Keeping Toddlers Busy During Homeschool

One of the hardest things for me lately about homeschooling is keeping my little 2-year-old toddler busy. I get that question a lot from other moms, too. How do you keep your little one busy when teaching the other kids?  I have been working on this one a lot since we started school again this year. If you take a few minutes to prepare ahead of time, you can give them some fun activities to make them happy while you get your work done.  I have come up with a list of ideas that we use regularly and that can hopefully help you as well!

Make Busy Bags. I did a whole post on this a while back with a bunch of fun ideas. You can also find a million more on Pinterest. I have found some fun things that I am working on for my little one.

Dancing to music~ make your little one some ribbon rings to make it even more fun!

Sensory Bins ~ This is another popular Pinterest topic. (See how we made Rainbow Rice)

Play-dough can keep little ones (& big ones) busy for a long time. Give them some fun toys to use in their play (rolling pins, cookie cutters, dull scissors)

Dot Markers are lots of fun for little ones who are not great at coloring yet.

Make a Toy Dropper from a paper towel tube and some duct tape. Put a little box underneath and give them a box of small toys or pipe cleaners. (I saw this fun idea on Teaching Mama!)

Watercolor Paints are not very messy and can make little ones happy for a long time.

Finger Painting or try No Mess Finger Painting (If you want to keep things clean)

Educational Movies– Leap Frog, Baby Einstein, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Word World…

Give them a box of their favorite Toys or Blocks. Cars, trains, wooden blocks, legos,

Wooden Puzzles or make some homemade plaster ones!

Active play– ride bikes, play ball, swing sets, pop-up tunnels (these keep my kids busy forever!)

Make these fun foam letter puzzles.

Shape or Letter Tracing Mats~ Check out Confessions of a Homeschooler for some fun ones!

Pattern Blocks (find GREAT free printable mats at PreKinders)

Rubber Stamps and ink~ I love this jumbo stamp pad from Discount School Supplies.

Sponge Painting~ cut sponges into shapes for painting

Lacing Beads~ string and beads can keep kids entertained for a while.
Lacing cards are also lots of fun!

Stickers~ Give them a few packs of stickers and a paper to stick them on. Let them create a masterpiece.

I love the free printable file folder games from File Folder Fun. I have made and laminated lots of these to pull out for my kids to use. There are games of all ages.