The Ultimate List of Toys and Activity Supply Lists to Keep Your Toddler Busy

I start to cringe when I think about buying Christmas presents this year. Our two-year-old is the third kiddo which means he has a lot of superhero toys, sports equipment, games, costumes and building toys passed down from his big brothers.

We already have so much and are tapped out in space.

Then it hit me, we could get our toddler toys and supplies that will keep him busy!

This post may contain affiliate links. I will make a small commission if you make a purchase through one of these links, at no extra cost to you. See my disclosure policy here.  

He is slowly giving up naps on most days of the week. Insert a loud, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

It is imperative I find toys and activities to keep my toddler busy so I can remain a happy and calm mama!

My hunt began.

Because I’ve done a lot of research on the effects of technology on the brain, we don’t use that as a source of entertainment for him at all. Okay, two times. Once he wouldn’t stop playfully screaming at a restaurant that we couldn’t leave and another time I was at a school meeting that he did not want to be at so we did let him watch PBS on the iPhone.

Finding the Right Toys and Activities

My goal was to find supplies for “busy activities” that my little guy could play with needing no help from me. Also, I wanted to discover items that I could either throw in a backpack for public outings or toys that would encourage him to self-play for more than 30 minutes.

There’s actually a name for it! Open-ended toys. These are toys that foster creativity, imagination and play, which is why they keep toddlers busy busy busy!

As I was coming up with this ultimate list, I discovered we actually have a lot of these kinds of toys. Some of which, I just needed to dust off. It also gave me a list of new toys and supplies we can add to the Christmas list.

Read Next: 30 Fun Strategy and Board Games For Family

Toys That Keep Your Toddler Busy

Remember, every child is different. If you can find something that piques his or her interest, there will be a better chance of longer self-play time.

A great strategy to get to the point where your toddler will play by him or herself is to stay for a few minutes to watch the play begin then walk away. The more you do this, the more your child will become engrossed in his or her imagination.

1. Jumbo String Beads

These look great! This kind of STEM toy works on fine motor skills, colors, shapes and they can be used to work on counting as well. The holes are big enough for little fingers to minimize frustration.

I also found lower case lacing letters that use the same concept but the toddler can work on his or her sounds, letter recognition and letter order!

2. Pic n’ Mix

These toys not only keep your toddler busy but are also educational.

Your toddler will get to color sort, recognize colors, use fine motor skills and creativity to mix and match the puzzle pieces.

What I love about these is that they are made out of a safe plastic that can easily be cleaned. Lastly, this will be a perfect toy to take out to eat or during trips because of the handy dandy carrying case.

3. Magnetic Drawing Board

I totally forgot about these! When our oldest was little he had a Thomas the Train Magnetic drawing board that he loved so much. That thing is long gone so I can’t wait to get one for our youngest this year.

As with anything, there are a lot of different options for this kind of toy. Check out this video from VTech:

The Write and Learn Creative Center by VTech has some added learning features as with all of their toys.

4. Lacing and Threading Toys

We got a few of these lace and trace toys during a busy bag playdate once. These types of toys keep your toddler busy as he or she focuses on putting the lace through each hole.

Without him even knowing it, he’s working on his hand-eye coordination, motor skills, attention and planning skills along with learning his animals, letters or whatever the object is that he’s lacing.

5. Wikki Sticks

Have you seen these things before?!

Wikki Sticks are pieces of yarn covered in wax sticks making them a super quiet and clean activity for your toddler. Score!

Your little person can use his or her imagination while getting some sensory input from the feeling of the wax. Thankfully, Wikki sticks are made with safety in mind.

6. Math Linking Cubes

Over the summer, every time I would go to pick up my boys from the gym child center, they would be playing with these cubes. Intended for math and counting, my boys used them to create tops, superheroes, toy guns, buildings and whatever else their little imaginations thought up to build.

We ended up getting a set and all three of my boys spend hours playing with them.

