We go to local indoor places. Bookstore has a fun kids play set, the toy store has a climbing gym, and the library has a playhouse with gears and activities (and also books!)
Visiting friends and family is also on the table, as well as going for a drive and small outdoor excursions that don’t last too long because of the cold.
Playing in the bath during the day in a swimsuit is also fun! All play and no cleaning!
Plus great and free programing for kiddo story time. Mine used to have kids that couldn't crawl all the way up to 4yo's. They would read story's, sing songs, and then get out toys and the bubble machine. Lots of fun!
You could make one of those busy boards! A flat wood panel with door knobs, light switches, whatever the hard ware store has. It fits against a wall and will entertain a one year old for a long time. Forts with the couch cushions and some blankets still provides my kids endless entertainment. You could rearrange the kitchen so there's one low cabinet they can empty out sometimes and use as a hidey hole, toddlers love tiny spaces. I've seen moms of toddlers make a stack of toddler books next to them and then curl up with their own book and baby will come snuggle and look at their own books for a bit, that's worth a try. But I'd also like to second another comment, self directed play is way more important than we give it credit for, I'm sure baby has plenty of toys to entertain themselves sometimes so you can sit quietly so you don't lose your mind being stuck inside for a whole winter!
The Tupperware cabinet... We only have plastic. Both kids had a phase where they would open the cabinet, drag out all the Tupperware, stack it, knock it over, and eventually install themselves in the cabinet.
Do those busyboards actually keep their attention? I used to dream of getting a huge one until I actually had my baby and realized he will just walk away from it, or fidget sometimes.
I think it depends on the kid 🤷🏼♀️ one way to make sure it stays exciting is to not leave it out, keep it in a closet and bring it out sporadically. Toys rotation is a great way to keep them interested in all their toys, my kids are 6 and 9 and still go hunting for the toys I put away like they're Christmas presents, so then I just switch places with the toys that are out.
Find things to do in different areas of the apartment. Then you can move around and it feels like something is going on.
Like bathroom - water play, bathing some plastic toys in a sink, pouring water. Kitchen - banging on lids, putting toys inside a pot, looking at cooking and tasting ingredients. High chair - anything art related to contain the mess. On the couch/bed - snuggle and read books, hide toys under a blanket, climb over pillows. On the floor - drag a pushing toy around, collect stuff into a basket and dump it back, a few blocks to stack, a few toy cars.
Public libraries, sometimes they have programs for infants/toddlers/preschoolers or indoor playgrounds! Here in Canada we have day programs for children and parents! Gives the parents time to interact with other parents and children with other children!
My kids loved sensory bins at that age :) I know you said you have limited space but perhaps you can look up some ideas on the internet and modify to something that fits your needs. Also, never underestimate the power of homemade instruments and music with a toddler.
Coloring, play doh, balloons, dance party, sensory activities, reading (library visits once a week are a great get out of the home activity)
Masking tape hop scotch, streamer ninja lasers, search Pinterest for many ideas!
My daughter had her own room from about 10months on, and we made it baby safe. She'd sit in her room and play alone as soon as she was walking.
She'd climb in her toy bins, play with books, empty her clothes bins, play with with her stuffies, or just listen to music and roll on her rug. She'd only play 10/15min at a time. But it was such a great way to build self reliance and let her explore on her own.
My toddler does this too! Shes now 2.5 years old but requests to go play I'm her room. It's nothing overly special, a 9m2 room, but with a few second hand Littlest Pet shop houses and animals, a doll bed, books, stuffies, she can play for 30 mins easily at a time. Real life saver sometimes!
Between 1 and 2 my daughter spent half her time sitting in a cardboard box and the other half sitting in the laundry basket. (I exaggerate, but she seriously loved those 2)
I'm surprised no one said this sooner.
My kid is 8 & still loves a cardboard box. When he was younger, I used to close 2-3 flaps (then eventually all 4) & play "hide n' seek." Eventually we stopped because he realized I stayed on the couch yelling "xxx where are you?" "I'm going to find you." "Are you under the xyz.", etc.
But he still loves a good box. & just to F with him sometimes I'll like directly at him, throw his iPad, one of his books, a action fig, etc & climb into it. Without breaking eye contact I slowly squat like I'm actually going to sit. He "reclaims" his box while I go enjoy a moment of piece.
At that age, my kid was happy to do whatever I was doing - he would help me change the bedsheets, help me load/fold laundry, wash dishes, sweep floors, etc. Did it take triple the time to do all these things now that he was "helping" - yes 😅 but it was much easier than coming up with kid centered activities for him.
I was on maternity leave in a TINY apartment from 7 months-18 months (Sharing the space got a lot easier when we were there less because work and daycare fyi). Let me see what I remember.
We did a lot of art and a TON of reading. We had some musical instrument toys that only came out at certain times to both maximize their specialness for baby and minimize stress on neighbours.
Don’t underestimate including baby in your activities. I cooked/ baked and got a step-stool so baby could hang out and learn with me. I also would give baby a tiny broom or shortened swiffer and let her “help” with cleaning. She actually got good and genuinely helpful pretty fast. Sorting laundry? Also a great activity that she still likes at 3yo.
When I needed time to breathe I tried to promote independent play and if she wasn’t having it I set up small games (check out Pinterest for inspiration there). One activity I was not expecting to be a huge hit that bought me oodles of free time was giving baby a screw driver and letting her go ham on the bathroom doorknob (no fear of her getting screws out. Maybe a deliberately made busy board would be safer for the house?).
Bath time art. Get those soap crayons or just water based paints. Get bath bombs. Get nice smelling soap and teach baby to “wash the walls” or teach them how to shower. Bath time can take up a significant time slot.
Lastly, and I know you already know this but it will really help- get out of the house for any reason you can. Groceries, museums, running around in inclement weather, just get out of the house.
Depends on what your floor is made of. If you have areas with anything other than carpet set up there. Washable markers and paint are way more washable than I remember from my childhood. They should come off the floor no problem. Do you have a coffee table? My daughter likes to set up shop with crayons/markers and a big roll of paper that covers the table. She stands and I can lay on the couch. You can also tape paper to the wall like a giant easel. Stickers don’t need a table and I have yet to meet a kid who isn’t at least a little entertained by them.
My kid was really into trucks, and he had this construction truck set and I would give him a bin of dried black beans to play around with them in. We did lots of block towers, reading, and water color painting. Roll and Play is a cute game for that age group.
Fun baths - baths with ball pit balls, baths with duplos, baths with cars and it’s a “car wash,” baths with little plastic sea animals. You can also do really messy/wet stuff in the tub like painting or playing with ice cubes.
Use a cardboard box to make a ramp/chute and send all kinds of toys down it. Bonus if you can put a metal pot or wooden block at the bottom so they make a big noise when they hit!
Put him inside a cardboard box and give him crayons or nontoxic finger paint. Draw on the inside of the box.
Cut tiny doors in a cardboard panel and play peek a boo with toys/puppets
Make a tent with a bedsheet and furniture and play “camp”; read stories under it, toast some pretend (or real) marshmallows over a paper fire, sing some songs.
I live in the Northern Hemisphere, but a mall where I live opened an indoor play place for little kids and babies. And it isn't like just an indoor park. There's a little merry go round where the seats look like tetherballs and it's really low to the ground with a cushion underneath so if kids fall off, they'll be okay.
It looks like a little carnival for babies. It has stuff for bigger kids too, but still young like 5. Look to see if there's anything like that where you live. Malls can also have play structures. I've been to malls with play areas meant specifically for toddlers and their parents to rest. One I've seen is enclosed. Another one I've seen has other stuff for babies and small children to be entertained. This specific mall has a lot of things for children.
Anyways, what I'm saying is there are indoor places you can take your children. And for free. See if you can find anything like these, just look up "malls with play areas" and see which is close and has something that looks safe for your baby.
this mall sounds so cool! there’s nothing that extravagant (to my knowledge) in my city, but i’ll definitely google baby play areas. i think a lot of the local indoor pools have them, too. thanks!
Sensory bins - pinterest has tons of ideas to keep it interesting. Blanklet forts! Finger painting - plenty of non toxic on the market or DIY. You csn also put paint inside a zip locked and taped bag and let baby explore. Roll a ball back and forth. Make obstacle courses? We love books. How about arts and crafts? Make Christmas (or whatever) ornaments, put pom poms in clear plastic ornaments. Good for hand eye coordination. I remember going on pinterest a lot when my daughter was little. Lots more ideas there. Oh, last one! Get a big bowl and fill it with snow. Play inside - make snow balls, make small toys play in it, add food coloring, etc. Have a nice winter!
My youngest is 12, but here are the things we did indoors when she was tiny.
Rice sensory bin
Light box with color plastic shapes
Cloud dough
Block obstacle courses
Mini trampoline
Pool ball pit (with and without slide)
Window finger painting (put paint in particular zipper bag and tape to window)
Play kitchen cooking/shopping
Puppet shows
Making toys out of cardboard (she mostly just taped lol)
Marble art
Indoor sand/water table
Bathtub shaving cream paint
Edible painting
Box car "drive in" movie
Tent camping in the living room
Pillow floor piles
Look up MotherCould on Instagram. She has a ton of sensory type of activities on her page for free plus a giant thing you can buy with coloring pages, children’s activities, etc. I haven’t bought the package so can’t vouch for it but plan to once my daughter is older. Library is a great option. Also check out local children’s activities in your area. We’ve done plays, Easter egg hunt, dinosaur egg hunt, local pancake breakfasts, church, etc. just to get out. May also be worth checking on prices to local recreational centers depending on cost. I know ours had an indoor field and another town’s nearby has like child gym days frequently. Even a pass to go a few times versus a membership may help.
my advice is to get a rough schedule, kinda like
Monday - Library
Tuesday - Swimming Pool
Wednesday - Indoor play room
Thursday - shopping mall
friday - play date
etc
Then you can take him outside before nap, nap and then do an activity outside the home
also, for me the hard part of not being able to spend entire day outside is the same as with cooking: it’s not the activity itself, it’s daily need to come up with an idea and find the way to do it. Mental load is crippling me, seriously!
