Easy No-Prep Toddler Activities

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Are you looking for easy, no-prep toddler activities to keep your toddler busy?

In order to keep my twin toddlers busy, happy, and not fighting with each other (which they seem to be doing a lot of these days), I have 3 easy, no prep toddler activities that they love doing every day.

These activities keep them occupied for a bit, have no prep-work involved, and they are learning so much while doing these!  Most of these activities are low-cost, and if they are not they are well worth the investment because they use these things almost daily. 

Find what your toddler enjoys.

These are things my boys enjoy, and I’m sure your toddler will have their own preferences of their top things they enjoy.  Babies and toddlers learn through play so it is important to find out what they enjoying doing.

The best way to figure out what they love doing the most (but it does constantly change) is to sit back and observe what they play.  Give them exposure to a lot of different activities and things to do and see what they gear towards. 

I know these activities are wonderful for my boys’ growth- on many levels, so I encourage them when they want to do these activities, and they are super simple and easy to set up!

The list is short because these activities are usually done on a daily basis- unless we are out and about during the day.  We do them because they really enjoy them, it keeps them occupied so I can sometimes get a load of laundry started, and it’s something twins can do together easily.

My Top 3 Easy, No-Prep Toddler Activities My Toddlers Do (Almost) Every day

1. Blocks

We build a lot of things with blocks.  Our two types of blocks we use on a daily basis are Magna Tiles and Mega Blocks.  My twins started using the blocks when they were around 12 months old but it wasn’t until about 15 months that they started building objects and towers and really getting into them. They never get tired of these blocks and the building potential is limitless with them.  

My twins use the Mega Blocks to build chairs and high-chairs for their stuffed animals and dolls.  They also build garages, trains, tractors, and lawn mowers and drive them around. I modeled making the high chairs for them, and now they create them on their own, but the vehicles were their own ideas (they look nothing like a vehicle, but they are being creative and using their imagination, which is so important and a big milestone for babies and toddlers!).

The magnetic tiles are so great because they are easy to put together.  I love these blocks because they are wonderful for learning early math and how things go together.

My boys are starting to understand what makes a cube, pyramid, triangle, and square, just from playing with the Magna Tiles.  These are a little spendy for blocks, but I got these when my older son was three and he is nine now and still plays with them, and have passed them on to my twins.  So for the amount of play they have gotten, they were well worth it.  These blocks are high quality and we will have them for years.

Of course, any type of blocks you have will be wonderful and provide a rich learning experience, these are just the ones my boys love the most and use almost daily out of all of our blocks.  You will have to use what works for your baby and what they like!

Blocks teach and encourage these skills:

• Creativity
• Social Skills (when playing with someone)
• Problem Solving
• Math
• Imaginative Play
• Fine Motor Skills
• Focus and Concentration
• Colors

2. Art

I have a cabinet in the kitchen with all of my toddler art supplies so it’s super convenient and all in one place and can be taken out in seconds.  We mainly use crayons and colored pencils, but markers we use on occasion (my two-year-olds are still learning where it’s appropriate to draw, but we love doing markers on an extremely large flat cardboard box when we have one).

Art Can be Easy and Cost Effective

I bought some blank coloring pads at the dollar store which are nice because it’s easy to save their artwork that way and look back on it (and we go through a lot of paper so it’s also cost effective).  Crayons and colored pencils are easy clean-up (colored pencils clean up easily and fast with a baby wipe or other cleaning wipe on most surfaces, not all), and no prep so we love it!

We usually color to music- classical or toddler music on our Amazon Echo.

My twins love this activity. Sometimes I draw pictures for them (they love garbage trucks and school buses), and now they are modeling me and drawing their own pictures.

We do this with letters, numbers, and shapes, too.  If we are spending a lot of time outside because it’s nicer out, we will do art outside (chalk is good, but so are paint and markers).

Art Encourages:

• Expression
• Creativity
• Fine Motor Skills
• Relaxation
• Hand-Eye Coordination
• Using their imagination
• Focus and Concentration

3. Dancing and Singing

Dancing and singing are so easy because there’s no prep or clean up!  Maybe your toddler needs to burn off some energy indoors. 

We will sing songs by ourselves or just turn on some music. I like the Amazon Echo because I just have to speak and not even press a button.

Dancing gets out energy and allows all of us to express ourselves, and also releases feel-good endorphins (win-win activity). They are also learning so much language by singing songs so this is great for toddlers!  The boys giggle and dance like crazy when their favorite songs play, like Baby Shark. 

Dancing and Singing Encourages:

• Creativity
• Expression
• Language
• Motor Skills
• Joy
• And so much more!

These activities are wonderful for my twins because they can do them together or alone. There is absolutely zero prep involved and keeps them occupied and happy.  I hope your little one enjoys these activities as much as mine do!

I would love to hear your ideas about your easy and no-prep indoor activities that your toddler enjoys.  We are always looking for those types of activities around here!

Here are some more easy, no-prep toddler activities:

Milk Jug Shaker Sensory Activity

Cookie Sheet Sensory Play