High Energy Indoor Toddler Activities (To Tire Him Out Before Bedtime!)

Is your toddler active, all day, every day? Stupid question, right?! When you first became a parent, you probably didn’t believe other parents when they told you to enjoy the infant time, because the toddler years were fast approaching, when your child would be busy, busy, busy!

Contents show

As long as your toddler isn’t getting into things around the house that are unsafe, there’s nothing wrong with them being active indoors – in fact, it’s perfectly normal.

While you might think that it is impossible for you to keep them out of trouble, there are some indoor-based physical activities that require lots of energy and are designed to tire your toddler out, making them sleep well at bedtime.

High Energy Indoor Toddler Activities (To Tire Your Toddler Out Before Bedtime!)

Here, we will check out some of the best ways to tire out your toddler indoors, that don’t require a lot of preparation on your part.

Tiring Out Your Toddler Using Things That You Must Purchase

The Magic Moves Electronic Wand is a talking toy wand that includes music, light shows, and 90 commands for your toddler to follow. It is the ultimate interactive toy and will keep your toddler busy for hours, requiring little effort on your part! Manufactured by Educational Insights, it sells for about $50 on Amazon.com.

Animal Bouncers are great fun for toddlers! They can choose the animal of their choice, from a horse, to a dinosaur, to a cow, to a unicorn, and hop around the house all day long (or for as long as their attention is focused on this activity, at least!) iPlay manufactures a wide variety of these bouncers, which are priced at about $25 at Amazon.com.

Indoor slides are great fun, especially when it’s raining outside and you can’t take your toddler to the playground. They provide hours of fun for little ones. Little Tikes makes one that sells for $35 at Amazon.com.

Ribbon wands are similar to electronic wands, without the fancy electronics, music, lights or voice. They are designed to get kids up and moving, dancing and twirling the fun baton with ribbons. They sell for about $6 on Amazon.com.

Toddlers and kids love to jump on mini trampolines. Make sure to supervise your kids whenever they jump on any trampoline- even a mini one indoors. There are models that have bars for toddlers to hold onto, and others that have enclosure nets. Check out the variety of mini trampolines available at Amazon.com, there they range from $60 to $75.

Active board games are lots of fun for toddlers. One that is like Twister for Toddlers is the Disney Jr. Super Stretchy Game, selling for about $30 on Amazon.com. Another active board game that’s great for toddlers is Seuss Super Stretchy ABCs, selling for $77 on Amazon.com. Both of these games involve physical activity and teach your kids valuable knowledge at the same time!

Ride an indoor tricycle. There are a variety of good ones for toddlers available on Amazon.com ranging from $50 to $100.

Balloons: These are inexpensive and fun to play with, and chances are, you have some lying around the house! Blow them up and see how long you and your toddler can keep one up in the air.

Check out our The Ultimate Guide to Safety for Babies and Kids. Learn the solutions to the most common problems regarding the safety of our babies and kids!

Free Ideas on Indoor Toddler Activities to Help Tire Out Your Little One:

Jumping on the bed: Usually you probably tell your toddler not to jump on the bed, so you’d have to use an extra mattress that you don’t care about, like an air mattress, and make sure that your toddler understands that this is the only mattress they are allowed to jump on. They will jump for hours and tire themselves out!

Have a pillow fight: Toddlers will love to have a pillow fight with you, especially if you have approved it first!

Play the hot lava game: Play a variation on “the floor is lava” game, using pillows on the floor. Your toddler must jump from one to the next, trying to avoid a floor that is covered in ladava.

Sock fight: If you aren’t familiar with this concept, it’s like a snowball fight, but using socks!

Pretend to be animals: Your toddler can pretend to be their favorite animal, doing things like a crab walk or frog jump. This uses lots of muscles and senses and is great for a toddler’s development.

Book maze: Never heard of a book maze? You can make a life-size maze for your toddler to go through using books, toys, and other fun items! Check this out for more information.

Chase a wind–up toy: Exactly as it sounds, wind up your child’s favorite toy and tell your child they must chase it (or it is chasing them) and your toddler will be running crazily through the house in no time!

Do the Hokey Pokey: If you aren’t familiar with this classic, active children’s game, refresh yourself by watching this video.

Play Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes: Once again, you probably already know this song/game/activity, but if not, check this.

Play Duck, Duck, Goose: You must have enough kids to do this activity, but if you do it’s a lot of active fun! Check this out for inspiration.

Play Ring Around the Rosie: Again, you need more than one toddler to play this one, but it is fun – check this out.

Have Your Toddler Help Clean the Floors: This can be done with a pair of clean socks, or with a spray bottle and rag. Either way, your toddler will enjoy helping you!

Play with a Paper Airplane: This classic toy can be loads of fun for toddlers, for whom it’s new.

Have Your Toddler Jump to a Letter/Number/Shape: Put a big piece of paper on the floor and write down various things your toddler is currently learning – letters, numbers, shapes or colors. Call out the thing you want your child to jump to and have fun teaching!

Have Your Toddler Join You in a Workout: This can be anything you want it to be, as long as your toddler will join in with you!

High Jumping: This is the opposite of the limbo. Use a jump rope and tuck one end into a couch cushion. Hold the other end, and have your toddler jump over it. Then make it a bit higher next time.

Dress–Up Parade: Let your toddler dress in various costumes or outfits (you can even join in) and have fun!

Have a Clean Up Race: To get your toddler to clean up a room fast, turn on music and tell your toddler the room must be totally cleaned before the song is over.

Have a Dance Party: Put on your kid’s favorite music and dance with them!

Check out The Ultimate Guide to Gardening with Kids. Learn different ways to enjoy gardening with your kids!

Become Active with Music Videos: Play some of your child’s favorite music videos. Use this YouTube playlist for inspiration!

Play Follow the Leader or Simon Says: This is best if you have more than one child, but can be done with just you and your toddler as well. It’s a great way to hone your toddler’s fine motor skills.

Play Catch Indoors: Just be careful to do it in an area where the ball won’t hit anything valuable if it goes astray!

Play Tag or Hide and Seek: Pretty self-explanatory, but here are some ideas for variations on classic tag.

Have a Tickle Fight: Again, this one is pretty self-explanatory.

Play Monster in the Middle: Or, call it Monkey in the Middle if you prefer. You need more than one child or person to play, but put your toddler in the middle and have fun!

Have Timed Races: This could be a crab walk, sack race, egg and spoon race- anything that is fun for your toddler.

Play Laser Chase: Take your laser pen (or cat toy) and have your toddler chase after the laser.

Play Modified Parachute Ball: Using a blanket or old tablecloth and some small balls, this can be great fun!

Blow Bubbles: What toddler doesn’t love chasing after bubbles?

Author
Recent Posts

Daniela

Meet Daniela, a mom and an experienced and licensed educator who loves sharing her experiences through writing. She discovered her passion for teaching during various internships and realized that children are our future. Over time, she began volunteering with public and private organizations to help underprivileged children. Her desire to improve the world led her to become a blogger. She shares her thoughts on raising children to help parents better understand their needs with the insights of a professional in the field.