Kids don’t always need traditional toys to make mindful memories. Sometimes, it’s the household items around your house that they can play with for hours. The items listed below can spark inspiration for active play, dramatic play, fine motor activities, and even introduce toddlers to foundational STEM concepts. And no worries if you don’t have these items around the house, they all cost less than your average toy and nearly every item can be purchased secondhand!

Active Play

Balloons 

I can’t overstress the convenience of having a pack of inflatable balloons on hand year round. Kids still adore a classic game of Don’t Let the Balloon Touch the Ground, also known as Keepy Uppy! Literally, blow up a balloon, tie it, and throw it to your kid, they’ll naturally dive in to give it a hit, and stay busy for a solid 30 minutes or longer!   

Why do kids love playing with balloons? 

Kids love playing with balloons because they’re so light and move through the air slower than balls. Toddlers appear to be excited by the slower speed of the light ball and perceive it to be easier for them to catch the balloon. 

What tends to happen is the light weight of the balloon makes it a lot harder for them to predict where the balloon will ultimately land. So, younger toddlers end up having less chances to catch the balloon (they can generally expect balls to land somewhere very close to their hands). However, they do spend a lot of time eagerly and blissfully running after the balloon– which makes balloon play awesome for active play!

Safety Note: Balloon play should be supervised for kids ages 1-2, and/or amongst kids that mouth toys  

Developmental Benefits: Gross motor skills; eye-hand coordination; spatial reasoning

Teaches: Problem solving; perseverance 

Laundry Baskets 

While your laundry basket may be full of a pile of laundry, I invite you to dump it out every now and then and let your kiddos play with it. Laundry baskets are especially handy for sibling play! 

Older siblings often have younger siblings hop in the basket and push them around the house. In doing so, the older sibling gets a good workout in, while releasing a lot of energy. Typically, the younger sibling will unsuccessfully try to role reverse and attempt to push their older sibling around. After struggling for a few minutes, the younger sibling learns the limits of their strength and also gets a good workout in.

Kids can also use laundry baskets for imaginative play– a classic hamper can resemble a boat, perfect for pairing with a magnetic fishing game. Have child sit in the boat and distribute the fish around the boat. Then have the child use magnetic fishing rods to reach out of the boat and catch the magnetic fish.  

Safety Note: This activity is best suited for the first or main floor of the house. Avoid having kids do this on the upper floors of your house unless you have a baby gate blocking all staircases. 

Tip: Works best on carpeted flooring. 

Developmental Benefits: gross motor skills; balance; coordination; spatial awareness; proprioceptive input 

Teaches: self-awareness; collaboration; imagination

Travel-Size Spray Bottles 

I recommend toddler-friendly spray bottles often because they’re perfectly designed for small hands. When filled with water, toddlers can easily use these for play in a variety of ways, including: outdoor water play; sensory play; cleaning toys; and even for art activities.     

Developmental Benefits: fine motor skills; cause & effect; hand-eye coordination

Teaches: self-awareness; autonomy

Dramatic Play

Tea Light Candles (Battery Powered)

When I worked at a nursery school, a bright 2 year old showed up to our classroom with a handful of battery powered tea light candles. Her mom raved about how much fun her daughter had finding creative ways to use the tea lights throughout the weekend and gifted them to our classroom. For days we watched kids play with (and fight over) the tea lights until it was time to rotate the toys. 

Needless to say, I added tea light candles to my toy box and have used them with many other toddlers. Here are a few use cases: 

• Dramatic Play: pretend campfire; fancy dinner; DIY lantern) 

• Constructive x Pretend Play: used to light up magna-tile building; dollhouse accessory; Encanto prop  

Mini Flashlights 

Toddlers marvel at the literal and figurative power mini flashlights bring them, but also, flashlights are just flat out fun! You'll likely find kiddos turning off all the lights and going off on an adventure in the dark!

Why do kids love playing with flashlights and tea lights? 

