3 Screen-Free Activities for Your Toddler

Hello and welcome! I'm so glad you're here.

Lately, I've been very convicted about screentime for both myself and my toddler. I've been trying out different things to keep my toddler entertained without the use of the TV or iPad, even when I may be busy trying to get something done. I really never thought it was possible. My son is 3.5 and very high energy so I really thought I had to rely on the TV to cook lunch or dinner. But, God has shown me that that is not the case. So in this post, I wanted to share with you three activities to do with your toddler that are completely screen free and are sure to keep your little one entertained for a while. I will also say that these activities can be done by your toddler independently but it really just depends on your kid, they do take some adult set-up but for the most part, once you get it ready, your toddler can do these activities on their own.

1. Alphabet Scavenger Hunt

What you need: post-it notes, pen, binoculars, or spyglass (optional), and flashlight (optional).

This first activity is super easy to set up and kept my son entertained for a long time and also helped get some of his energy out. All I did was take a pack of post-it notes and wrote a letter on each post-it note. Then I simply went around my house sticking the letters in random spots. I gave my toddler his binoculars and flashlight he got for Christmas (he didn't end up using them long but it's a nice way to make it more fun) and sent him on his way to search and find the letters. My son can identify his letters well, so I added to this activity by asking him what sounds each letter makes. You can adapt this in so many different ways for your child. You could also even make this into a second activity by giving your child an empty paper towel roll to decorate their own spyglass to use to hunt their letters. This is a super simple one that your kids are sure to love and a plus is that it's also educational.

2. Dinosaur Mud Play & Bathtime

What you need: 2 bowls, cornstarch, water, cocoa powder, plastic dinosaurs (or any other animals or even cars)

This next activity is for those of you out there who don't mind a mess (I am not that person, but I try to be from time to time). All you need to do is mix together 2 cups of cornstarch, 1 cup + 2 tablespoons of water, and 1/4 cup of cocoa powder. You may have to add more water or more cornstarch if it's too dry or too wet. The goal is to make it like a liquid when you pour it from your hands but like a solid when you put pressure on it (it's oobleck with cocoa powder). And that's it! You have your mud (which smells incredible from the cocoa powder, a huge plus!) now just give your kids some dinosaurs or other small plastic animals or cars and a bowl full of clean water and let them go wild! They can play with the dinosaurs in the mud and then give them a bath in the water. My son really loves to just dunk the dinosaurs from one bowl to the next. You could also give your kids brushes or wash clothes to wash the toys with. This is a really good and easy sensory activity that takes a few minutes to set up and is also pretty minimal clean up.

3. Audiobooks - Yoto Player & other ways to listen

What you need: something to listen to an audiobook on (your phone, smart home device, Bluetooth speaker, etc.)

This last activity is my personal favorite and probably also my son's favorite. It's very simple and you can do it in a variety of ways. It's simply just listening to audiobooks. You can do this by looking up stories on Spotify or Youtube and just letting them play from your phone or any Bluetooth speaker. But it is the year 2023, so there are some really cool devices out there that make this a fun and independent activity for your child.

We often listened to audiobooks on Spotify for my toddler. He specifically loved the Toy Story 1, 2, & 3 books as well as a podcast called "Cocomelon Storytime". I would just play Spotify from one of our Google homes or I would let my son wear my Bluetooth headphones and he would listen for really as long as I allowed, which shocked me given how energetic my toddler is. So for Christmas this year we got him a Yoto player and wow, it was an amazing purchase! There are a couple of audio players out there for kids and I think one day I'll do a post fully devoted to the Yoto and why I chose it over the others but for today I'll just give you an overview of why we like it so much.

We got the original Yoto (there's also a mini) for our toddler and it is so great because he can do pretty much everything on it himself. The only thing we have to do is turn it on for him. He can choose what he wants to listen to and put in the card himself, which automatically starts the story and stops when you take the card out. He can also adjust the volume on his own. One thing we love so much about this Yoto is the daily podcast. Every single day there is the Yoto Daily podcast which is so interesting and has even taught me things. Each day is a different theme. Fridays are joke days, Wednesdays they learn facts about different places around the world. Some days they play Simon Says and some days they will give riddles and brain teasers or instructions to draw along with them to create a picture. They also do specials depending on the day, like a special episode for Mardi Gras or Valentine's day where they explain the history behind those days. And at the end of every episode, you can send in your child's birthday and they will do a birthday greeting. Seriously, it is so cool and my son LOVES it. We use it nearly every single day. They have a great selection of books. My son has the Toy Story books, Monsters Inc, Winnie the Pooh as well as The Pout Pout Fish, and a collection of books by Eric Carle. This is really just the tip of the iceberg of how cool the Yoto is. Bottomline: we all love it. My son is independent, it keeps him off screens and it teaches him things too, not to mention I feel like it's pretty affordable. It's a big win!

So there you have it. Three screen-free activities for your little one!

Hope you've enjoyed reading.

Until next time.