Keep Your Toddler Busy While Homeschooling With 10 Great Activities
Are you feeling stressed about how you'll keep your toddler occupied while also homeschooling your older child/ren? If so, you're not alone. Many of us homeschooling parents are in the same boat as you are. But don't worry — we've got you covered. In this article, we'll share 10 great activities for keeping your toddler busy while homeschooling.
Including Your Toddler in Homeschool Activities
One way to include your toddler is to let them participate in some of the activities that you are doing with your older children. For example, if you are doing a cursive writing lesson, you can let your toddler work on handwriting pages of their own. They feel happy to be doing what their older siblings are doing.
Soon they will get bored and wander off to play elsewhere. It gives you a chance to introduce them slowly to the sitting portion of homeschooling.
Give Your Toddler a Sticker Activity to Amuse Them.
Another idea is to give your toddler a sticker activity. You can either create your own activity or find one online. This will help keep your toddler amused while deciding where to put all those colorful images.
We love using Melissa and Doug stickers in our homeschool. They are super easy for toddler hands, so I don’t have to help them and they are reusable. I get it out and sit them on the couch next to us, and it gives us a good 10-15 min.
Give Toddlers a Highchair Activity:
If you're homeschooling your toddler and looking for ways to keep them busy, consider giving them a highchair activity. There are a lot of great options available that will help keep your toddler occupied while you're teaching.
One option is to give your toddler a set of blocks or toys that they can stack or build with. This will help them develop their fine motor skills and keep them entertained for a while. Another option is to give them a coloring book and some crayons. This is a great way to encourage them to be creative and use their imagination.
Giving them a bit of playdough to mush around or other fun amusement will no doubt make them feel involved as they are close to you. But they are restrained which let's face it can be a blessing at times. So the messy bits of playdough are well worth the few precious mins of hands free teaching you can accomplish!
Watercolor Painting Activity a Huge Hit
Watercolor painting on coloring pages is a great activity to keep toddlers occupied for quite some time. It is easy to set up and doesn't require a lot of materials. Plus, it's a lot of fun!
To get started, all you need is some watercolors, paper or coloring pages (don't forget our free printable pages) and brushes. If you don't have watercolors, crayons or markers will work just as well.
Painting is a great way for toddlers to express themselves and have fun at the same time. It is also a great way to bond with your child while homeschooling.
Toddler Drawing Activity
If you have a whiteboard or chalkboard set up in your classroom often times they can be amused for quite some time with drawing. Ask your little one to draw you something. Maybe a drawing of their idea of what's being taught currently. Or a silly picture of their sibling hard at work.
Drawing on the board can be endless fun for a creative toddler.
Lap Time Activity For Toddlers
While you are sitting down working with your older kids on school work, have your toddler sit on your lap. This way they are still close to you and can feel comfortable and safe. Plus, this way you can still keep an eye on them and make sure they are not getting into anything they should not be.
Engaging Toddler TV Activity
If you're looking for a sure fire way to keep your toddler occupied while you're homeschooling, consider putting on some engaging television programs designed specifically for toddlers.
I let my kids watch 1 episode of the BBC Peter Rabbit cartoon (old version) or a Puffin Rock episode. This gives me full focus on the older kids when I really need it. If I do this, I don’t let any other TV happen that day. I don’t allow them to play on my phone or iPad at all.
The Best Learning Activity: Boredom
Boredom is often thought of as a bad thing, but it can actually be a great learning activity for toddlers. When children are bored, they are more likely to be creative and come up with new ideas. This can be a great way for them to learn new things.
Give them a few minutes where they don’t get attention (make sure they have attention other times), don’t entertain them, and let them figure out something to do on their own. This is an important skill to start with!
Overall, there are many great ways to keep your active toddler busy while homeschooling. By letting them be bored, participating in everyday activities, or using educational toys and games, you can help your child learn and grow while spending time together at home.
Did you know that our early reading program can be started as young as 3? That means your toddler is just a few months away from starting on their own learning journey! Take a look at the first set of Early Phonetic Readers and be ready for cues from your toddler on when they are ready to start reading!
