5 No Mess Indoor Play Activities For Toddlers

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It’s probably safe to say that as a mom you have experienced going a little stir crazy in your homes, am I right? Maybe you are looking for some new activities to do with your kids??

Good news! You’re in the right place. 😉

It’s tough when your kids are looking for something, anything to do, but for whatever reason (weather, sickness, no yard, budget) you can’t go outside or to public places! This limits the ability to get out of the house and it’s super easy to run out of things to do.

That’s why I have the PERFECT solution for you today! Check out these 5 no-mess indoor play toddler activities!

indoor play activities for toddlers

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5 No Mess Indoor Play Activities For Toddlers

The best part about these indoor play activities is they require very minimal cleanup, if at all!

Plus, most of the supplies you may already have, and if not they are super cheap and easy to order online.

Sure it’s super fun to do messy activities with your kids and actually good for their development! Buuuuut for the sake of this post, we are going to look at some no-mess indoor play activities for your toddlers to add to your daily routine.

This saves YOU time later to work on other things and not having to clean paint off the walls!

So, let’s get into these fun indoor play activities!

1. Water Only Coloring Books

How you ever seen the Water Wow Books by Melissa & Doug??

They seriously may be the best kid activity ever invented!! It is a notepad with pictures that show up when you apply water to it. Simply fill up the brush “pen” that comes with it and they paint each page with water!

You can feel 100% safe with your toddlers drawing in these by themselves! No more worrying about markers on the walls (or siblings!).

There are so many options for boys and girls and even a Bible story one that we love! Some other styles include:

  • Under The Sea
  • Farm
  • Safari
  • ABC & 123 learning – BONUS!
  • Fairies/Princesses
  • Sports
  • Donisaurs
  • Vehicles
  • Occupations
  • Makeup & Manicures
  • And believe it or not, even MORE!!

They are very inexpensive (like 4.99 a book) and can be reused over and over. Simply let dry and start again! That’s my favorite kind of coloring book, one that can be used multiple times!

Quick tip: If you lose the brush that comes with it, just use a wet paint brush! 🙂

2. Free Printable Activity Pages

There are tons of resources out there that have free printable activity pages for kids! You can find coloring pages, activity pages, mazes, learning printables, etc.

I’ve got a FREE shape activity printable right here for you, so you don’t have to go out and search. 🙂 This is great for ages 1-4!

Free Fun Shapes Activity

Do you want access to MORE awesome, biblical, FREE printables like this one? Get exclusive access to my free printables resource library here!!!


You can either help your young toddler learn about shapes and colors, or let your preschooler work though on their own as homeschool work or fun activity!

Two of my favorite free activity pages for kids – the 1000 Disney coloring pages from Melissa at The Farm Girl Gabs, and these UH-MAZ-ING printables for kids from Sarah Titus. They ROCK and are all free to use. 🙂

If you don’t have a printer, no problem – make your own activity pages or coloring book! Here’s how…

Grab a stack of blank paper, hole punch it and use ribbon or string to tie together. You can use it as a freestyle coloring book and let their imaginations go wild!

Or if you are artistic (unlike me haha) you can draw your own fun pictures for your child to color in on each page, as well as some cute little activities. 🙂

Overall, you can’t go wrong with some good old fashioned activity pages, especially when you can save time and money with these free options!

3. Paint In A Bag

Nooooooo paint is messy!! Right?

Well, not in this case! This paint in a bag activity is a lot of fun without the mess!

I recommend using gallon baggies! They are big and will allow more paint to mix together, as well as be a good size for your kids to play on. Simply fill one, or as many baggies as you want, with washable kids paint (just in case!).

This is such a great AND fun opportunity to teach your kids about mixing colors! Show them what happens when you mix blue & yellow, or red and blue. You aren’t wasting paint for nothing, because they are actually learning something… WITHOUT all the mess. 🙂

Let them sit at the table and mix the colors while you make lunch, grab a snack or finish that work task you needed to do real quick!

4. Playdough And Cookie Cutters

I know, I know, NOT a super orginal idea right?

That’s why you should step it up with some fun cookie cutters! Teach your kids about shapes, objects and lots more using basic and cheap cookie cutters. You probably already have some in your home, but if not, here’s a cheap bundle with lots of great options. 🙂

They will love getting creative with the playdough! Then introducing the cookie cutters will bring even more fun & learning.

Easy clean tip: lay down parchment paper first! This eliminates cleaning up all of those little playdough crumblies (totally made up a word there) off of the floor. When you are done, simply roll up the parchment paper and throw away excess playdough!

5. Pipe Cleaner Animals

Please tell me I am not the only one who didn’t know this was a thing until recently?!

Pipe cleaner animals are not only SO cute but a great sensory activity for your kids! Use bright colors to stimulate their imaginations and even let them do some freestyle object/animal making! They will get some GREAT practice in hand-eye coordination with twisting and forming objects.

Here is a great tutorial on how to make lots of different types of animals out of pipe cleaners. 🙂

Check out this post for some great tips on how to create a daily stay at home mom schedule THAT works!

indoor play activities for toddlers

There ya have it! 5 super fun no-mess activities for your kids to do inside! Yay! I hope you can eliminate toddler boredom and maybe even get a few things done while they enjoy these fun activities. 😉

Which one will you and your kiddos be trying? Let me know in the comments!

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2 Comments

  1. What fun ideas! I’m looking forward to trying the Melissa & Doug Water Only Coloring Books. I hadn’t seen them before but I imagine they’ll be great fun for my little toddler.

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