In the picture above, all we did was put the bin of cubes on the ground then slowly backed away. They were so cute I wish I had video! My son made a “brush” and proceeded to brush his little friend’s hair. Then they both made phones and were calling each other. All of this with zero direction from any adult. THIS is how toddlers learn and make sense of their world. Having a friend to do it with is always an added bonus of learning communication and social and emotional skills.

Oh! They can be used for their intended purpose of counting and math skills, too, of course!

7. Bristle Blocks

Bristle blocks are a great sensory building toy. My son got these for Christmas last year and the little travel case has been very convenient for when we are on the go.

I have heard that these can get caught in long hair, so use with caution.

8. Busy Boards

How fun are these toddler busy boards?!

For my son’s first birthday, his aunt got him a busy board that could be customized with pictures of our family. He’s almost three and still plays with it!

Working on those motor skills and creativity is so important and these toys help with exactly that! I love the Montessori busy cube, too!

9. Squigz

We have Froogz which I would’ve linked but I couldn’t find them on Prime. Squigz are basically the same thing. Regardless of the name, this toy is very fun for toddlers once they can get the pieces to create a suction.

Living in Arizona, our floors are all hard surfaces so they stick quite well to our tile. Our two-year-old also likes to stick them to our stainless steel fridge in our kitchen and our fridge in the camper.

Another way to play with these toys is to suction the pieces together! These are toys that keep your toddler busy for a good chunk of time.

Once your toddler can do it on his or her own, a lot of self-play action happens!

10. Wooden Blocks

You can never go wrong with classic wooden blocks. These have lasted us for over nine years. Even after being played with a lot, they are still in great shape. Surprisingly, the wooden box they came in is still in perfect condition too!

In addition to these, Melissa and Doug has many other wooden building toys that complement the blocks perfectly. The construction vehicles are great because they are puzzle-like and have stickers on the bottom to show the child what pieces go together.

Lastly, this car carpet playmat is a perfect addition to spark more imagination. It’s great for our house because we have zero carpeted floors and the tile and wood get a little cool on the tush. Double score!

11. Felt Storyboards

Do you remember these from Sunday School growing up? Or maybe it was just our class that did them. I loved watching the teacher tell stories through felt.

My brother got this for my boys a few years ago for Christmas and again, it’s a toy that has not disappointed. We have even used it for our FOCUS time and on long car trips to go camping.

Our toddler is just starting to understand the concept. He loves to make the people do funny things. Whatever keeps him busy!

12. Reusable Sticker pads

Stickers are great but they can stick to things you don’t want them to such as clothes that get washed and become ruined.

These reusable sticker pads by Melissa & Doug have been very durable and easy to take with us.

With the different scenes, a whole lot of creativity is used. Also, those fine motor skills are put to use as the toddler pulls the sticker up and places it on the mat.

Activities To Keep Toddlers Busy (with Supply Lists)!

In addition to toys, I wanted to come up with a list of supplies I could throw into a bag or put out on the counter and let my toddler get (and stay) busy! Most of these are inspired by or are activities directly from other bloggers. Check out the full activities from the other sites by going to the links provided.

We tested a few of the activities with TWO toddlers. They did a little solo self-play and created together. I love this age!

1. Sorting Activities

Activity from Teaching Mama

Have your toddler sort items such as fuzzy pom-poms by putting them in a divided tray or small containers. You can get creative and label each of the sections with say, an animal, color or number.

2. Pipe Cleaner Activities

Activities from Teaching Mama, How Wee Learn, The Imagination Tree, And Next Comes L Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails, Speak, Play, Love and Hands On As We Grow

Who knew pipe cleaners were so perfect for little hands?! The possibilities are endless!

If you are on Pinterest, I’m sure you have seen the pipe cleaner colander activity! It’s super simple and toddlers love it! The pipe cleaners fit perfectly into the holes of a colander. The more holes, the better.

