6 Ideas to Try Right Now
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#1·30+ min
Dry Rice Sensory Bin
🛒Materials: Dry rice, cups, spoons, tray
- 1Pour dry rice into a deep tray.
- 2Add cups, spoons, and small figurines.
- 3Let them scoop, pour, and hide things.
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Put a sheet under the tray for easy cleanup.
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#2·20–30 min
Water Pouring Station
🛒Materials: Towels, cups, jugs, water
- 1Lay towels on the kitchen floor.
- 2Set up cups of different sizes with a small jug of water.
- 3Let your child pour, transfer, and experiment freely.
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#3·30+ min
Activity Bin (Rotate Weekly)
🛒Materials: Container, random household items
- 1Fill a bin with 5–7 items (spoons, cups, fabric scraps).
- 2Tell your child this is their 'special bin' only for when you work.
- 3Rotate items weekly to keep novelty.
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Novelty = 30+ minutes of independent play guaranteed.
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#4·10–15 min
Shadow Puppets
🛒Materials: A lamp (or phone torch)
- 1Darken the room and point a lamp at the wall.
- 2Use your hands to make animal shadows.
- 3Tell a story with shadow characters.
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#5·10 min
Animal Walks
🛒Materials: None
- 1Call out different animals.
- 2Challenge your child to walk/move like that animal.
- 3Try crab crawl, frog jumps, bear walks!
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#6·10–15 min
Toy Car Wash
🛒Materials: Plastic toy cars, tray of soapy water, toothbrush
- 1Fill a shallow tray with warm soapy water.
- 2Give your toddler plastic toy cars and a toothbrush.
- 3Let them scrub the cars clean.
