Easy Indoor Winter Activities and Crafts for Toddlers

Sure, toddlers love to make snowmen and snow angels. Still, they have to come in from the cold sometime. They need to stay busy whether inside or out. Otherwise, they’ll drive you crazy. How do you keep your toddlers busy in winter weather without turning them into miniature couch potatoes or letting them turn your home into a three ring circus gone wild? Here’s some suggestions borrowed from my own childhood that might help.

Make indoor snowmen.

When I was a toddler, I never got sick of playing in the snow. Unfortunately, I did get too cold on occasion. That’s when my mom would bring in a tub of snow from outdoors. I’d make mini snowmen, then place them outside before they melted. I had fun in the snow and stayed warm, too.

You can find other materials to construct snowmen with too:

*Mix up some homemade non-toxic play clay.

*Show toddlers how to glue cotton balls together in a snowman shape.

*Pom poms work too.

Construction paper shapes keep toddlers busy for hours.

When I was a kid, I loved playing with colorful, flat wood shapes. I’d make all kinds of pictures and patterns with them. Duplicate this indoor winter activity for your toddler using colored construction paper. Simply cut out a wide variety of colorful paper shapes. Get out a big piece of white paper and a glue stick. Show them how to make pictures by gluing different shapes, sizes and colors onto the larger paper. Triangles become trees, etc. Once they get the hang of it, give them a fresh sheet of white paper on which to create their own picture.

Build imagination with a box of assorted what-nots.

I spent many happy toddler hours sifting through my Mom’s button box. Times were different then. Buttons were much more interesting. You may not have an awesome button box like my Mom. Still, you can fill a box with interesting objects for your toddler to play and create with. Leftover craft supplies, empty cartons and such can be turned into all kinds of things by an active toddler. Just hand them the box and see what they come up with.

Note: Watch your child carefully with smaller objects that could become choking hazards.

Handmade toddler puzzles are easy to construct.

Most toddlers love putting together jigsaw puzzles to see the final picture. I know it was one of my very favorite indoor winter activities. I had a few store bought jigsaw puzzles as a toddler. The rest were made by my Mom. I would find a picture I liked. She would glue the picture to shirt cardboard and cut it into pieces. I’d play with it until it wore out. Then, I’d bring her another picture. That way, I never really grew bored with my puzzles.

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