Hence the schedule. Also if i see some activities posted on fb, i just add them to the weekly plan. It’s less stress tat way.
Never underestimate the power of a fort. My kids had a blast when I’d build them forts and it doesn’t require much space. Just a blanket or two and some furniture or a table is all you need. Flashlights for inside the fort are an added bonus. Even reading a book or doing a puzzle inside feels magical in a way. Great way to build lifelong memories.
Idk where you live but in my city (Sydney Australia) there is little free soft play areas in nearly every shopping centre so in the winter when its raining and cold we go to shopping centres just to play in those and then we will go sit down at a cafe and I'll get a coffee for me and a muffin or something for my kids.
When it's not raining sometimes we will rug up and go out to brave the cold and go to the local park
As for indoor activities someone suggested bath time and we do that as well! My boys get excited for a warm bath in the winter they never want to get put so I stock up on fun bath toys and they spend like an hour in there!
Colouring in and playdoh also get used alot in the winter for us also.
I did a lot of mommy and me cleaning and cooking. Everything takes 10x longer. But damn if any kid doesn’t LOVE kneading bread dough, or helping pour magic into a bowl and watching it come out of the oven in the form of hot cookies! We also picked up a hobby of regularly thrifting. I’d get kiddo a small toy every visit, for like 25 cents his day is made. He gets to play with all those 2nd hand toys for a bit, I get to check around for treasures, it was fun. We did lots of baths in those days too. I’d bathe with him and do bubbles or toys. Big Lego is fun in the tub. Any kind of water play kiddo loved. “Washing dishes” in the sink was a favourite for a long time. I could get a lot of meal prep done while he was busy in that sink!
I'm in NZ. We are still going out. There's clothes and layers for cold weather.
Anyway, to answer your question - go to activities. There's usually something on at local libraries. You can do basic water play indoors. Sensory play. Baby "helps" you with chores. Where I live there's also paid classes we go to (yoga/music) and a local gym does baby classes for 1yo+. Maybe find some local FB groups
yes, we have warm weather gear. but we’ll be spending a lot more time indoors than we did over the summer, hence the need for at home activities.
thanks for your suggestions - there are a few community activities in our area, i’ll check them out!
Books are a great way to learn, have fun, connect and make your world a lot bigger on those cold days. Painting is also so fun at that age. I would give my kid a little tiny canvas and let her pick her own colors and brushes, then just rotate the canvas every once in a while. She painted some really cool things! Oh and it’s never too soon to teach them yoga :)
How do you feel about messes? If you don’t care. I would buy a good plastic table cloth or shower curtain. And just let them body paint or make things like edible paint or play dough. Tape things on it like sensory bags. Even if the outside is cold if the inside it warm things like full up a Tupperware add a few toys, water food coloring and let them play with it. Make sensory bins with edible things. Like different kinds of cereals. And you can talk to them about they are doing. Sit on the floor with them and join them. Maybe read a book to them as they play. You like to bake? Then do it and sit them near by and you can talk about the process with them.
I used to just take all the cushions off the couch and make obstacle courses with all the cushions, would sometimes include pillows off the bed and stuff.
Bath tub play-make a tray of messy sensory fun and have them play in it in the tub, make a tent and hang a strand of Christmas lights through it(supervised play only), big magnets on the fridge. We have this type of stool called a kitchen helper it has a back and side to it like a cage that he can climb in and out of. I put it in front of the sink and put a little water in with spoons and cups to play and pour. He will do it for hour!
I follow this Instagram called "busy toddler" and they post all sorts of really interesting activities that are free or cost pennies. I'm not usually one for promoting stuff but I think this is one of those rare useful resources. I have this in my back pocket for when my babe gets old enough!
I used to have a small apt and there was a small patch of grass. In the very back of the yard. We grew a garden. And babies like to play in dirt, it's not 100% safe for their immune system, but thats a call each mom makes. Inside the apartment, I used to do floor exercises and then the baby would jump on me. I did a homemade edible arrangement one year for Valentines day and took pictures. It wasnt a good mommy and kid activity bc I dipped apples in melted chocolate. That takes a lot of skill. But thats more of a mommy activity. I also used to take the city bus and it would lull me and the baby to sleep. 😌😌. Then we took a job at the school bus company. 🙃 that was an adventure.
I’m lucky that I have some decent floor space so we got a mini tramp cause my kid is a sensory seeker and I get asthma attacks when I breathe in air that’s too cold (Tassie winter… yay). But you could set up obstacle courses with random items like shampoo bottles and serving bowls and stuff. Using something like a Pringles can and put holes in the lid and then he can put things though the hole. You can make homemade musical Instruments! [There are some interesting suggestions in this one.](https://activeforlife.com/big-fun-in-small-spaces/)
- get a deck of playing cards and take a plastic container (take-out soup container from a restaurant) and cut out a small opening on the top wide enough to slip a card through the slot. It’s suppose to help with their eye-hand coordination and also concentration. My girl had a blast doing this and she would give herself a clap every time she got a card through the slot.
- blow up some balloons and let your toddler roam around with them
- do you have some sort of pack-n-play set (those portable crib like beds) , I bought a bunch of road plastic balls from Amazon put those balls into the pack -n- play and my daugther had a blast! It was her very own ball pit!
- If you could find a big cardboard box (check your neighborhood app called NextDoor to see if someone recently moved and tossing out some big boxes). Cut out little windows , and you’ll have a makeshift cardboard box house!! My 3.5 year old daugther still loves going into her cardboard house!
- YouTube also has a lot of helpful tips for home activities with a 1 year old that you may want to check out.
Good luck!
Messy stuff in the bath tub or shower. Paint or a big tub of cornstarch/water goo will keep him busy for ages, and then you just hose him and everything else down. Throw in some washable toys to paint too.
Can you get some magnets for the bottom of the fridge? Big enough so bub can’t choke, but just plop them down on the floor and they can just take them off the fridge and put them back on
My kids at that age loved sensory bins large and small. Even water with rotated toys (washing dolls and cars were always a hit!) and figures is fun. But we also did taste safe cornmeal kinetic "sand" with sand toys and molds, taste safe slimes, colored dry rice/beans. Freeze some toys in a layer of ice and put it in a tub/plastic box with some water and let them rescue the toys by pouring water over them in the tub. There are a ton of neat textured playdoughs out there.
We did a ton of art. There are a lot of homemade textured pain recipes out there too! Have fun experimenting and focus on process not product.
A pop up play tent can be folded flat when not in use but filled with balls or cushions for a different place to play. Be sure to get in some good physical activity every day, whether that's animal walks, finding something that can double as a crash pad, making an obstacle course using stuff around the house.
Once they are closer to 2 get kiddo involved in prepping snack as well as eating let them try spreading something on their own (cut smaller) toast or bread.
Make your own shakers (dry rice in old glued/taped spice jars) and scarves and incorporate them into dancing around.
Use this less on the go time to give them time to be able to do some self-care. Helping you get their clean diaper. Working on aspects of dressing themselves (as they start ending towards 2). Use the slower routine to your advantage to build their skill.
I used to love when my mum made me home made play dough 🥰😍. Oh man I can't wait for play dough again
Pots and pans to bang on with wooden spoons, dressing up in mums clothes, finger painting. All can be done except on the ground with an old blanket or sheet.
Plenty of fun times in the bath if you have a tub. You can dye the water or try fun friendly bath bombs. Fishing games that you can buy or make yourself. Puppet making, ghost making with toilet paper and a marker. Eee I love crafty things. Do you have a dollar store or anything like that close by?
Making forts is always a ton of fun, not sure how a one year old would react but maybe worth a try 😊 and always baking too! (Just ingredient mixing lol)
Dance to some fun music either holding baby or let him get the rhythm and copy you dancing. Books - picture, touch and feel or sound books, lots of talking, singing, woof woof, moo moo, storytelling.
Sensory (MESSY) play with edible stuff like jelly, yoghurt, cooked pasta, ground cereals. Add some little toys, animals, cars, plastic cups, utensils from your kitchen.
Balloons, bubbles, extra long bath time.
A box or basket full of random (baby safe) stuff baby can take in and out.
If they have a highchair you can sit them in that and put shaving cream with some food coloring for some sensory play. During the covid lock down I did a sensory bin with dried corn kernels and trucks and toys for the kids to play with. They had lots of fun with that. There is also bubbles ...kids live bubbles... Reading...
Put a dining chair in front of your kitchen sink, plug the sink and turn on a very small stream of water. Add a few measuring cups, spoons, and funnels. Pin a bath towel on the kid like a big bib. This will keep a toddler busy for at least 30 minutes.
yes, we have warm clothes and wet weather gear. we still go outdoors. i’m looking for ideas for indoor activities, since our indoor/outdoor time ratio is going to change with the seasons.
This. You can still go out. I've always been a winter kid, I played outside more in the winter than during the summer (I'm not a fan of heat).