There are even more interesting and entertaining ways toddlers and preschoolers can use pipe cleaners! I found many ideas from activity bloggers including:

• Button trees – Simply stick the pipe cleaners in the holes of the buttons. You can wrap a few of the pipe cleaners together to form trees to make it a little more fun.

• Pipe-cleaners, clothespins – clip together, wrap the popsicle sticks, or toddlers can do whatever their creative hearts desire.
• Cardboard tube threading activity – Use the pipe cleaners to connect the cut toilet paper rolls.
• Pipe-cleaners and pasta coral reef (idea was inspired from this fine motor activity) – Take balls of play dough to use as a stand. Stick the pipe-cleaners into the playdough then stick them through the holes of penne pasta. The kids loved this activity and said it looked like coral! And our little friend skipped the pipe cleaners and stuck the pasta straight into the play dough which worked well, too!

• Pool noodles and pipe cleaner structures – Cut the pool noodles to make small pieces. Then use the pipe cleaners to stack the cut noodles.
• Pipe cleaners and recycled plastic containers – a fine motor skill activity putting pipe cleaners into holes of a plastic lid.
• Contact paper art – Tape the contact paper to a flat surface with the sticky side up and let your toddler put whatever items he or she wants to. These toddlers really liked this activity! They made monster faces and then had fun throwing the pom poms into the air to see what would stick.

3. Ice Cube Fun

Activity ideas from Twins Mommy, Busy Toddler, Beauty Through Imperfection and Things to Share and Remember

I love the idea of giving your toddler ice for so many reasons. There’s a sensory aspect to it, cause and effect (what happens when the ice is out of the freezer too long) amongst whatever else you want to add to it.

This can be as simple as dumping a bunch of ice into a tray or bin and letting your toddler or preschooler go crazy! Or you can get a little more creative using ice cube-shaped trays, plastic animals and fun scoopers.

Sometimes activities using a non-toy item beats toys that keep your toddler busy. And it’s much cheaper!

You can also add more creativity to make this activity last a little longer.

Ice Cube Activity Ideas:

• Painting icecubes
• Freezing plastic toys inside the ice
• Making paint cubes to paint
• Scooping the cubes into bins of water. So simple but oh so fun for your little one!

And if you want to do more ice activities for kids of all ages, check out this Winter Ice post by Stacy at Things to Remember and Share.

4. Felt Activities

Activity ideas from Toddler Approved, Happy Hooligans, Powerful Mothering

Last but not least, there are so many creative ways you can use felt to keep your toddler busy! The texture of the felt feels good on little hands and the colors are an added bonus.

The one catch with using this material is the additional prep work such as cutting or poking holes. However, once you have done the work, you can store the materials in small bins for easy grab and play activities. It’s like having homemade toys that keep your toddler busy.

Simple Felt Activity Ideas:

• Button Snake – cut holes in small pieces of felt, attach a large button at the end of a ribbon, then thread the ribbon through holes of the felt.
• Felt Caterpillar – have your child make a caterpillar by putting felt circles on a bigger piece of felt.
• Crazy Straw Felt Activity – Cut small circles or other shapes like squares and hearts out of felt. Next, cut a small slit in the middle. Give to your toddler so he or she can slide the felt shapes onto the crazy straws.

Go Get Busy!

Now I’m exhausted and all I did was search and write..and I guess, take pictures of two super adorable toddlers!

A great tip to pull all of this together is to have a closet designated for all the busy toys and bins with the activity supplies divided and ready to go.

Also remember that when toddlers have too many things to play with at once, they tend to play less because it’s overwhelming to their developing brains. Give your toddler one toy or activity at a time and keep the supplies for the activities to a minimum!

Lastly, to get your toddler to want to play on his or her own, encourage through strengths, not through saying, “Good job!”

To help you discover what your little person’s strengths are, I created an Encouragement through Strengths Printable free for you to download when you sign up for my newsletter!

What Am I Missing?

Do you have any great toys or activities that keep your toddler busy? If so, comment below!