How to Use This List

Think of this as your boredom-busters cheat sheet! We designed this list to be a quick, easy-to-skim grab bag of ideas with simple instructions for when you need a fast, accessible distraction. Bookmark it to have at the ready for a road trip, a rainy day, or any outing that inevitably sparks that familiar “I’m bored” refrain. There are plenty of ideas in here that require nothing but your words and imagination, but if you're looking to level up your toddler toolkit, scroll to the end for our favorite small and portable travel toys perfect for on-the-go play.

Toddlers will have a blast collecting items of various shapes. 

What games can we play in a doctor’s office or waiting in line?

1. Shape Search

How to Play: How many circles, squares, or triangles can you find in the objects and architecture around you?

2. Look for Letters

How to Play: Find all of the letters in your name or all of the letters in the alphabet in your surroundings. Look on signs, in magazines, advertisements, on clothing, and on license plates.

3. I Spy

How to Play: This is a classic that likely needs no introduction. (As a refresher, start with "I spy something red" for your toddler to guess. Then switch!)

4. Shadow Play

How to Play: Use the flashlight on your phone (not technically a screen, right?) as a light source to make hand shadows. Get fancy by tracing the shadows on a piece of paper or with sidewalk chalk if outdoors.

5. Counting Colors

How to Play: How many things can you count that are red? Orange? Yellow? Find and count all the colors of the rainbow.

How can I entertain my toddler in a restaurant?

6. Sticker Story

How to Play: Give your toddler a sheet of stickers and a notebook. Encourage them to tell a story as they add new stickers. (Tip: We like these puffy stickers that are easy for little fingers to grab and unstick.)

7. Five Senses

How to Play: Name five things you can see, four things you can touch, three things you can hear, two things you can smell, and one thing you can taste.

8. Restaurant Roadwork

How to Play: Bring along a few toy cars and use the silverware and other items on the table to create roads for your vehicles to drive along.

9. Snack Sort

How to Play: Bring a mix of small snacks like puffs or raisins and ask your toddler to sort them by type before snacking. This is also a great way to practice counting.

10. Coloring

How to Play: Crayons, paper, boom.

11. Take a Stroll

How to Play: Wander those wiggles out while you wait. Find the entrance to the kitchen, get a breath of fresh air, say hi to the hosts at the entrance, and peek at other diners' food while you work up an appetite.

Leaves and twigs look different from way up close!

What are some outdoor toddler play ideas?

12. Nature Collector

How to Play: Collect small items from nature like leaves, rocks, flowers, and foliage. Sort and arrange your findings by size or examine them under a magnifying glass.

13. Water Painting

How to Play: Ask them to “paint” the sidewalk with a paintbrush and a cup of water.

14. Bubble Stories

How to Play: Blow bubbles and take turns telling quick stories before they pop.

15. Chalk Course

How to Play: Draw some big shapes and arrows on the ground with chalk. Give your toddler simple instructions, such as: spin three times in the circle, do five jumping jacks in the triangle, march on the square, and walk along the arrows.

What are some travel activities for toddlers on road trips or airplanes?

16. Present Pile

How to Play: Gift-wrap random items and toys you already own. Surprise your child with a new "gift" every half-hour or so on your journey. Ask them to guess what's inside before unwrapping. (Tip: Give your toddler a head's up beforehand that these aren't new toys. They'll still think it's a super fun game!)

​17. Telescope

How to Play: Roll a piece of paper into a tube for an instant telescope. Use it for exploring and I spy.

18. Colorful Cars

How to Play: On a road trip, search for cars and vehicles in rainbow-color order.

19. Magnetic Play

How to Play: Fill a small tin with kid-safe magnets. Have your toddler use the tin as their surface for stacking and sticking.

20. Snack Necklace

How to Play: Make a yummy necklace by stringing O-shaped cereal with yarn.

21. Window Gel Clings

How to Play: Stick gel window clings onto the airplane or car window.

What are some easy toddler activities for the grocery store?

22. Grocery List

How to Play: Give your kids their own shopping lists and call it a treasure hunt. Remember to bring a crayon or pencil for them to check items off. Bonus: Draw simple pictures to help them "read" their list.

23. Food Finder

How to Play: Let your child help by giving them easy prompts and offering them choices. Which of these peppers are orange? Can you pick the biggest watermelon? Choose three colors of apples. Pick from these two types of pasta.

24. Produce Puzzle

How to Play: Hand your child two different produce items and have them describe and observe their differences. Which is smooth and shiny? Which feels bumpy or rough?

25. Guess the Grocery

How to Play: Have your child close their eyes and hand them different items as you put them in the cart. Can they guess what the item is by feeling its shape and texture?

Colorful sticky notes are oh so satisfying. 

What are some great rainy-day screen-free toddler activities?

26. Sticky-Note Play

How to Play: Hand over a stack of sticky notes and let them have at it.