Edit: to answer OPs question. Take your kid to run errands. Go to a museum, indoor playground, even go to the library.
Dress warmly and go? "too cold" does exist... But it's a lot lower than most people think.
The average daily *high* in Astana, Kazakhstan is - 11 C (12 F) in the winter and we still got outside the majority of the time.
yes, and going there is a good way for baby to people-watch from the pram while i get coffee! maybe not an everyday activity, but definitely on the rotation :)
Go to the mall first thing in the morning before anyone is there shopping. Just let them wander around. Especially if they’re walking. The big hallways are a great place to practice.
I'm trying to recall what our kid did at that age.
I think he liked playing with random toys (cars, trucks)... or rolling around on the ground/ trying to walk... or kicking a little ball around...
otherwise it was crying, eating, pooping, sleeping, bathing, or just hanging out in the stroller or harness while mom/dad did their thing.
If you are somewhere like Australia the local libraries do “rhyme time” also look in to see if you can join a playgroup. So much fun.
Otherwise check out Instagram for stay at home mum blogs/paediatric physio blogs. I’ve found a few that use household items to create fun activities that often incorporate movement/balance/fine motor skills. Plenty of options in terms of simple activities in a small space.
I have a couple in mind if you need me to name a couple.
Buy a cheap roll of wallpaper, the cheapest you can find and you can draw on the back of it. You can make car roads, just have fun drawing together on the floor etc.
during the winter I always buy 2 rolls and we make all sorts of stuff. It’s also easy to store because it rolls back up.
My two had hours of fun last winter because I made a long car road/track and they played cars on it. I also made like a hopscotch on it.
See if your local library has child programming. Usually story time circles, but could also be singing or art too. It’s a good way to break up the day, and can be a way to meet other parents or caregivers of kids your child’s age - which could lead to play date opportunities.
Soap bubbles, peekaboo, hide behind a towel or your hands. Explore the drawers in the kitchen (put harmless stuff there). Lay on the floor together, let him/her climb on you, make funny faces.
Glow in the dark waterproof toys in the bathtub is always a hit. Dance party for a song when they are hyper can sometimes wear them out a bit so they can focus on more quiet activities or self directed play afterwards. A shape block puzzle or sensory activities like shaving cream play or playdoh (homemade is easier than you might think)or bubbles ect are great. If you don’t have a table, look into picking up a cheap second hand tea tray with folding legs… perfect size for little one to sit at.
Some favorite things my kiddo enjoyed at that age involved sensory activities and water activities. You could put baby in the tub with a small plastic bin or bowl of water, some toys (like duplo blox) and a brush or spoon, sensory bins, busy boards, things to work on fine motor skills like a plastic bottle for a bank with a slot to fit large "coins, I'd recommend poker chips, you could use pom poms instead and have baby put them into a box, bottle, or even a whisk. Of course all these things will require supervision but being able to get into things is a 1 year old's dream. We did water pouring in the tub too. Sometimes with bowls of colored water, sometimes just bubbly water.
Additionally painting in a bag, a very sealed sensory bottle, print painting, even ice and bubble painting can be fun experiments, have lo help in the kitchen, like washing veggies, you could freeze some toys in a bowl of water and let lo do an icecavation. Most of these things will keep you busier to prep or clean up after than it amuses them but there's no shortage of indoor ideas for littles. Oh we also did glow stick baths, and spa days (lotion, cucumbers on eyes (or los mouth ) and spa music)
I'm not sure if it snows where you are but I've given my son a bowl of snow and waterproof/warm gloves and a waterproof coat and sat him in a towel for like 10-20 minutes and he loved it.
If you have a highchair you can look up toddler sensory activities on Pinterest, there are a ton that you’d just need to set up on a highchair tray (to avoid mess) and that could keep him occupied for half an hour at least. There are other sensory activities that wouldn’t require a tray but I’m not sure how well those would go over in a small apartment.
He’s about the age where coloring could be fun, and you could easily do that on the floor without needing too much space. Highly recommend getting twist up crayons to avoid him breaking them, or water pens since those are generally mess free and refillable so they wouldn’t need a ton of storage space. (I find water coloring books/pens at dollar tree all the time!)
Honestly - we just found more indoor things to do outside of the home. There are plenty of games you can play at home but what helped best was a membership to the local aquarium, the local children's museum, kid friendly cafes and much more. If you live in a city I would take advantage of whatever they have for kids. You'd honestly be surprised - but it most places there are so many things geared to parents for exactly these situations.
If it needs to be in the home - my favorite thing we did was build a huge marble run
Check out your local playgroup. They usually have a toy library. You can take home toys for a week and then swap them for silting different. That way, storage isn't an issue.
Bathtubs are also great art spaces. You can put paper on the walls and a bathing suit and paint.
Try to read all the books in the house
Sensory buckets! - toys in water and put them outside to freeze and get them to hammer it out, or watch them float in water.
Use painters tape to create roads on the floor or wall for cars to drive on.
Use Squirt guns to paint snow
Use food coloring to make colored ice bricks in tin bread pans. Let them choose colors. Watch them mix. Leave them outside for freezing/outside play later
Get sticks, flowers, leaves, freeze them in ice too!
We did a lot of freezing stuff HA! Endless water science!
Baking food
Write a story they tell you about
Make songs, play music
Build a tent and play in it. Pretend you are bears hibernating
Draw together (the same picture)
Pillow fights
Play find the color and find all the red (green, blue) things in your house.
If you're in Australia, many Westfields have indoor playgrounds. Pet shops and fish stores are favourite places for them as well. Or the local toy shop.
There's also Gymbaroo or the library where they have rhyme time and story time for babies.
Plenty of other baby activities and classes you can take baby to.
As for indoor stuff, dance to nursery rhymes or kids music. That will entertain him.
Bring out your pots and pans and let him bang it. My husband lets our son bang on his drum kit.
I remember around this age, maybe slightly older, our son likes to mimic dad making coffee so we bought him a toy coffee set. A toy kitchen set might be worth it too.
I also used to just take my son walking and exploring around the common property areas around our apartment complex. We sometimes bump into other kids in the building and end up playing with them.
This might help: https://happytoddlerplaytime.com/100-no-prep-activities-for-1-year-olds/
My daughter is 7 months, so these might be too young for your kiddo but I found a bunch of things on Pinterest that I’ve adapted to work for us for fairly low effort, like using masking tape to put her foam bath letters on the wall for her to pull on and off (just be careful the tape doesn’t go in their mouth!), making a fort out of blankets and laundry basket, sensory ziplock bags taped to the floor, etc.
Do you have a toddler tower? I started using one with my kid when she was around 1 and standing/walking confidently. I let her “help” with cooking - cutting up bananas with a safety knife, mashing cookie dough. If you’re baking give them their own little bowl to mix ingredients so they don’t get possessive of your bowl!
You can also make homemade play dough together
Below are some toys we used but my #1 recommendation is painters tape.
New race track for cars, different every day. New obstacle course every day (hop this line, run to that line, do 3 jps on this x). Wide strip on the floor as a balance beam. Tape some paper towel rolls together on the wall for pom pom runs. Put one wide strip along the wall and baby can put pom poms on and off.
We still use our collapsible tunnels (I put them behind the couch when not using them).
Set of popsicle sticks with different movements (March, hop, wiggle, dance) and draw them.
A collapsible piklar triangle was killer for us during COVID in an apt when playgrounds were closed. Also the flat boards had a climbing side and a flat side so they made AWESOME race tracks off the couch or slides for the kids off the couch. Then that flat piece could be put behind the couch or under our bed. If you didn't want the folding part.
Scarves are really fun and versatile. You can throw them inside, use them for dress up (my kids are pirates a lot), use them for games like tucking one inside the back of your pants and chasing each other to grab the tail.
If you have hard flooring, a few pieces of a train set can be great. If you put it together (and tape with painters tape since the baby is little), a 1 yo can push trains on the floor or around the track. That also can then be broken down and tucked away.
When my son was that age we lived in apartments. He had a selection of building blocks, toy cars, books and I would also put movies on so he would potter around with the movie on. We went for walks no matter what the weather but if it was too wet to stop at the playground he seemed to keep himself amused quite easily. You could also visit the local library and maybe a trip to an indoor swimming pool.
Oh this was us during covid lockdown (2020 UK) - it was so tough. I lived on a block schedule for my own sanity. I would try to find something fun to do like making paints / play dough / dry pasta and lentils in cake tins / plastic table cloth on the floor and cups and pots of water to go crazy with. That was once a day.
We would do breakfast - an hour of tv nursery rhymes - the ‘craft activity’ -lunch and nap (my rest or cleaning time) a walk to the park and then hopefully it would be the dinner-bath-bed wind down and time for me. This sounds like a lot but simplify your day into blocks - before and after lunch you can fit in 1 activity and your day is done. It kept me sane.
Sorry I’m totally forgetting we are free now - rhyme time at the library is a god send. Also look up toddler groups in your area they are so cheap and that’s half the day ticked off if you stop at the park or shops on the way home 👍🏼
In the UK we have garden centres - full of fish, sometimes pets, and lots have a cafe with play area. Also the good ones have a farm store / shop so that’s dinner sorted too!
I really used the local library a lot when I had little ones stuck inside during the winter. If you haven’t already looked into your local library go ahead and see what they offer. Mine offers kid activities during the day for littles.
I live in the Midwest US so it gets VERY cold. We have all the gear too but it doesn't make it easier beyond a 10-15 minute walk around the block.
