloon Tennis
Benefits: Great for indoor gross motor play and coordination.
How to do it: Use balloons as tennis balls and hands or makeshift rackets (like paper plates on sticks) to hit the balloon back and forth.
Pretend Play Phone Call
Benefits: Enhances language and social skills.
How to do it: Use toy phones or make phones from cardboard. Have pretend conversations, encouraging your toddler to speak and listen. Calculators make great phones!
Hide and Seek
Benefits: Fun and teaches spatial awareness.
How to do it: Play the classic game of hide and seek, taking turns being the seeker and the hider. Toddlers are surprisingly very good at this game.
Gardening Together
Benefits: Introduces nature and responsibility.
How to do it: Involve your toddler in simple gardening tasks like watering plants, digging soil, or planting seeds. This is one of our FAVORITE toddler activities in the summer.
Painting with Water on Sidewalk
Benefits: A mess-free way to paint and enjoy outdoor play.
How to do it: Give your toddler a bucket of water and a brush to ‘paint’ on the sidewalk or driveway.
Simple Puzzles
Benefits: Develops cognitive and problem-solving skills.
How to do it: Provide your toddler with simple puzzles appropriate for their age and help them find where each piece goes.
Playing with Toy Animals
Benefits: Encourages imaginative play and language development.
How to do it: Use toy animals for pretend play, creating stories and scenarios. I love this farm animal set – we have it!
Building with Blocks
Benefits: Enhances creativity, fine motor skills, and problem-solving.
How to do it: Give your toddler blocks of different sizes and shapes and let them build whatever they imagine. MY kids loved mega blocks, but wooden blocks, or silicone blocks are great too!
Simon Says
Benefits: Understanding instructions and body awareness.
How to do it: Give commands like “Simon says touch your nose” and your toddler follows only when the phrase begins with “Simon says”. I sometimes even change it to “Mommy Says” and there are even more giggles this way.
Story Time
Benefits: Develops language and listening skills.
How to do it: Read a variety of children’s books, discussing the story and pictures. We love Robert Munsch stories for kids, and start them around age 2.
Play ‘Restaurant’
Benefits: Fosters imaginative play and social skills.
How to do it: Set up a pretend restaurant, with menus, dishes, and roles like chef and customer. You can use a pretend kitchen set or a simple tea set like this one for this kind of play.
Colorful Ribbon Dancing
Benefits: Develops sensory and motor skills.
How to do it: Wave colorful ribbons in the air to music. You can use play silks for this as well (that’s what we use).
Toy Car Wash
Benefits: Teaches cleaning and caring.
How to do it: Set up a wash station with water and soap for toy cars. This is another way to use an indoor water table. This is actually also a great activity for outside when the water is really hot.
Bean Bag Toss
Benefits: Improves hand-eye coordination and motor skills.
How to do it: Toss bean bags into targets like hoops or boxes. We bought these bean bags ten years ago and they’re still standing strong.
Cereal Threading
Benefits: Enhances fine motor skills.
How to do it: Thread O-shaped cereal onto string or pipe cleaners, or even spaghetti!
Building with Recycled Materials
Benefits: Encourages creative construction.
How to do it: Use boxes, tubes, and containers to build structures and vehicles. We actually have this book for my older kids to help come up with projects with recycled materials.
Storytelling with Puppets
Benefits: Fosters imagination and language development.
How to do it: Make simple puppets and create stories to act out. You can buy puppets too!
Shadow Play with Flashlights
Benefits: Explores shadows and shapes.
How to do it: Use flashlights in a dark room to create shadows with hands or objects.
Fruit and Veggie Stamping
Benefits: Creative expression and sensory exploration.
How to do it: Cut fruits and vegetables in half and dip them in paint. Use them as stamps on paper. We like to use potatoes, but you can use anything that you have on hand that you can cut out a shape and stamp!
Sorting and Matching Socks
Benefits: Enhances sorting and matching skills.
How to do it: Mix up pairs of socks and have your toddler match and sort them. OR have them help you with the laundry and this sock activity just naturally happens.
DIY Sensory Board
Benefits: Sensory exploration and tactile learning.
How to do it: Attach various textures (like fabric, zippers, buttons) to a board for your toddler to touch and explore. There are so many tutorials for this but I don’t think you really need one. Just grab a surface (cardboard, block of wood, plastic etc) and make it square or rectangle, or even circle. Then add some textures to it with hot glue. Texture examples are fluffy, rubbery, zippery, slippery, lacey etc!
Outdoor Nature Collage
Benefits: Creativity and appreciation for nature.
How to do it: Collect natural items like leaves and twigs and glue them onto paper to make a collage. My favorite time to do this is fall but you can do it in almost all seasons.
Paper Plate Face Making
Benefits: Encourages creativity and fine motor skills.
How to do it: Use paper plates and craft items like yarn, buttons, and markers to make faces. You can also draw or paint the faces on!
Make Your Own Playdough
Benefits: Sensory play and creativity.
How to do it: Mix flour, salt, water, and food coloring to make homemade playdough. Here is a great recipe from I heart nap time.
Create a Sensory Walk
Benefits: Sensory exploration and balance.
How to do it: Lay out different textures (like fabric, bubble wrap) for your toddler to walk on. I like these stepping stones, but only if you have the budget or storage space!
DIY Water Xylophone
Benefits: Musical exploration and understanding of sound.
How to do it: Fill glasses with different water levels and tap them with a spoon to make music. Feel free to add food coloring to the water so you can associate sounds with color!