Kids love playing with flashlights and tea lights because it provides them with a bite-size piece of autonomy. The autonomy comes in the form of being in charge of their own light source that they can freely control with the flick of a switch. 

Flashlights also allow toddlers to explore familiar surroundings from a new perspective and even taps into a comfortable dose of scary play, which I’ll write about soon!

Developmental Benefits: perception; observation; cause & effect; intro to STEM (concepts of light and shadow)

Teaches: autonomy; conservation 

Lululemon Bags 

Throughout toddlerhood, kids pretend to go shopping. Lululemon bags happen to make great reusable bag props. Kids can comfortably pack, unload, and carry around play food or toys without trouble. Standard reusable bags are half the size of toddlers, which makes them awkward for them to carry and usually results in toddlers dragging the bags.  

Not to worry, you don’t have to buy anything from Lululemon to get your hands on one of their reusable shopping bags! It turns out that Lululemon bags are very easy to find at the thrift store. In fact, I’ve purchased them for as cheap as 49 cents at a local Amvets!  

Why are Lululemon bags good for dramatic play? 

The design and the size of the bags is the true value. To be clear, it’s less about the brand and more about the function and convenience of the mini reusable bags–  they’re perfectly shaped for tiny humans to hold and handle with ease.  

If you have a Wegmans in your region, they also sell this size. On rare occasions, you can find them around the checkout area of Target. To my knowledge, Lululemon is the only national retailer that widely distributes this size bag. Additionally, the snap button adds more appeal for toddlers. 

Nonetheless, if you happen to wear a lot of Lululemon branded clothing, your kiddo will be stoked to carry around a bag with the same logo as their caregiver. Toddlers love reenacting home life!   

Developmental Benefits: coordination; balance; object manipulation

Teaches: independence; body-awareness (hey, I’m strong enough to carry groceries); responsibility (I can help my family carry bags when we go shopping) 

Intro to STEM & Fine Motor Skills

Calculators 

Kids love pressing buttons (occasionally yours), but calculators are a great screen-free and sound-free way to entertain kiddos. 

Why do toddlers like playing with calculators?

Calculators allow toddlers and even big kids to explore the depths of numbers freely.   

Developmental Benefits: Intro to STEM (early numeracy (number recognition); number exploration; counting; mathematical thinking) 

Teaches: curiosity; problem solving

Sensory Bin Tools 

Sensory bins are a playground for the imagination, and you don't need specialized equipment to create one. Everyday items like measuring cups, clear containers, Tupperware, and even clear lids from Seventh Generation detergent can be repurposed for endless fun. These tools are excellent for scooping and pouring, helping little ones refine their motor skills. Even old toothbrushes can be included for a unique twist, allowing toddlers to practice cleaning their toys while they play. This kind of creative reuse not only sparks joy in kids but also teaches them valuable lessons in sustainability.

• Measuring cups, clear containers, tupperware, clear Seventh Generation detergent lids

• Good for scooping, pouring, 

Developmental Benefits: cause & effect; object manipulation; hand-eye coordination; observation 

Teaches: resourcefulness; curiosity

Reusable Ice Cubes 

Have any reusable ice cubes in the freezer? These are perfect for little hands and can turn sensory play into a sensational experience. Kids love exploring the cool, smooth texture of the ice cubes and naturally turn to counting, stacking, and sorting them. The cubes can be played with inside an empty sensory bin or with water play. In water, toddlers can scoop, transfer, and watch them float. 

Developmental Skills: fine motor skills; sensory exposure; pattern recognition; exploration of cause & effect

Teaches: curiosity; observation

Colanders

Sure, colanders are useful for straining water, but they’re even more useful as a toy for toddlers to practice fine motor skills. Flip a colander over and voila, you have a tool for kids to feed pointy objects through!

• Examples: DIY flower bouquet; heart stick bouquet

Developmental Skills: precision; planning; cause & effect; spatial reasoning

Teaches: diligence; attentiveness

Before purchasing another toy, take a minute to be mindful of what you already have around the house— your set of hair rollers just might be your toddlers new favorite toy!