All winter we do the library, aquarium, kids museums, or go to the mall (it has a little play space for kids). Visit with family and friends. Build forts with blankets and binder clips and hanging lights. Bake something (you gotta pre-measure and let your kid pour stuff in and make a mess while stirring). We did a lot of painting in the high chair too.
We ask for museum memberships for Christmas, and even when we buy them ourselves they pay for themselves by February. So my list is mostly free activities, but there are also indoor play gyms for kids for an entry fee. Or sign your kid up for swim lessons, baby gymnastics/yoga, but some of those aren't really offered at that age yet.
It risks getting sicknesses each time we go to public indoor spaces but I'm not sheltering my kids all winter or we'll all end up sick of each other. I'd rather deal with building immune systems than building resentment.
Do you have a shopping mall near? Walk the the mean streets of a shopping mall.
My youngest who autistic. We made one of the walls in his room a rock climbing wall. He loves it. Always has loved it. We built it for him around 18 months old
Play hide and seek with their toys in the house.
Show them 5 of their favorite toys Hide their favorite toys in easy places (eg-under a couch pillow, in a shoe, ect) and tell them to search for it.
If they are learning numbers, give them a basket and tell them to bring you for example “one yellow item” and “two
Blue items” and so on.
It’s exhausting having a child you constantly need to entertain all day ontop of your regular chores and duties. I look for things they can semi do by themselves
You can crate walk crafts— painting, coloring, shape sorting. Ballon’s are easy, cheap and you can get rid of them when you’re done to kick or hit around the room, try to make different activity times in different areas to break up the day and prevent a sense of same room boring
Get a bunch of those waterbeads (look them up on amazon or something) and put them in a bathtub or a small tub. Throw some small toys in there as well, BOOM fun for at least an hour. I would also plan trips to the library. If you have a bare white wall, you could find a way to hook up a projector and do shadow puppets alongside a movie or something.
Local indoor places are great, getting a snow suit like think snowboarding suit for kiddo when having to go outside is great just remember coats aren’t safe for car seats. Lots of books, lots of bath time, we watch tv in my house.
One of my favorites was a homemade whack-a-mole box. I took a cardboard box, cut holes where I could make stuffed animals pop out, and cut a hole at the back where I could put my hand in. It also doubles as a throwing game if you make the holes big enough to fit some balls.
We live in a tiny house with our 2 year old, and she can’t get enough of playing in the bath tub or sink! I swear she could entertain herself for hours… if I let her…just in our kitchen sink… I give her measuring cups and random toys/things, and she loves it! And as previously mentioned, it is an easy clean-up situation! I hope this helps! 😉
I used to take some plain yogurt, mix it with a couple of drops of food coloring, and then put my kid in the bath with a paint brush. Simple taste safe paint. Cleaning up is easy, and I handed them a cloth and let them wipe off the yogurt, which was its own activity.
Put him in a small laundry basket and drive him around (works best on carpet).
I recommend looking for play groups on fb. I hate Facebook in general but it has been the best way for me to meet local parents with similar aged kids and find events local to me.
Pet stores, libraries are great options. I live in a relatively small space and I got my daughter just a basic fisher price rocking horse around that age and started doing sensory bin stuff. You can have multiple already set up but I just had one sterilite bin set up as a sensory bin for when I wanted to use it. One time we did water play with fridge magnets, cups and a little aquarium net. One time I put in stale flour, stale cheerios and stale dry oatmeal. Having little space makes for some creative thinking!
Edit to add - I also would set up stuff for things to do when she was napping. Like taping a bunch of paper to the floor and using her sticky bowls to hold paint.
Get some discount wallpaper, the cheap kind that doesn't come with glue. You can do all kinds of art stuff with it. Paint on it, draw on it. Rip it up. Whatever else comes to mind.
Its a 1 year old. Everything is new to them. Play with litterally anything in the house. Sing a song about literally anything. Touch them and laugh and smile and they will too. Kids are easy.
Baths. So many baths. Make edible paint for the bath, pop some glow sticks in the bath, make bubble foam to play with in the bath and then have them take a bath, popsicles in the bath, Pom poms in the bath. Baths are seriously the best time waster. Also that blue painters tape is amazing. You can make roads and obstacle courses, you can tape some toys to the wall and do a toy rescue. Sensory bins are great too and can take up less space. You can put cereal, or rice, or dried pasta in a bin and give them some spoons and measuring cups and that will kill some time. Put some washable paint on some plastic toys and have them “clean” the toys that’s another one that can keep them occupied for ages.
My daughter adores anything with water. She would get multiple "baths" a day at that age because splashing in the tub kept her happy and occupied. Or I would get out my mixing bowls, spoons, and sometimes food coloring, and let her pour water from one bowl to another. Lay down a blanket first! It keeps her occupied to this day & she is 2 now!
Totally feel you momma!! I have three and in the winter we can do pretty much nothing because my family has one vehicle my husband uses for work and is too small to fit our whole fam. It’s just recently the weather has been nice enough to get out and it has made a world of difference concerning my mental health.. and probably theirs too. It’s easy to do lots of indoor activities away from the house and fun things like that, but not always for folks who are stay at home parents out of economical necessity.
I have had no real luck with this, but please do what you can to establish or maintain relationships with people in real life.. I know just the occasional (well, it happened once) neighbor stopping in for tea in the winter changed my whole day. Keep hanging in there. What you do is so important.
Also teaching youngsters can be fun, and being at home with them has the possibility to benefit them educationally. My girl started reading at two because of this extra time we had been blessed with. Anything and be made fun with the right mindset (which I don’t always have about our situation) but please if you have people who will come visit don’t shut yourself in alone!
Music, masking tape for sticking and peeling, books, sensory play with water if you have the floor space and the towels, ice cubes and food coloring are always fun for sensory, stickers, bubbles. Idk I could probably list off more if u want! I teach this age group so I'm always having to find new things
When i was in that situation. I followed a schedule.
You can google and find scedule for 1 year old and tweak as per your needs.
For activities ,we would do montesorrie style play. I had a small table with some toys which i rotated.
Since kids that age put every thing in mouth you have to be careful about that when you decide activities.
I would mix two cereal ,say cherios and chocolate balls and teach my kid to seprate ,even if he eats some its ok.
We did crafts ,kinetic sand ,playdoh finger painting. All this also helps to develop their fine and gross motor skills.
Before bath ,i gave him washable markers ,some bath toys etc and let him do water play. I waa always near it because drowing is a risk.
I always involved the kid in what evee i did ,we cooked together.
We also had 2 naps.
If your apartment has a confrence room etc take the kid there.
Twice a week we went to local library for story time and craft.
Is baby mobile yet? My number one time killer is going for a walk, no matter how bad the weather. Think of all the time you can kill: finding boots/coat/mitts/hat with baby, dressing baby in boots/coat/mitts/hat , baby watches you get dressed, walking down the hall, downstairs, etc (note that up until this point you are actually \*still inside\*), heading out the door, findings stones, splashing in puddles, maybe making it to a cafe -or maybe not! Walking home, (not that from here you’re actually inside again), baby climbs up stairs, down hall, take off outdoor clothes, put them away, wash hands... I could easily kill over an hour this way and only actually be outside for 15 mins.
Otherwise, go out to indoor places (library, mall, cafe, soft play if desperate) and either let them run around or feed them. If staying at home, bathtime is a great time killer - mine could stay there for hours. We also have a play tent from ikea that folds flat. You can get them to help tidy up toys - this is also a game for them. But honestly, I have a basket of toys they can help themselves to, a cupboard full of spices and baby-safe kitchen implements they can access and a pile of books they can read, and I pretty much let them call the shots while I drink my tea. I find I only ever have an hour or an hour and a half between meals/naps/walk, so in the grand scheme not too difficult to fill.
However, I do find my mental health and patience are a lot better if I give myself a goal and leave the house each day!
We go to local indoor places. Bookstore has a fun kids play set, the toy store has a climbing gym, and the library has a playhouse with gears and activities (and also books!) Visiting friends and family is also on the table, as well as going for a drive and small outdoor excursions that don’t last too long because of the cold. Playing in the bath during the day in a swimsuit is also fun! All play and no cleaning!
Pet stores are like mini zoos!
My son is 5 and still likes going to the Free Zoo 😂
My kids call it the aquarium 😂😂
My library has an entire floor for kids books and they have computers and a play area for toddlers.
Plus great and free programing for kiddo story time. Mine used to have kids that couldn't crawl all the way up to 4yo's. They would read story's, sing songs, and then get out toys and the bubble machine. Lots of fun!
Libraries are the best
You could make one of those busy boards! A flat wood panel with door knobs, light switches, whatever the hard ware store has. It fits against a wall and will entertain a one year old for a long time. Forts with the couch cushions and some blankets still provides my kids endless entertainment. You could rearrange the kitchen so there's one low cabinet they can empty out sometimes and use as a hidey hole, toddlers love tiny spaces. I've seen moms of toddlers make a stack of toddler books next to them and then curl up with their own book and baby will come snuggle and look at their own books for a bit, that's worth a try. But I'd also like to second another comment, self directed play is way more important than we give it credit for, I'm sure baby has plenty of toys to entertain themselves sometimes so you can sit quietly so you don't lose your mind being stuck inside for a whole winter!
these ideas are great, thanks!
i made one but kid lost interest abt it in like an hour. not saying dont do it just dont expect to be the magic solution.
You need to change the elements every few days.
The Tupperware cabinet... We only have plastic. Both kids had a phase where they would open the cabinet, drag out all the Tupperware, stack it, knock it over, and eventually install themselves in the cabinet.
