Quick and Easy Toddler Activities

This post includes art and learning activities that require few supplies and hopefully will inspire others to adapt and use things on hand. Most of our art projects are low prep and do not consume too much time since I’m working with a two year old attention span!

Paint with Water

One day when we did not have much time but I wanted to get my son busy and get him out of a cranky mood, we decided to paint with water. I threw down a plastic table cloth that I keep in our craft box and I filled a cup with water and let my son become an artist. He really enjoyed painting with water. I definitely recommend this activity and hopefully we will get outside next time and paint with water again. This activity was super fast clean up as well which always makes me happy. I recently saw another paint with water idea on Hands On As We Grow that we will try on the chalk board next time.

Water Painting

Upcycled Diaper Box into Car Ramp and Garage

We usually buy diapers in the big boxes and to keep my toddler busy one day I decided to upcycle the box and make it a car garage and ramp. I simply cut one of the cardboard panels off the top of the box and taped it to make the ramp and then I cut an entrance to make under the box a garage. My son decided to add his touch with decorating with stickers. This kept him entertained way longer than I expected and it was free entertainment!

Repurposed Diaper Box

Placing Stickers

Painting with Q-Tips

This was an art idea I got from No time for Flashcards and my son really enjoyed it. It incorporates creativity and develops fine motor skills. This time we painted egg cut outs with the q-tips but this activity could be adapted for any season or holiday. This was a low prep activity using supplies we had on hand and it was also a quick clean up activity with no paintbrushes to wash. Get the paint ready, draw the eggs, paint, cut, and glue. I recommend drawing the eggs and painting them before cutting them out. I started to cut first but realized it would be easier for my son to have the entire sheet of paper to paint. We look forward to painting with q-tips again in the future!