Lawrence Kutner once said, “The fundamental job of a toddler is to rule the universe.” Anyone with a child between the ages of 1 and 3 knows this truth explicitly and lives it every day.  Toddlers can be so immersed in the world around them that they require our complete attention for many hours per day, and this is often not practical for the work at home mom or mom with other children.  However, the latest and greatest toys and electronics designed to “enrich your child’s life” and entertain them for hours are either incredibly expensive, or incredibly unproductive to your child’s development by leaving them sedentary for long periods of time.

The mind of a toddler is constantly developing and the knowledge they construct by interaction with their environment can shape their learning for years to come.  It is for this reason that experts suggest a maximum of 2 hours of television per day for toddlers, preferably divided into two or more segments so the child is not sedentary for long periods of time.  There are many active projects you can entertain your child with that require little or no money no elaborate crafting instructions or complicated directions.

Frugal Fun Indoors with Your Toddler

• Adventure with Household Items: Almost anything around your house can take on new animation with proper imagination.  A broom can become an oar for your imaginary vessel sailing across the seven seas, and a kitchen table with an old blanket thrown over it can provide hours of fortress fun as you fortify your defense against wicked ogres.  Look with a creative eye around  your living room and you can find hours of frugal fun for child and parent.
• New Life for Old Toys: Digging out your child’s old infant toys can often provide hours of idependent fun for your toddler.  Similarly, packing up a portion of your child’s unused toys and storing them until several weeks or months later can bring the same thrill as new purchased toys. 
• Repurposing Outworn Items: Old clothing can make perfect dress-up clothes when thrown in a bin.  My daughter loves wearing her Daddy’s old Marine cover (hat) and playing soldier; she also loves putting on her butterfly wings from several Halloweens ago.  Even patched or worn clothing is fine for dress-up or to be worn as smocks when playing with paint or playdough (see below).
• Make it Yourself: Playdough, Bubbles, finger paint, watercolors,outdoor paint, silly putty, even sidewalk chalk can be made yourself for a fraction of the cost of purchasing these items in the store.  Flashcards with pictures of animals, numbers or letters can be made with a sheet of old cardstock and cutout magazine pictures.  Those fancy manipulatives used for learning how to count are completely unnecessary; use small cookies or even cheerios to help teach your child basic number skills and mathematical operations like addition and subtraction. 
• Get Active Indoors: Close the shades and throw on your favorite tunes.  Search online for a kid’s music station and save hundreds on buying children’s CDs.  Put on some music and dance with your kids, and burn a few calories in the process.  Alternatively, put on an exercise DVD and do it with your toddler.  Get into shape together!  My daughter loves “The Biggest Loser” DVD that we got at a yardsale for a few dollars.  Even some old VHS exercise tapes are fine when it’s just your toddler moving to the groove. 
• Spy on the World: Many toddlers love simply looking out the window at the raindrops fall or the neighbors or cars moving past.  Use it as an opportunity to teach your child about how the world works, or simply hold them in your lap and enjoy the snuggle time!
• Get some Help around the House: Toddlers are the perfect age to start helping around the house.  Allow your toddler to sort laundry; they can learn to differentiate between whites and colors.  Washing dishes?  Let your toddler sit on the floor next to you with a dishrag and some plastic dishes and do the same.  We found a plastic mini broom for my daughter at the thrift store and she loves to “help Mommy sweep.”  When dusting or wiping down walls, I give my daughter a small spray bottle full of water and a rag and she learns to mimic me as I clean.  She also loves to help knead dough when I bake rolls, or dump ingredients from the measuring cup into the kitchen aid.  Toddlers can even help with a new baby; I leave diapers where my 2 ½ year old can reach them, and she’s great about grabbing me a diaper for her brother when I need one.  Of course, I do occaisionally find diapers on her teddy bear, but that’s another battle. 

The bottom line is this:  involving your toddler in your life, or finding productive and constructive learning activities for them to do throughout the day can enhance their future learning careers and enrich their lives even at such a young age.  As parents, we all have days when Dora the Explorer is the only option while we take a short break for our sanity. But over the course of these two articles, I hope to provide you with some creative and frugal ideas for entertaining your toddler without breaking the budget.