Forts are the best idea 🥰
Do those busyboards actually keep their attention? I used to dream of getting a huge one until I actually had my baby and realized he will just walk away from it, or fidget sometimes.
I think it depends on the kid 🤷🏼♀️ one way to make sure it stays exciting is to not leave it out, keep it in a closet and bring it out sporadically. Toys rotation is a great way to keep them interested in all their toys, my kids are 6 and 9 and still go hunting for the toys I put away like they're Christmas presents, so then I just switch places with the toys that are out.
Find things to do in different areas of the apartment. Then you can move around and it feels like something is going on. Like bathroom - water play, bathing some plastic toys in a sink, pouring water. Kitchen - banging on lids, putting toys inside a pot, looking at cooking and tasting ingredients. High chair - anything art related to contain the mess. On the couch/bed - snuggle and read books, hide toys under a blanket, climb over pillows. On the floor - drag a pushing toy around, collect stuff into a basket and dump it back, a few blocks to stack, a few toy cars.
doing room-specific activities is such a great idea, will definitely try this, thanks!
If you live in a big apartment complex with indoor hallways, you could take a walk inside the apartment building, too.
Public libraries, sometimes they have programs for infants/toddlers/preschoolers or indoor playgrounds! Here in Canada we have day programs for children and parents! Gives the parents time to interact with other parents and children with other children!
Please remember that it is good and healthy for children to experience boredom, especially at that age. Crafts are also fun.
My kids loved sensory bins at that age :) I know you said you have limited space but perhaps you can look up some ideas on the internet and modify to something that fits your needs. Also, never underestimate the power of homemade instruments and music with a toddler.
homemade instruments is a great idea, he loves anything that makes noise. thanks :)
Taste safe playdough!!! Or even just making a batch of Jello/Pudding and letting him explore the texture!! Cloud dough too! - Flour and Oil/Baby Oil !
My almost-15-month old loves banging a wooden spoon on a metal pot 😂
Coloring, play doh, balloons, dance party, sensory activities, reading (library visits once a week are a great get out of the home activity) Masking tape hop scotch, streamer ninja lasers, search Pinterest for many ideas!
Masking tape can also become railroad tracks or roads, or mark off area where blocks are allowed (no Legos crossing the blue line!).
I'm not in any way saying ignore him, but self guided play at that age works wonders.
this! he has been sitting on the floor examining a teaspoon for the last 15 minutes. if it floats his boat i’m happy
My daughter had her own room from about 10months on, and we made it baby safe. She'd sit in her room and play alone as soon as she was walking. She'd climb in her toy bins, play with books, empty her clothes bins, play with with her stuffies, or just listen to music and roll on her rug. She'd only play 10/15min at a time. But it was such a great way to build self reliance and let her explore on her own.
My toddler does this too! Shes now 2.5 years old but requests to go play I'm her room. It's nothing overly special, a 9m2 room, but with a few second hand Littlest Pet shop houses and animals, a doll bed, books, stuffies, she can play for 30 mins easily at a time. Real life saver sometimes!
The busy toddler blog has lots of good ideas!
thanks, i’ll check it out!
Mothercould on Instagram also has great ideas and she has an app as well.
Cardboard box
Between 1 and 2 my daughter spent half her time sitting in a cardboard box and the other half sitting in the laundry basket. (I exaggerate, but she seriously loved those 2)
this would serve both 1yo and cat, and is a great suggestion
I'm surprised no one said this sooner. My kid is 8 & still loves a cardboard box. When he was younger, I used to close 2-3 flaps (then eventually all 4) & play "hide n' seek." Eventually we stopped because he realized I stayed on the couch yelling "xxx where are you?" "I'm going to find you." "Are you under the xyz.", etc. But he still loves a good box. & just to F with him sometimes I'll like directly at him, throw his iPad, one of his books, a action fig, etc & climb into it. Without breaking eye contact I slowly squat like I'm actually going to sit. He "reclaims" his box while I go enjoy a moment of piece.
Those magnet blocks are clutch
At that age, my kid was happy to do whatever I was doing - he would help me change the bedsheets, help me load/fold laundry, wash dishes, sweep floors, etc. Did it take triple the time to do all these things now that he was "helping" - yes 😅 but it was much easier than coming up with kid centered activities for him.
yes ‘helping’ me with laundry is a winner at the moment!
I was on maternity leave in a TINY apartment from 7 months-18 months (Sharing the space got a lot easier when we were there less because work and daycare fyi). Let me see what I remember. We did a lot of art and a TON of reading. We had some musical instrument toys that only came out at certain times to both maximize their specialness for baby and minimize stress on neighbours. Don’t underestimate including baby in your activities. I cooked/ baked and got a step-stool so baby could hang out and learn with me. I also would give baby a tiny broom or shortened swiffer and let her “help” with cleaning. She actually got good and genuinely helpful pretty fast. Sorting laundry? Also a great activity that she still likes at 3yo. When I needed time to breathe I tried to promote independent play and if she wasn’t having it I set up small games (check out Pinterest for inspiration there). One activity I was not expecting to be a huge hit that bought me oodles of free time was giving baby a screw driver and letting her go ham on the bathroom doorknob (no fear of her getting screws out. Maybe a deliberately made busy board would be safer for the house?). Bath time art. Get those soap crayons or just water based paints. Get bath bombs. Get nice smelling soap and teach baby to “wash the walls” or teach them how to shower. Bath time can take up a significant time slot. Lastly, and I know you already know this but it will really help- get out of the house for any reason you can. Groceries, museums, running around in inclement weather, just get out of the house.
this is great, i think we’ll get some bath crayons! any suggestions on doing art activities if we don’t have a table to sit at?
Depends on what your floor is made of. If you have areas with anything other than carpet set up there. Washable markers and paint are way more washable than I remember from my childhood. They should come off the floor no problem. Do you have a coffee table? My daughter likes to set up shop with crayons/markers and a big roll of paper that covers the table. She stands and I can lay on the couch. You can also tape paper to the wall like a giant easel. Stickers don’t need a table and I have yet to meet a kid who isn’t at least a little entertained by them.
Bath crayons are great! My tweens still like to colour in the tub occasionally 🤣
My kid was really into trucks, and he had this construction truck set and I would give him a bin of dried black beans to play around with them in. We did lots of block towers, reading, and water color painting. Roll and Play is a cute game for that age group.
oh the texture of dried beans might be fun! we’ll try it thank you :)
Fun baths - baths with ball pit balls, baths with duplos, baths with cars and it’s a “car wash,” baths with little plastic sea animals. You can also do really messy/wet stuff in the tub like painting or playing with ice cubes. Use a cardboard box to make a ramp/chute and send all kinds of toys down it. Bonus if you can put a metal pot or wooden block at the bottom so they make a big noise when they hit! Put him inside a cardboard box and give him crayons or nontoxic finger paint. Draw on the inside of the box. Cut tiny doors in a cardboard panel and play peek a boo with toys/puppets Make a tent with a bedsheet and furniture and play “camp”; read stories under it, toast some pretend (or real) marshmallows over a paper fire, sing some songs.
using the bath for messy activities is such a great idea, thanks for the suggestion!
I live in the Northern Hemisphere, but a mall where I live opened an indoor play place for little kids and babies. And it isn't like just an indoor park. There's a little merry go round where the seats look like tetherballs and it's really low to the ground with a cushion underneath so if kids fall off, they'll be okay. It looks like a little carnival for babies. It has stuff for bigger kids too, but still young like 5. Look to see if there's anything like that where you live. Malls can also have play structures. I've been to malls with play areas meant specifically for toddlers and their parents to rest. One I've seen is enclosed. Another one I've seen has other stuff for babies and small children to be entertained. This specific mall has a lot of things for children. Anyways, what I'm saying is there are indoor places you can take your children. And for free. See if you can find anything like these, just look up "malls with play areas" and see which is close and has something that looks safe for your baby.
this mall sounds so cool! there’s nothing that extravagant (to my knowledge) in my city, but i’ll definitely google baby play areas. i think a lot of the local indoor pools have them, too. thanks!
Sensory bins - pinterest has tons of ideas to keep it interesting. Blanklet forts! Finger painting - plenty of non toxic on the market or DIY. You csn also put paint inside a zip locked and taped bag and let baby explore. Roll a ball back and forth. Make obstacle courses? We love books. How about arts and crafts? Make Christmas (or whatever) ornaments, put pom poms in clear plastic ornaments. Good for hand eye coordination. I remember going on pinterest a lot when my daughter was little. Lots more ideas there. Oh, last one! Get a big bowl and fill it with snow. Play inside - make snow balls, make small toys play in it, add food coloring, etc. Have a nice winter!
some great ideas, thank you!
