Keeping Little Ones Busy
1. Lauri Shape and Color Sorter
2. Wooden Block Cart
(Ours has been well-loved!)
3. Colored toothpicks in a cheese shaker
4. I Spy Bottle
5. Wooden String- a -Farm
(This has also been a favorite for years.)
6. Primary Lacing Beads
7. Playdough and Playdough Toys
8. Nuts and Bolts
9. Wooden Stencils
10. Straws to String
11. Pattern Matching With Pony Beads
12. Pony Beads and Pipe Cleaners
13. Large Buttons and an Ice Cube Tray
14. A Basket of Really Large Buttons
15. Stacking Cups
16. Pom Poms, Tongs, and Tea Light Holders
17. Beads, Tongs, and Tea Light Holders
18. Pom Poms, Ice Cube Tray, Plastic Tongs
19. Lacing Cards: Farm Animals Lacing Cards
20. Covered Cake Pan with Magnetic Letters (or other magnets)
21. Wooden Pattern Blocks and Pattern Block Cards
22. Beginner Pattern Blocks (love these!)
23. Puzzles
24. Latches Board
25. Magnetic Hide and Seek Board
26. Bean Bags With a Box or Bucket
27. Spray Bottles and Paint Brushes
28. Small Items and a Pringles Can
29. Dyed Pasta
30. Dyed Rice
31. Packing Peanuts
32. Play Food
33. Magnets and a magnetic board (love this one)
34. Counting Bears and Balance Scale
35. Kumon Workbooks
36. Laminated Worksheets and a Dry Erase Marker
37. Wedgits
38. Duplo
39. Lincoln Logs
40. Blocks
41. Washable Markers and Paper
42. Stickers and Paper
43. Envelopes and Paper
44. A Box
45. Bubbles
46. Cars and Car Mat
47. Lauri Pegs and Pegboard
48. Wikki Stix
49. Magneatos
50. Dress Up Box
How to Organize it All
More Ideas
Related Posts:
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. Read my full disclosure. Sharing here.
I love all your ideas on how to get little ones busy and happy. Kids don’t need expensive toys to be happy. I don’t have any little ones at my house but do have some visitors with little ones and they get so much fun out of all my kitchen refrigerator magnets and play with them for a long time. Congratulations on being featured on Homestead blog hop. Have a healthy, happy & blessed Easter.
Thank you, Marla! I hope you have a lovely Easter also!
These are great. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you, Sherry!
So many great ideas!! I love the wooden toys and all of the recycled ideas. I have a 14 month old and I’m constantly looking for new things to keep him busy…I’m going to start my collection now and use some of your ideas. Thanks!
So glad it was helpful, Meagan!
Thank you! I love all your creative ideas.
Thank you!
Joy,
Thank you for sharing your passion of homeschooling on your blog. Your blog will be so encouraging to me as I begin homeschooling in the next year.
I was wondering, what size trays did you order (the colored plastic ones). When I connected to the link, there was 5 larger ones or what looked like 5 "smaller" ones. Wondering what you've found useful?
Thanks!
Thanks for your kind comment! I got the smaller trays. I was tempted to get the larger ones, but I wanted to use them on a bookshelf to hold activities, and they didn't fit on my shelves. The smaller ones have worked well for us, and they've been just right for little hands.
I love all this ideas!! Thankyou for sharing them with the clueless moms like me!!
Wow! what a great list! I'm going to be saving it on my pinterest page for future reference. You are so creative!
Thank you! I hope it's helpful!
Great list. Thanks for linking up to Raising Homemakers
Thank you, Amanda!
I love these ideas, Joy! This is one post that I will definitely be saving not only for future reference, but to use with the little children I know now. Many of the ideas are so simple, but so good! Thank you for sharing!!
Thanks, Sarah! I'm glad it will be useful to you! 🙂
This is the perfect resource for a "starter mom" like myself. I love your style and creativity. Glad to have landed here today! Thanks!
Welcome! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave an encouraging comment, and I hope to "see" you again here!
Such great ideas!
Deanna
Thanks, Deanna!
This has made me feel so nostalgic for pre-school days. How about sponges cut into shapes and used to print with poster paints. Little Son used to love doing that. We used to keep old magazines and store catalogues for him to cut up and stick onto paper as well. xxx
This age is one of my favorites! Thank you so much for sharing the ideas of painting with sponges and magazines. We love those activities also…but I'd forgotten about the sponge painting! My mother-in-law has a friend who is a teacher (at a school), and she gave me some sponges shaped like hearts, stars, circles, and squares. I don't think my current little guy has had the fun of using them yet. Thanks for the ideas, Lily!
Great ideas, Joy! It's been a few years since I've had a toddler in the house, so this list was a great reminder for me. Loved looking at all the bright colorful pictures too! Thanks for taking the time to share. Some of these I have and some new ideas I've gleaned for my just turned two year old. I'm going to link your blog to my church's homeschool group.
Thank you, Lisa! After I posted this I was worried that it might be just a few too many pictures! 🙂 Thanks for linking to me!
Oh my goodness, this is a fantastic post! My little one just turned two and I sometimes feel like I can't think up things for her to do fast enough!
I have a Toddler linky on my blog, I'd LOVE if you'd share this post there!
http://philwife.blogspot.com/2012/07/teaching-time-for-toddlers-magnets.html
Thanks for inviting me to link up, Rachel! I'll try to do that soon. 🙂
Thanks for this post! I have a very busy just turned 3 yr old and expecting again. I have a few of the things that you posted and she loves them. This gives me some more ideas as to what more I can get together for her to play with. :o)
Congratulations on expecting again, Nabila Grace! That's a busy time, when you have little ones and are expecting another one. Blessings to you! ♥
Wow! What an awesome list of ideas!! Thank you so much for the time you spent putting this list together to share with others. I will definitely refer back to it.
Thank you, Anna! Hope it's helpful.
I do a really great job at organizing everything, but then my kids want to use the geometry shapes for furniture with their legos and like to make soup with their blocks. I can't seem to keep the activities separate 🙂
Yes, that happens here, too! I do keep most of these things put away just for school time (except for things like blocks, which they get out regularly, and they like to combine those with cars or dollhouse items), and that tends to keep them more separate. If we just get them out at school time and then put them away after we're done with them, then they seem more special and interesting. Remembering to make sure everything gets put away nicely is what's hard for me! 🙂
So many great ideas! I'm starting a notebook so I can remember some of these. You just showed that it doesn't have to be expensive, it just takes some creativity sometimes. Thank you for sharing with us! Have a great day!
Thank you, Holly! I'm so glad if something here was useful to you!
It all looks wonderful Joy. My boys when they were little only wanted one toy… Lego!
Legos are a favorite here, too! They're timeless.