Building with Large Foam Blocks
Benefits: Enhances motor skills and creativity.
How to do it: Use large foam blocks for building structures. This is great for fort building and more. We don’t hjave these at home, but we do use them at the library every week. Here is a great set of big foam blocks on Amazon.
Bubble Snake Maker
Benefits: Sensory play and understanding cause and effect.
How to do it: Cut the bottom off a water bottle, slip a sock over it, dip in soapy water, and blow to create bubble snakes.
Yarn Wrapped Letters
Benefits: Fine motor skills and letter recognition.
How to do it: Cut out cardboard letters and have your toddler wrap them with colorful yarn.
Lacing Cards with Cardboard and Shoelaces
Benefits: Develops fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.
How to do it: Make cards from cardboard with holes punched around the edges, and use shoelaces to thread through the holes. Not much of a DIY fan? Try these lacing boards on Amazon.
DIY Cardboard Slide
Benefits: Understanding of physics and motor skill development.
How to do it: Create a slide using a large cardboard box, tilting it for toys or balls to slide down.
Sand Writing Tray
Benefits: Practice writing and sensory exploration.
How to do it: Fill a tray with sand and let your toddler draw or write in it with their fingers or a stick.
Craft Stick Puzzles
Benefits: Cognitive skills and problem-solving.
How to do it: Glue a picture onto craft sticks and cut them apart to create a DIY puzzle.
DIY Musical Shakers
Benefits: Rhythm and sound exploration.
How to do it: Fill small containers with rice or beans to make shakers. You can use literally any contaienr you have, plastic tupperware, mason jars, spice jar..whatever!
Play ‘Store’ with Real or Toy Food
Benefits: Social skills and role-playing.
How to do it: Set up a pretend shop with real or toy food items and play as customer and shopkeeper. In my review of the best kitchens, I also have a few shops in there you can get. My favorite are the Melissa and Doug shops.
Paper Airplane Making and Flying
Benefits: Motor skills and understanding of aerodynamics.
How to do it: Fold paper airplanes and fly them, experimenting with different designs. This is one of the best after school activities for all of my children!
Singing and Dancing to Nursery Rhymes
Benefits: Musical rhythm and gross motor skills.
How to do it: Play nursery rhymes and sing and dance along. Don’t like nursery rhymes? Here is a list of inspirational songs for kids you may enjoy as well.
Pasta Necklace Making
Benefits: Fine motor skills and creativity.
How to do it: Dye pasta and thread it onto yarn to make necklaces. Penne pasta is great for this. No pasta? Try cheerios.
Rock Painting
Benefits: Creativity and fine motor skills.
How to do it: Collect rocks and paint them with various designs. Not a fan of collecting rocks? Try a rock painting kit.
Bubble Blowing Art
Benefits: Sensory art experience.
How to do it: Mix colored bubbles and blow them onto paper to create art.
Flashlight Tag in the Dark
Benefits: Gross motor skills and fun with light and shadows.
How to do it: Play a safe game of tag using flashlights in a dark room.
Those are all the ideas I have for you! Make sure you include lots of hugs, kisses and play in every single day you have with your little one.
Why Use A Toddler Bucket List
While a toddler bucket list may not be a necessity, it can certainly come in handy when you’re seeking inspiration for spending quality time with your little one. With our busy lives, it’s easy for work and other commitments to overshadow the precious moments we have with our babies. Having a list of activities can be a lifesaver in those times.
The joyous moments you create with your child will be etched in their memory, especially when you engage in these experiences repeatedly. So, why not compile a toddler bucket list and embark on adventures together?
For new parents juggling the demands of multiple children, finding ways to engage your toddler may be challenging amidst the responsibilities of caring for a newborn. This is where a toddler bucket list can be particularly helpful, providing a repertoire of fun ideas to keep your little one entertained and create precious memories.
Children are often enchanted by simple pleasures like playing in the grass, gazing at clouds, and exploring the wonders of nature. Sometimes, it doesn’t take much to keep a toddler entertained, and if all else fails, stepping outside can be a great solution.
Consider including activities like nature walks, visits to splash pads, trips to local museums, creating sensory bins, or exploring the resources at your local library. Engage your child’s curiosity with a nature scavenger hunt, have impromptu dance parties, and cherish the important things, such as spending time together as a family.
In the warmer months, cool down with ice blocks on a hot day, tend to your own garden, or set up bird feeders to observe feathered friends. Recreate the nostalgia of ’80s summers with snow cones and have fun with Easter egg hunts. Visit a butterfly farm and let your child witness the beauty of nature with their own eyes. Create a fairy garden together and indulge in the magic of imagination. Capture the spirit of the holiday season with a Christmas bucket list, complete with activities like visiting a petting zoo or witnessing the arrival of baby chicks.
Remember to cater to your child’s interests and incorporate their favorite things into the list. Enjoy summer fun with activities like participating in a summer reading program, making homemade ice cream, and engaging in water play. A printable PDF file of your bucket list can serve as a guide and a reminder of all the wonderful experiences you plan to share.
Explore the wonders of spring with a scavenger hunt, carry your toddler in a baby carrier during family outings, and make cherished memories at your local park. Include activities like hula hoop sessions, marvel at the night sky, and create giant bubbles that will leave your child in awe.
At the end of the day, it’s the simple pleasures that matter. Warm up with hot chocolate on a chilly day and embrace the sweetness of strawberry picking during the harvest season.
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