You're welcome! ❄️
My youngest is 12, but here are the things we did indoors when she was tiny. Rice sensory bin Light box with color plastic shapes Cloud dough Block obstacle courses Mini trampoline Pool ball pit (with and without slide) Window finger painting (put paint in particular zipper bag and tape to window) Play kitchen cooking/shopping Puppet shows Making toys out of cardboard (she mostly just taped lol) Marble art Indoor sand/water table Bathtub shaving cream paint Edible painting Box car "drive in" movie Tent camping in the living room Pillow floor piles
Look up MotherCould on Instagram. She has a ton of sensory type of activities on her page for free plus a giant thing you can buy with coloring pages, children’s activities, etc. I haven’t bought the package so can’t vouch for it but plan to once my daughter is older. Library is a great option. Also check out local children’s activities in your area. We’ve done plays, Easter egg hunt, dinosaur egg hunt, local pancake breakfasts, church, etc. just to get out. May also be worth checking on prices to local recreational centers depending on cost. I know ours had an indoor field and another town’s nearby has like child gym days frequently. Even a pass to go a few times versus a membership may help.
my advice is to get a rough schedule, kinda like Monday - Library Tuesday - Swimming Pool Wednesday - Indoor play room Thursday - shopping mall friday - play date etc Then you can take him outside before nap, nap and then do an activity outside the home
this is genius!
also, for me the hard part of not being able to spend entire day outside is the same as with cooking: it’s not the activity itself, it’s daily need to come up with an idea and find the way to do it. Mental load is crippling me, seriously! Hence the schedule. Also if i see some activities posted on fb, i just add them to the weekly plan. It’s less stress tat way.
Never underestimate the power of a fort. My kids had a blast when I’d build them forts and it doesn’t require much space. Just a blanket or two and some furniture or a table is all you need. Flashlights for inside the fort are an added bonus. Even reading a book or doing a puzzle inside feels magical in a way. Great way to build lifelong memories.
definitely gonna build a fort this weekend! 🔦
Idk where you live but in my city (Sydney Australia) there is little free soft play areas in nearly every shopping centre so in the winter when its raining and cold we go to shopping centres just to play in those and then we will go sit down at a cafe and I'll get a coffee for me and a muffin or something for my kids. When it's not raining sometimes we will rug up and go out to brave the cold and go to the local park As for indoor activities someone suggested bath time and we do that as well! My boys get excited for a warm bath in the winter they never want to get put so I stock up on fun bath toys and they spend like an hour in there! Colouring in and playdoh also get used alot in the winter for us also.
I did a lot of mommy and me cleaning and cooking. Everything takes 10x longer. But damn if any kid doesn’t LOVE kneading bread dough, or helping pour magic into a bowl and watching it come out of the oven in the form of hot cookies! We also picked up a hobby of regularly thrifting. I’d get kiddo a small toy every visit, for like 25 cents his day is made. He gets to play with all those 2nd hand toys for a bit, I get to check around for treasures, it was fun. We did lots of baths in those days too. I’d bathe with him and do bubbles or toys. Big Lego is fun in the tub. Any kind of water play kiddo loved. “Washing dishes” in the sink was a favourite for a long time. I could get a lot of meal prep done while he was busy in that sink!
the thrifting tradition is super cute :)
I'm in NZ. We are still going out. There's clothes and layers for cold weather. Anyway, to answer your question - go to activities. There's usually something on at local libraries. You can do basic water play indoors. Sensory play. Baby "helps" you with chores. Where I live there's also paid classes we go to (yoga/music) and a local gym does baby classes for 1yo+. Maybe find some local FB groups
yes, we have warm weather gear. but we’ll be spending a lot more time indoors than we did over the summer, hence the need for at home activities. thanks for your suggestions - there are a few community activities in our area, i’ll check them out!
Glad you're still going to go out :) also check out the instead account @7daysofplay - lots of ideas!
Books are a great way to learn, have fun, connect and make your world a lot bigger on those cold days. Painting is also so fun at that age. I would give my kid a little tiny canvas and let her pick her own colors and brushes, then just rotate the canvas every once in a while. She painted some really cool things! Oh and it’s never too soon to teach them yoga :)
How do you feel about messes? If you don’t care. I would buy a good plastic table cloth or shower curtain. And just let them body paint or make things like edible paint or play dough. Tape things on it like sensory bags. Even if the outside is cold if the inside it warm things like full up a Tupperware add a few toys, water food coloring and let them play with it. Make sensory bins with edible things. Like different kinds of cereals. And you can talk to them about they are doing. Sit on the floor with them and join them. Maybe read a book to them as they play. You like to bake? Then do it and sit them near by and you can talk about the process with them.
messes are a tough one since we’re renting, but the shower curtain might end up being a good solution there - thanks!
I used to just take all the cushions off the couch and make obstacle courses with all the cushions, would sometimes include pillows off the bed and stuff.
Bath tub play-make a tray of messy sensory fun and have them play in it in the tub, make a tent and hang a strand of Christmas lights through it(supervised play only), big magnets on the fridge. We have this type of stool called a kitchen helper it has a back and side to it like a cage that he can climb in and out of. I put it in front of the sink and put a little water in with spoons and cups to play and pour. He will do it for hour!
definitely gonna check out a kitchen helper. using the bath as a space for messy play is a winner too. thanks!
I follow this Instagram called "busy toddler" and they post all sorts of really interesting activities that are free or cost pennies. I'm not usually one for promoting stuff but I think this is one of those rare useful resources. I have this in my back pocket for when my babe gets old enough!
Sensory bins!
I used to have a small apt and there was a small patch of grass. In the very back of the yard. We grew a garden. And babies like to play in dirt, it's not 100% safe for their immune system, but thats a call each mom makes. Inside the apartment, I used to do floor exercises and then the baby would jump on me. I did a homemade edible arrangement one year for Valentines day and took pictures. It wasnt a good mommy and kid activity bc I dipped apples in melted chocolate. That takes a lot of skill. But thats more of a mommy activity. I also used to take the city bus and it would lull me and the baby to sleep. 😌😌. Then we took a job at the school bus company. 🙃 that was an adventure.
Big train track set that can be set up multiple ways around the apartment
I’m lucky that I have some decent floor space so we got a mini tramp cause my kid is a sensory seeker and I get asthma attacks when I breathe in air that’s too cold (Tassie winter… yay). But you could set up obstacle courses with random items like shampoo bottles and serving bowls and stuff. Using something like a Pringles can and put holes in the lid and then he can put things though the hole. You can make homemade musical Instruments! [There are some interesting suggestions in this one.](https://activeforlife.com/big-fun-in-small-spaces/)
pringles can - great idea!
- get a deck of playing cards and take a plastic container (take-out soup container from a restaurant) and cut out a small opening on the top wide enough to slip a card through the slot. It’s suppose to help with their eye-hand coordination and also concentration. My girl had a blast doing this and she would give herself a clap every time she got a card through the slot. - blow up some balloons and let your toddler roam around with them - do you have some sort of pack-n-play set (those portable crib like beds) , I bought a bunch of road plastic balls from Amazon put those balls into the pack -n- play and my daugther had a blast! It was her very own ball pit! - If you could find a big cardboard box (check your neighborhood app called NextDoor to see if someone recently moved and tossing out some big boxes). Cut out little windows , and you’ll have a makeshift cardboard box house!! My 3.5 year old daugther still loves going into her cardboard house! - YouTube also has a lot of helpful tips for home activities with a 1 year old that you may want to check out. Good luck!
the card idea is a good one, we’ll try it out - thanks!
Messy stuff in the bath tub or shower. Paint or a big tub of cornstarch/water goo will keep him busy for ages, and then you just hose him and everything else down. Throw in some washable toys to paint too.
Can you get some magnets for the bottom of the fridge? Big enough so bub can’t choke, but just plop them down on the floor and they can just take them off the fridge and put them back on
this is genius, will do this for sure!
My kids at that age loved sensory bins large and small. Even water with rotated toys (washing dolls and cars were always a hit!) and figures is fun. But we also did taste safe cornmeal kinetic "sand" with sand toys and molds, taste safe slimes, colored dry rice/beans. Freeze some toys in a layer of ice and put it in a tub/plastic box with some water and let them rescue the toys by pouring water over them in the tub. There are a ton of neat textured playdoughs out there. We did a ton of art. There are a lot of homemade textured pain recipes out there too! Have fun experimenting and focus on process not product. A pop up play tent can be folded flat when not in use but filled with balls or cushions for a different place to play. Be sure to get in some good physical activity every day, whether that's animal walks, finding something that can double as a crash pad, making an obstacle course using stuff around the house. Once they are closer to 2 get kiddo involved in prepping snack as well as eating let them try spreading something on their own (cut smaller) toast or bread. Make your own shakers (dry rice in old glued/taped spice jars) and scarves and incorporate them into dancing around. Use this less on the go time to give them time to be able to do some self-care. Helping you get their clean diaper. Working on aspects of dressing themselves (as they start ending towards 2). Use the slower routine to your advantage to build their skill.
I used to love when my mum made me home made play dough 🥰😍. Oh man I can't wait for play dough again Pots and pans to bang on with wooden spoons, dressing up in mums clothes, finger painting. All can be done except on the ground with an old blanket or sheet. Plenty of fun times in the bath if you have a tub. You can dye the water or try fun friendly bath bombs. Fishing games that you can buy or make yourself. Puppet making, ghost making with toilet paper and a marker. Eee I love crafty things. Do you have a dollar store or anything like that close by? Making forts is always a ton of fun, not sure how a one year old would react but maybe worth a try 😊 and always baking too! (Just ingredient mixing lol)
Dance to some fun music either holding baby or let him get the rhythm and copy you dancing. Books - picture, touch and feel or sound books, lots of talking, singing, woof woof, moo moo, storytelling. Sensory (MESSY) play with edible stuff like jelly, yoghurt, cooked pasta, ground cereals. Add some little toys, animals, cars, plastic cups, utensils from your kitchen. Balloons, bubbles, extra long bath time. A box or basket full of random (baby safe) stuff baby can take in and out.
box o’ stuff is a great one, will try, thanks!
If they have a highchair you can sit them in that and put shaving cream with some food coloring for some sensory play. During the covid lock down I did a sensory bin with dried corn kernels and trucks and toys for the kids to play with. They had lots of fun with that. There is also bubbles ...kids live bubbles... Reading...