27. Toy Tape Rescue

How to Play: Use masking tape to secure toy animals and figurines to a table and ask your toddler to "rescue" them.

28. Keepy Uppy

How to Play: Blow up a balloon and challenge them to keep it from touching the ground. If they're a Bluey fan, they'll already know this game!

29. Pillow Obstacle Course

How to Play: Make a maze of pillows to jump over, roll on top of, and crawl around.

30. Collecting Colors

How to Play: Challenge your toddler to gather as many objects as they can that are the same color or shape. Sort them by size or arrange them in an interesting way.

31. Indoor Bowling

How to Play: Set up plastic cups or empty bottles as pins. Grab a soft ball and roll it down the "alley."

32. Sensory Bins

How to Play: Fill a bin with dried rice, beans, or pasta. Add spoons and cups for scooping and bury some small toys to unearth. Try one of these 10 sensory bin ideas for busy toddlers.

33. Freeze Dance

How to Play: You know the drill—play music and periodically pause the sound to cue them to freeze.

34. Tape Roads

How to Play: Stick tape lines on the floor and follow the road with toy cars.

Can your kiddo find all the letters of the alphabet?

35. Alphabet Hunt

How to Play: Write the letters of the alphabet on sticky notes and hide them for your toddler to find. Write the alphabet on a big piece of paper for them to stick each note onto as they find it.

36. Fort Building

How to Play: Use chairs, blankets, and pillows to make a fabulous family fort.

37. Kitchen Band

How to Play: Make a drum set out of pots, pans, and spoons.

38. Box Buildings

How to Play: Gather all those boxes waiting for recycling day and invite your toddler to stack them, sit in them, color on them, and stick stickers to them.

39. Light Experiments

How to Play: Grab a flashlight, cut the lights, and try one of these simple and fun light experiments for toddlers. 

What are some quick parent-child connection games?

40. Secret Handshake

How to Play: Create a special handshake with high-fives, claps, pats, and hugs.

41. Hand Games

How to Play: Dig deep into your childhood memories for this one. Teach your kid hand games like "Down by the Banks" or "Miss Mary Mack."

42. Story Switch

How to Play: Start off a story by saying a silly sentence. Then invite your toddler to add the next part of the story. Keep taking turns as you create a collaborative tale.

43. Back Drawings

How to Play: Have your child draw a picture on your back with their finger. Can you guess what they're drawing? Then, switch.

44. Staring Contest

How to Play: Look into each other's eyes. Whoever blinks first loses!

45. Feelings and Faces

How to Play: Make different facial expressions and have your toddler guess which feeling you are acting out. Have them copy your faces, then switch roles.

What are the best travel and on-the-go toys for toddlers?

46. Travel Magna-Tiles

This 26-piece set lets your tiny builders take their construction skills on the go.

47. Scavenger Hunt Cards

Turn anything into a treasure hunt with these fun cards.

48. Reusable Sticker Books

These books have stickers that are easy for little fingers to pick up, plus fun backgrounds and scenes to stick them onto again and again.

49. Water Wows

Fill the brush with water and "paint" on the activity pages to make the colors appear. Then paint again after it dries!

50. Doodle Boards

Draw on this tablet (we promise it's not the screen kind), then push the button to erase it and start again.

51. Scratch Art

Use the included stylus to scratch a design onto one of these black pieces of paper. Watch your design come through in a rainbow of colors.

52. WikiStix

These small wax sticks allow your tiny artists to sculpt on the go.

53. Lacing Boards

Weave your way through wooden pieces of fruit just like a hungry caterpillar. Lacing boards are perfect for developing those fine motor skills.

54. Crayola Color Wonder

This magical, mess-free set comes with coloring pages, stamps, and markers that leave no ink on skin or clothes.

FAQs About Screen-Free Play for Toddlers

Q: How long much screen time should toddlers have each day?
A: For children ages 2-5, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends limiting screens to one hour of high-quality programming per day, ideally co-viewed with caregivers.

Q: Can toddlers play alone without screens?
A: Absolutely! Playing solo is critical for developing creativity and independence, not to mention giving the grown-ups a break. Just be sure to offer age-appropriate and safe options.

Q: What if my toddler gets bored quickly?
A: It's OK, and even important, for your child to be bored sometimes! In fact, it's moments of boredom that often spark the most imaginative and creative moments in their play. That said, it can be helpful to rotate toys weekly to help keep your child engaged, or to create kits for different scenarios (restaurant-only toys, road-trip toys, waiting-room toys, etc.) so that they stay fresh and exciting.

Q: How can I keep toddlers entertained while traveling without screens?
A: Browse our list of on-the-go toddler toys, and bookmark this article so that you have lots of ideas for simple games and activities to play on hand, whether in the air or on the road.

Read More: Simple Science for Toddlers Through Kindergarten Kids

All photos by the author. Follow her on Instagram for more! @creativishmom

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