Half Term Activities - 25 Fun and Easy Indoor Activities for Toddlers and Young Children

When you're stuck indoors with little ones, whether due to rainy weather, illness, or simply needing a quiet day at home, it can be tricky to keep toddlers entertained without reaching for the screen. The good news? You don’t need a big playroom or expensive toys to create moments of joy, connection, and learning.

Here are 25 simple, engaging indoor activities for toddlers and young children that support development, imagination, and nervous system regulation, all from the comfort of your living room.

Always supervise young children when they are playing with small toys.

Read More : At home activities with young children

1. Sensory Bins

Fill a shallow tray or tub with dry rice, pasta, oats, or lentils. Add spoons, cups, and small toys for scooping and pouring.

2. Indoor Obstacle Course

Use cushions, furniture, and masking tape to create a safe course to climb over, crawl under, and jump across.

3. Teddy Bear Tea Party

Lay out a blanket, serve pretend tea and snacks, and invite all their favourite teddies.

4. Pasta Threading

Offer uncooked penne pasta and dry spaghetti stuck upright in playdough for toddlers to thread.

5. Bubble Wrap Stomp

Lay out a sheet of bubble wrap and let your child stomp, crawl, or roll across it.

6. DIY Playdough Time

Mix 2 cups flour, 1 cup salt, 1 cup water, and food colouring for homemade playdough fun.

7. Pillow Pile Jumping

Stack cushions and pillows to create a soft jumping or crashing zone.

8. Colour Sorting

Use bowls and coloured items (like toys or clothes pegs) for a sorting game.

9. Sticker Station

Give your toddler a sheet of stickers and paper, or let them decorate boxes, cups, or old cardboard.

10. Tape Roads and Tracks

Create roads with masking tape on the floor for toy cars or trains.

11. Dance and Freeze

Put on music and play freeze dance. It supports coordination and gets energy out!

12. Cushion Climb

Pile up soft furnishings for climbing and jumping adventures.

13. Shadow Play

Shine a torch onto the wall and make shadow animals with your hands.

14. Story Time Fort

Build a cosy reading den with blankets and read a favourite story inside together.

15. DIY Sensory Bottles

Fill clear plastic bottles with rice, glitter, beads or coloured water to shake and explore.

16. Sorting Nature Finds

If you've been on a walk, bring in pinecones, leaves or pebbles to sort, stack or paint.

17. Pom-Pom Rescue

Put pom-poms into a muffin tray and give your child tongs or tweezers to move them.

18. Painting with Water

Use paintbrushes and a bowl of water to paint on coloured paper or the patio doors.

19. Toy Bath Time

Fill a basin with warm water and bubbles, and let your child wash their plastic animals or dolls.

20. Sensory Movement Break

Roll, bounce, stretch or do gentle animal walks — great for regulation and energy shifts.

21. Matching Games

Print or draw pairs of simple shapes or animal pictures and play a memory game.

22. Sock Puppets

Use old socks, glue, and scraps to create characters, then make up a little puppet show.

23. Build a City

Use blocks, boxes, or books to build a mini town and explore pretend play.

24. Fruit and Veg Stamping

Cut apples, carrots or potatoes in half and use them as paint stamps.

25. Mindful Snuggle Time

Wrap up in a blanket, read a calming story, or just breathe together — because rest is important too.

Indoor play doesn’t have to be elaborate. Simple, sensory, and connection-based activities offer just as much value especially when they help little ones feel seen, soothed, and engaged. Try a few of these, follow your child’s lead, and enjoy slowing down together.

For more play ideas, gentle parenting tips and daily nervous system support, download the free Carol App today.