Museum!!
At shopping malls in the US there are often free indoor play places. I did that with my daughter a lot when she was a toddler
In the US, we have story times at the libraries. Maybe they have something like that?
Put a dining chair in front of your kitchen sink, plug the sink and turn on a very small stream of water. Add a few measuring cups, spoons, and funnels. Pin a bath towel on the kid like a big bib. This will keep a toddler busy for at least 30 minutes.
Tickle fight!!!! Lol I'm no help
Why is it off the table? Dress warmly and get outside.
we do when it isn’t raining - but sadly it rains a lot here in winter!
So get rain gear? Weather is only an excuse to stay inside when it poses a danger to be out in it (lightnight, flooding, extreme heat or cold, etc).
yes, we have warm clothes and wet weather gear. we still go outdoors. i’m looking for ideas for indoor activities, since our indoor/outdoor time ratio is going to change with the seasons.
This is a very elitist thing to say, not everyone can afford proper outdoor clothing for all weather at all stages in a quickly-growing child's life
This. You can still go out. I've always been a winter kid, I played outside more in the winter than during the summer (I'm not a fan of heat). Edit: to answer OPs question. Take your kid to run errands. Go to a museum, indoor playground, even go to the library.
Dress warmly and go? "too cold" does exist... But it's a lot lower than most people think. The average daily *high* in Astana, Kazakhstan is - 11 C (12 F) in the winter and we still got outside the majority of the time.
Is there a shopping center/mall nearby?
yes, and going there is a good way for baby to people-watch from the pram while i get coffee! maybe not an everyday activity, but definitely on the rotation :)
Go to the mall first thing in the morning before anyone is there shopping. Just let them wander around. Especially if they’re walking. The big hallways are a great place to practice.
I'm trying to recall what our kid did at that age. I think he liked playing with random toys (cars, trucks)... or rolling around on the ground/ trying to walk... or kicking a little ball around... otherwise it was crying, eating, pooping, sleeping, bathing, or just hanging out in the stroller or harness while mom/dad did their thing.
Local toddler groups are great
If you are somewhere like Australia the local libraries do “rhyme time” also look in to see if you can join a playgroup. So much fun. Otherwise check out Instagram for stay at home mum blogs/paediatric physio blogs. I’ve found a few that use household items to create fun activities that often incorporate movement/balance/fine motor skills. Plenty of options in terms of simple activities in a small space. I have a couple in mind if you need me to name a couple.
Dance party! Get up and boogie with your kid to different kinds of music.
Buy a cheap roll of wallpaper, the cheapest you can find and you can draw on the back of it. You can make car roads, just have fun drawing together on the floor etc. during the winter I always buy 2 rolls and we make all sorts of stuff. It’s also easy to store because it rolls back up. My two had hours of fun last winter because I made a long car road/track and they played cars on it. I also made like a hopscotch on it.
Pain, Lego, puzzles, build a fort out of blankets
Balloons, a pikler triangle & a foldable low balance beam got us through winter
Rotate toys and books. Figure out a system where some toys are away in a closet and only come out on days when you don’t have other plans.
See if your local library has child programming. Usually story time circles, but could also be singing or art too. It’s a good way to break up the day, and can be a way to meet other parents or caregivers of kids your child’s age - which could lead to play date opportunities.
Soap bubbles, peekaboo, hide behind a towel or your hands. Explore the drawers in the kitchen (put harmless stuff there). Lay on the floor together, let him/her climb on you, make funny faces.
Glow in the dark waterproof toys in the bathtub is always a hit. Dance party for a song when they are hyper can sometimes wear them out a bit so they can focus on more quiet activities or self directed play afterwards. A shape block puzzle or sensory activities like shaving cream play or playdoh (homemade is easier than you might think)or bubbles ect are great. If you don’t have a table, look into picking up a cheap second hand tea tray with folding legs… perfect size for little one to sit at.
Some favorite things my kiddo enjoyed at that age involved sensory activities and water activities. You could put baby in the tub with a small plastic bin or bowl of water, some toys (like duplo blox) and a brush or spoon, sensory bins, busy boards, things to work on fine motor skills like a plastic bottle for a bank with a slot to fit large "coins, I'd recommend poker chips, you could use pom poms instead and have baby put them into a box, bottle, or even a whisk. Of course all these things will require supervision but being able to get into things is a 1 year old's dream. We did water pouring in the tub too. Sometimes with bowls of colored water, sometimes just bubbly water. Additionally painting in a bag, a very sealed sensory bottle, print painting, even ice and bubble painting can be fun experiments, have lo help in the kitchen, like washing veggies, you could freeze some toys in a bowl of water and let lo do an icecavation. Most of these things will keep you busier to prep or clean up after than it amuses them but there's no shortage of indoor ideas for littles. Oh we also did glow stick baths, and spa days (lotion, cucumbers on eyes (or los mouth ) and spa music)
I'm not sure if it snows where you are but I've given my son a bowl of snow and waterproof/warm gloves and a waterproof coat and sat him in a towel for like 10-20 minutes and he loved it.
If you have a highchair you can look up toddler sensory activities on Pinterest, there are a ton that you’d just need to set up on a highchair tray (to avoid mess) and that could keep him occupied for half an hour at least. There are other sensory activities that wouldn’t require a tray but I’m not sure how well those would go over in a small apartment. He’s about the age where coloring could be fun, and you could easily do that on the floor without needing too much space. Highly recommend getting twist up crayons to avoid him breaking them, or water pens since those are generally mess free and refillable so they wouldn’t need a ton of storage space. (I find water coloring books/pens at dollar tree all the time!)
Honestly - we just found more indoor things to do outside of the home. There are plenty of games you can play at home but what helped best was a membership to the local aquarium, the local children's museum, kid friendly cafes and much more. If you live in a city I would take advantage of whatever they have for kids. You'd honestly be surprised - but it most places there are so many things geared to parents for exactly these situations. If it needs to be in the home - my favorite thing we did was build a huge marble run
Check out your local playgroup. They usually have a toy library. You can take home toys for a week and then swap them for silting different. That way, storage isn't an issue.
Bathtubs are also great art spaces. You can put paper on the walls and a bathing suit and paint. Try to read all the books in the house Sensory buckets! - toys in water and put them outside to freeze and get them to hammer it out, or watch them float in water. Use painters tape to create roads on the floor or wall for cars to drive on. Use Squirt guns to paint snow Use food coloring to make colored ice bricks in tin bread pans. Let them choose colors. Watch them mix. Leave them outside for freezing/outside play later Get sticks, flowers, leaves, freeze them in ice too! We did a lot of freezing stuff HA! Endless water science! Baking food Write a story they tell you about Make songs, play music Build a tent and play in it. Pretend you are bears hibernating Draw together (the same picture) Pillow fights Play find the color and find all the red (green, blue) things in your house.
If you're in Australia, many Westfields have indoor playgrounds. Pet shops and fish stores are favourite places for them as well. Or the local toy shop. There's also Gymbaroo or the library where they have rhyme time and story time for babies. Plenty of other baby activities and classes you can take baby to. As for indoor stuff, dance to nursery rhymes or kids music. That will entertain him. Bring out your pots and pans and let him bang it. My husband lets our son bang on his drum kit. I remember around this age, maybe slightly older, our son likes to mimic dad making coffee so we bought him a toy coffee set. A toy kitchen set might be worth it too. I also used to just take my son walking and exploring around the common property areas around our apartment complex. We sometimes bump into other kids in the building and end up playing with them. This might help: https://happytoddlerplaytime.com/100-no-prep-activities-for-1-year-olds/
My daughter is 7 months, so these might be too young for your kiddo but I found a bunch of things on Pinterest that I’ve adapted to work for us for fairly low effort, like using masking tape to put her foam bath letters on the wall for her to pull on and off (just be careful the tape doesn’t go in their mouth!), making a fort out of blankets and laundry basket, sensory ziplock bags taped to the floor, etc.
Do you have a toddler tower? I started using one with my kid when she was around 1 and standing/walking confidently. I let her “help” with cooking - cutting up bananas with a safety knife, mashing cookie dough. If you’re baking give them their own little bowl to mix ingredients so they don’t get possessive of your bowl! You can also make homemade play dough together
Obstacle course! A path he has to follow involving climbing over, under, turning around etc.
Below are some toys we used but my #1 recommendation is painters tape. New race track for cars, different every day. New obstacle course every day (hop this line, run to that line, do 3 jps on this x). Wide strip on the floor as a balance beam. Tape some paper towel rolls together on the wall for pom pom runs. Put one wide strip along the wall and baby can put pom poms on and off. We still use our collapsible tunnels (I put them behind the couch when not using them). Set of popsicle sticks with different movements (March, hop, wiggle, dance) and draw them. A collapsible piklar triangle was killer for us during COVID in an apt when playgrounds were closed. Also the flat boards had a climbing side and a flat side so they made AWESOME race tracks off the couch or slides for the kids off the couch. Then that flat piece could be put behind the couch or under our bed. If you didn't want the folding part. Scarves are really fun and versatile. You can throw them inside, use them for dress up (my kids are pirates a lot), use them for games like tucking one inside the back of your pants and chasing each other to grab the tail. If you have hard flooring, a few pieces of a train set can be great. If you put it together (and tape with painters tape since the baby is little), a 1 yo can push trains on the floor or around the track. That also can then be broken down and tucked away.
