HT Games
Toddler Bocce
Toddler Bocce ball can help teach toddlers about coordination and aim. Start with a large beach ball and throw it in your backyard. Each child will than get a slightly smaller ball, and take turns trying to throw it as close as possible to the larger ball. Whoever gets closest wins a prize. As kids get the hang of it, you can teach them how to knock other balls out of the way using their ball.
Guessing Fun
Guess the item is another game you can play with toddlers to teach them about textures and objects. Place an object with a specific texture into a paper sack. You can use feathers, sand, cotton balls or squishy grapes, for example. Have kids try to guess what is in each bag and write down their answers. At the end you can reveal the contents and have kids feel them again, so they can memorize each texture and object. You can even provide a small prize to the child that got the closest answers.
Dress Up Game
A simple game of dress up can help kids be creative and stretch their imaginations. Collect old clothes in a trunk, or find clothes at your local thrift shop. Ask parents to bring any items they think will also work for costumes, and purchase a few pieces for the trunk at a costume shop. Have toddlers take turns picking out pieces they like and they can dress themselves up. Once done they can enjoy looking at each other's costumes and playing make-believe.
Pudding Pictures
Pudding painting is a delicious way for kids to express their artistic side, while enjoying a snack. Purchase different flavors of instant pudding, making sure to purchase a few extra vanillas to make colors. Add red, blue and green food dye to three batches of vanilla pudding and put pudding in the center of a table. Give kids blank sheets of paper and let them use their fingers and the different colors of pudding to paint pictures. This game is better played outdoors to avoid a mess.
Backyard Bowling
Outdoor bowling is a great way to help strengthen your toddler's coordination. You can make your own outdoor bowling set using two-liter plastic bottles, and a medium-sized rubber ball. Clean plastic bottles and peel off labels. You can even spray paint them to look like pins. Set up six bottles in a triangle shape on your lawn, and have each toddler take a turn, standing 10 to 15 feet away from the pins, trying to roll the rubber ball into the bottles and knock them over. For a bit more of a challenge, fill bottles one-fourth of the way up with water or sand.
Water Balloon Fun
Water balloon toss is a summertime spin on the classic game hot potato. Fill up a small water balloon and have kids stand in a small circle. Play toddler-appropriate music and have kids toss one or two balloons around the circle. If the balloon should pop on someone, they are out. If you stop the music, whichever toddler is holding a balloon is out as well. Continue game play until one child is left.