Entertain Your Toddler with Inexpensive, Creative Toys

Keeping young children entertained is always a challenge. Toddlers would often rather play with the box than the toy and their testy tempers tire easily of the same old thing. To keep your young one busy, use dome items from around the house to create new activities.

Highchair Fun

Need to keep your kiddo safe in one place? Attach strings to some small toys and attach the other end to the bottom of their high chair. The child can throw the toy off and then gather the string up to bring the toy back. Due to the string, which could wrap around the child's neck or other body part, it's never a good idea to leave the child unattended in the chair - use this only when you'll be working in the same room.

Bottle Bowling

Line up empty plastic bottles (tops optional) in a triangle, like regular bowling, at the end of the hallway. Encourage your toddler to throw a ball down and knock the "pins" over. You can also get your toddler to join in on setting up the bottles again. It's the cheapest bowling alley you'll ever find - and no gutter balls!

Indoor Sandbox

Fill a large box, small plastic pool, or even the bathtub with packing peanuts (or oatmeal, puffed wheat cereal, rice, noodles, or shredded paper). Make it more fun by offering your toddler scoops, buckets, trucks, and other "sandbox" friendly toys. If your child will be sitting in the sandbox, I recommend the packing peanuts. They don't sick to your kiddo or get stuff in sleeves and pant cuffs. If your child will be sitting outside the sandbox, rice and noodles are quite a bit more fun.

Mad Little Scientist

Gather an assortment of bottles and lids and add water and food coloring, leaves, sand, and other fillers. Glue lid on to prevent a mess. You toddler can then shake the bottles, hold them up the light, roll them, and find all sorts of ways to see the ways the different bottles react.

Feel-n-Learn Magnet Fun

Sit your toddler down with a cookie sheet and child-friendly magnets. If you're feeling ambitious, you can also hot glue pieces of faux fur, string, yarn, cotton balls, sandpaper, and other fun-touch items to the magnets. Many craft and discount stores also sell themed magnets (dinosaurs, holiday, princess, etc.).

Bottles-n-Lids Puzzle

Gather an assortment of bottles and plastic ware and their respective lids (be sure lids are large enough that they cannot be swallowed by your child). Busy toddlers can make a puzzle of the assorted sizes. You can also add a spot of paint to matching bottles and lids to add a color element to the game.