Summer Activities For Toddlers

It is blazing hot outside these days. I know, I know I complained about winter when it was here. I promised myself I wouldn’t complain when it was finally warm, but these temps are so hot! It’s hard to want to get out and do anything on the weekend. But having a two year old kind of forces you to get up and get moving, otherwise you want to pull your hair out before nap time.

We have found some fun, creative summer activities for toddlers for our little man to do.

Some of these are inside, some of these are outside and all of them are cheap (or free).

Outside summer activities for toddlers:

Now, because I am a mom I’m going to have to give a disclosure before starting our list. If you’re outside, no matter the time of day (unless it’s pitch black and then you’re little one might be sleeping anyways), you should always put sunscreen on your little ones. We love using Babyganics sunscreen and have used it since he was a baby!

Kid’s pool – you can grab one of these bad boys for less than $15 at a local store. Stick the hose in it and let them go.

Water table – we were gifted a water table from my sister, but you can find a similar one on Amazon. This gem is gold during those hot days. He loves to splash in the water, carry cups of water around to splash the dogs and just has a blast. We usually keep the hose nearby for quick fill -ups since he tends to splash more water out than what stays in.

Sensory bins – as you can tell water is a big component for our summer fun outside. But you can easily grab multiple totes and bowls to play with. I love making colorful ice the night before to have something more exciting added to it.

Finger painting – technically this activity could be classified as an inside activity, but it’s messy. So we prefer to play outside with this one. Plus, I usually strip him down into just a diaper or old shorts and let him go to town with the paint. What we love best is when we’re able to find old pieces of cardboard that are headed to the trash. That way he can sit in the middle and have a blast and I don’t have to worry about paint winding up inside.

Fishing – this is a steal from our son’s first birthday party, but it is still a huge hit around here. Actually, a lot of these pieces live in our bath time tub since he loves them so much. But we have a few fishing poles left and lots of pieces of this kit we bought online. We fill up the kid pool and then he does the rest.

Inside summer activities for toddlers:

Sticker Sorting – this one is a blast for our little guy and it’s some what educational too. We try to keep him focused on matching colors with the stickers – blue ones on the blue sheet, green ones on the green sheet and so on. Sometimes it works and sometimes we put stickers anywhere we darn well please – including on the dogs!

Mess Free Painting – if it’s too hot to go outside, but we want to play with some colors then we opt for a less messy way. I started doing a mess free painting when he was just a baby. It’s easy to put together and the clean up is a breeze!

Inside Swimming Pool – Our town has a great indoor pool that is perfect and cheap!

Sensory Bins – if you follow me on Instagram then you may catch a story from time-to-time with our sensory bin adventures. We’ve tried just about anything – beans, rice, flour, cooked pasta and water. You name it and I’m game for it. Most days we try to keep the messiest ones outside, but I’m a pushover when he hauls the giant tub of flour out of our cabinet. We tend to keep specific toys in the bin that are usually only played at that time. That way they’re like a treat.

Muffin Tins and Pom Poms – I don’t know about you, but we have a ton of those cotton pom poms leftover in our craft bin. Every once in awhile I pull some out and an old muffin tin. Our son’s goal is to put one or two or three in each tin (we pick a number and count together).

Bath time – Hopefully your little loves baths because they are one of the easiest things to entertain with. If we’re starting to get a little bored with our toys and games then I usually offer a bath. He loves them and starts stripping down before I can even turn the water on. So we will do bath time, which includes blowing bubbles, laying on his back and some splashing.

Visit an aquarium – This idea may not be the cheapest on the list, but for those really hot summer days it’s a must! You can spend hours inside exploring all the different fish, sharks, play sets and movies to watch. We went to Wonders of Wildlife inside the Bass Pro in Springfield, MO and it was amazing!

What are some of your favorite summer activities for toddlers? These are just a few of the ones we try to do when the temps get a little too hot.