125 Random things to do with your toddler/preschooler

125 random things to do with your toddler/preschooler, minimal to no money required! Most of these are self explanatory, although some of them aren't. I'm currently adding links to the activities that I have blogged, and will have links to the harder figure out activities, soon! I may also be adding to this list, but if I do it will be obvious because my title will change, as will the link to the entry over there on the right hand side of my blog. :)

A great idea and something we've done here at our house, is make an activity jar with this list inside. Print out the list, cut each activity out and put the pieces of paper into a jar (we used card stock so that the pieces will last longer). You or your child can choose one each day. If you're home with the kids all summer you could even make a check list and try to do them all! Enjoy!

• Act out a story from a book
• Bang on pots and pans with a spoon
• Blow bubbles and catch and pop them
• Blow up some Diet Coke with Mentos
• Brush each other's teeth
• Build a pillow pile to jump on (keep it clear from any hard surfaces, including walls!)
• Build a castle out of legos
• Build a tower out of blocks
• Camp out, in your backyard
• Catch a bug and learn about it, release it
• Collect flat rocks in a basket then paint on them
• Collect flowers and learn about them, then make them your center piece at dinner
• Color
• Create a "feely box" that your child reaches into to guess what's inside
• Create an obstacle course out of cushions, furniture, toys, etc.
• Dance to music
• Do a Puzzle
• Do the wet paper sensory activity
• Do finger-plays with finger puppets, or just draw faces on your fingers
• Do flour piping
• Do something nice for a neighbor or friend
• Do the Hokey Pokey
• Draw a picture together, each of you making one line or so each until completed
• Draw on a mirror with mirror markers
• Draw on the sidewalk with chalk
• Dye some pasta and do some color/shape organizing activities
• Exercise together
• Feed the birds outside
• Finger-paint/make your own finger paints
• Fly a kite
• Give a piggy-back ride
• Go for a Walk in your neighborhood
• Go outside and play "I Spy"
• Go to the park
• Go bowling for plastic bottles, or stuffed animals
• Have a paper airplane race
• Hang a prism in a sunny window and watch/name the colors and shapes it makes
• Hang out in your pajamas and watch old family videos
• Have a picnic in the park or your backyard
• Have a scavenger hunt
• Have a tea party
• Have a water balloon fight
• Have a water gun war
• Home make some ice cream in a Ziploc bag
• Lay outside and find shapes in the clouds
• Learn a new sign in sign language
• Learn a simple magic trick
• Learn body parts by naming them on your child as you give them a little poke or tickle then have your child point them out on you or a doll
• Let your child play with flour in a bowl or pan
• Let your child play with a sticker sheet
• Let your child play with shaving cream at the table or other easily cleanable surface
• Like you've fed your child for so long, let him feed you
• Mail love notes to friends, family or strangers from church
• Make a car or a secret hideout out of a box
• Make a domino chain to knock over
• Make a drum out of a coffee can
• Make a fort out of cushions and sheets
• Make a "Mummy Mommy" with toilet paper
• Make a nature collage
• Make and try on paper hats
• Make an ice sun catcher
• Make a puddle of water and splash barefoot in it
• Make a puddle of mud in the dirt and squish your toes through it or make mud pies
• Make a sensory bag out of a zip lock bag, hair gel, food coloring, glitter and other small dull objects
• Make a shoe-box train for stuffed animals
• Make a super-hero costume out of household items
• Make a toilet paper or pillow barricade for child to go under, over, or through
• Make a tornado in a bottle
• Make binoculars out of empty toilet paper rolls and go bird Watching or "stuffed Animal Watching"
• Make bracelets out of pipe cleaners and jingle bells, or collars for stuffed animals
• Make cookies
• Make leaf prints with crayons or paint
• Make noodle art with hard noodles and Elmer's glue
• Make noodle necklaces
• Make paper puppets from brown bags
• Make shaped crayons out of old bits of crayon
• Make silhouettes of your profiles
• Make sock puppets
• Make soup can phones
• Make thumbprint creatures with paint and markers
• Make your own Frisbees out of old plastic lids and markers then go outside and throw them
• Mirror each other
• Paint each others finger nails
• Pick a letter of the week and draw it, cut it out, color it, decorate it and learn it all week long
• Pick one chore for your child to do every single day; feed the fish, wash the coffee table, etc.
• Plant a flower or vegetable plant together
• Play a fun board game or make your own
• Play catch by rolling a ball to each other or gently tossing it underhanded to one another
• Play chase
• Play dress up in Mommy or Daddy's clothes
• Play dress-up with stuffed animals and your child's clothes
• Play hide-and-seek
• Play hide and seek together - trying to find a stuffed animal or other object
• Play "Horse"
• Play "Monster in the middle"
• Play paper basketball with wads of used paper and a basket
• Play pat-a-cake
• Play peek-a-boo
• Play "Red Light, Green Light"
• Play tug-of-war with a blanket
• Play with play-Dough/make your own play-dough
• Play "Simon Says"
• Practice your safety drills; in case of fire, tornado, etc.
• Put lipstick on each other and kiss a mirror
• Put on a puppet show for your pets
• Put together a box of various smells, lotions, candles, foods, etc. and smell them one by one, naming the different objects and scents
• Read a book
• Run through a Sprinkler
• Scoop dirt or sand into a child's bucket (or use a serving spoon and bowl)
• Set up a lemonade stand for your family
• Sing a song
• Sketch an outline of your child on paper and let them draw features on it
• Skip, crawl and march your way around the house
• Snuggle up and nap together
• Start journaling together, have your child tell you what to write in his journal
• Stretch together
• String large beads onto a shoelace
• Take silly pictures of each other and make them into puzzles
• Talk into an electric fan like you're robots
• Toss Bean bags into a Bucket
• Travel the world in a day. Have English Crepes for breakfast, Chinese for lunch and Italian for dinner and do a corresponding craft
• Use a paper towel tube as a megaphone
• Walk on a balance beam- use a 2x4 placed on the ground or toilet paper
• Wash windows together
• Write out a small and simple grocery list for your child and take them shopping