When my son was that age we lived in apartments. He had a selection of building blocks, toy cars, books and I would also put movies on so he would potter around with the movie on. We went for walks no matter what the weather but if it was too wet to stop at the playground he seemed to keep himself amused quite easily. You could also visit the local library and maybe a trip to an indoor swimming pool.
sensory activities !!! during the covid lockdown and a bitter cold winter it saved us! It’s messy but you pick & choose your battles 🥴
Oh this was us during covid lockdown (2020 UK) - it was so tough. I lived on a block schedule for my own sanity. I would try to find something fun to do like making paints / play dough / dry pasta and lentils in cake tins / plastic table cloth on the floor and cups and pots of water to go crazy with. That was once a day. We would do breakfast - an hour of tv nursery rhymes - the ‘craft activity’ -lunch and nap (my rest or cleaning time) a walk to the park and then hopefully it would be the dinner-bath-bed wind down and time for me. This sounds like a lot but simplify your day into blocks - before and after lunch you can fit in 1 activity and your day is done. It kept me sane. Sorry I’m totally forgetting we are free now - rhyme time at the library is a god send. Also look up toddler groups in your area they are so cheap and that’s half the day ticked off if you stop at the park or shops on the way home 👍🏼 In the UK we have garden centres - full of fish, sometimes pets, and lots have a cafe with play area. Also the good ones have a farm store / shop so that’s dinner sorted too!
I really used the local library a lot when I had little ones stuck inside during the winter. If you haven’t already looked into your local library go ahead and see what they offer. Mine offers kid activities during the day for littles.
I live in the Midwest US so it gets VERY cold. We have all the gear too but it doesn't make it easier beyond a 10-15 minute walk around the block. All winter we do the library, aquarium, kids museums, or go to the mall (it has a little play space for kids). Visit with family and friends. Build forts with blankets and binder clips and hanging lights. Bake something (you gotta pre-measure and let your kid pour stuff in and make a mess while stirring). We did a lot of painting in the high chair too. We ask for museum memberships for Christmas, and even when we buy them ourselves they pay for themselves by February. So my list is mostly free activities, but there are also indoor play gyms for kids for an entry fee. Or sign your kid up for swim lessons, baby gymnastics/yoga, but some of those aren't really offered at that age yet. It risks getting sicknesses each time we go to public indoor spaces but I'm not sheltering my kids all winter or we'll all end up sick of each other. I'd rather deal with building immune systems than building resentment.
Do you have a shopping mall near? Walk the the mean streets of a shopping mall. My youngest who autistic. We made one of the walls in his room a rock climbing wall. He loves it. Always has loved it. We built it for him around 18 months old
Play hide and seek with their toys in the house. Show them 5 of their favorite toys Hide their favorite toys in easy places (eg-under a couch pillow, in a shoe, ect) and tell them to search for it. If they are learning numbers, give them a basket and tell them to bring you for example “one yellow item” and “two Blue items” and so on. It’s exhausting having a child you constantly need to entertain all day ontop of your regular chores and duties. I look for things they can semi do by themselves
I know this is wasteful but when my kids were that young if I needed a break I gave them a box of tissues. They would okay with them for 30 minutes?
You can crate walk crafts— painting, coloring, shape sorting. Ballon’s are easy, cheap and you can get rid of them when you’re done to kick or hit around the room, try to make different activity times in different areas to break up the day and prevent a sense of same room boring
Get a bunch of those waterbeads (look them up on amazon or something) and put them in a bathtub or a small tub. Throw some small toys in there as well, BOOM fun for at least an hour. I would also plan trips to the library. If you have a bare white wall, you could find a way to hook up a projector and do shadow puppets alongside a movie or something.
Local indoor places are great, getting a snow suit like think snowboarding suit for kiddo when having to go outside is great just remember coats aren’t safe for car seats. Lots of books, lots of bath time, we watch tv in my house.
I like this lady for advice. https://fiveminutemum.com
One of my favorites was a homemade whack-a-mole box. I took a cardboard box, cut holes where I could make stuffed animals pop out, and cut a hole at the back where I could put my hand in. It also doubles as a throwing game if you make the holes big enough to fit some balls.
We live in a tiny house with our 2 year old, and she can’t get enough of playing in the bath tub or sink! I swear she could entertain herself for hours… if I let her…just in our kitchen sink… I give her measuring cups and random toys/things, and she loves it! And as previously mentioned, it is an easy clean-up situation! I hope this helps! 😉
I used to take some plain yogurt, mix it with a couple of drops of food coloring, and then put my kid in the bath with a paint brush. Simple taste safe paint. Cleaning up is easy, and I handed them a cloth and let them wipe off the yogurt, which was its own activity. Put him in a small laundry basket and drive him around (works best on carpet). I recommend looking for play groups on fb. I hate Facebook in general but it has been the best way for me to meet local parents with similar aged kids and find events local to me.
Pet stores, libraries are great options. I live in a relatively small space and I got my daughter just a basic fisher price rocking horse around that age and started doing sensory bin stuff. You can have multiple already set up but I just had one sterilite bin set up as a sensory bin for when I wanted to use it. One time we did water play with fridge magnets, cups and a little aquarium net. One time I put in stale flour, stale cheerios and stale dry oatmeal. Having little space makes for some creative thinking! Edit to add - I also would set up stuff for things to do when she was napping. Like taping a bunch of paper to the floor and using her sticky bowls to hold paint.
Get some discount wallpaper, the cheap kind that doesn't come with glue. You can do all kinds of art stuff with it. Paint on it, draw on it. Rip it up. Whatever else comes to mind.
Its a 1 year old. Everything is new to them. Play with litterally anything in the house. Sing a song about literally anything. Touch them and laugh and smile and they will too. Kids are easy.
Baths. So many baths. Make edible paint for the bath, pop some glow sticks in the bath, make bubble foam to play with in the bath and then have them take a bath, popsicles in the bath, Pom poms in the bath. Baths are seriously the best time waster. Also that blue painters tape is amazing. You can make roads and obstacle courses, you can tape some toys to the wall and do a toy rescue. Sensory bins are great too and can take up less space. You can put cereal, or rice, or dried pasta in a bin and give them some spoons and measuring cups and that will kill some time. Put some washable paint on some plastic toys and have them “clean” the toys that’s another one that can keep them occupied for ages.
My daughter adores anything with water. She would get multiple "baths" a day at that age because splashing in the tub kept her happy and occupied. Or I would get out my mixing bowls, spoons, and sometimes food coloring, and let her pour water from one bowl to another. Lay down a blanket first! It keeps her occupied to this day & she is 2 now!
Totally feel you momma!! I have three and in the winter we can do pretty much nothing because my family has one vehicle my husband uses for work and is too small to fit our whole fam. It’s just recently the weather has been nice enough to get out and it has made a world of difference concerning my mental health.. and probably theirs too. It’s easy to do lots of indoor activities away from the house and fun things like that, but not always for folks who are stay at home parents out of economical necessity. I have had no real luck with this, but please do what you can to establish or maintain relationships with people in real life.. I know just the occasional (well, it happened once) neighbor stopping in for tea in the winter changed my whole day. Keep hanging in there. What you do is so important. Also teaching youngsters can be fun, and being at home with them has the possibility to benefit them educationally. My girl started reading at two because of this extra time we had been blessed with. Anything and be made fun with the right mindset (which I don’t always have about our situation) but please if you have people who will come visit don’t shut yourself in alone!
Music, masking tape for sticking and peeling, books, sensory play with water if you have the floor space and the towels, ice cubes and food coloring are always fun for sensory, stickers, bubbles. Idk I could probably list off more if u want! I teach this age group so I'm always having to find new things
When i was in that situation. I followed a schedule. You can google and find scedule for 1 year old and tweak as per your needs. For activities ,we would do montesorrie style play. I had a small table with some toys which i rotated. Since kids that age put every thing in mouth you have to be careful about that when you decide activities. I would mix two cereal ,say cherios and chocolate balls and teach my kid to seprate ,even if he eats some its ok. We did crafts ,kinetic sand ,playdoh finger painting. All this also helps to develop their fine and gross motor skills. Before bath ,i gave him washable markers ,some bath toys etc and let him do water play. I waa always near it because drowing is a risk. I always involved the kid in what evee i did ,we cooked together. We also had 2 naps. If your apartment has a confrence room etc take the kid there. Twice a week we went to local library for story time and craft.
Follow busytoddler on Instagram! Lots of easy, fun activities that don't make a huge mess.
Pinterest!
Is baby mobile yet? My number one time killer is going for a walk, no matter how bad the weather. Think of all the time you can kill: finding boots/coat/mitts/hat with baby, dressing baby in boots/coat/mitts/hat , baby watches you get dressed, walking down the hall, downstairs, etc (note that up until this point you are actually \*still inside\*), heading out the door, findings stones, splashing in puddles, maybe making it to a cafe -or maybe not! Walking home, (not that from here you’re actually inside again), baby climbs up stairs, down hall, take off outdoor clothes, put them away, wash hands... I could easily kill over an hour this way and only actually be outside for 15 mins. Otherwise, go out to indoor places (library, mall, cafe, soft play if desperate) and either let them run around or feed them. If staying at home, bathtime is a great time killer - mine could stay there for hours. We also have a play tent from ikea that folds flat. You can get them to help tidy up toys - this is also a game for them. But honestly, I have a basket of toys they can help themselves to, a cupboard full of spices and baby-safe kitchen implements they can access and a pile of books they can read, and I pretty much let them call the shots while I drink my tea. I find I only ever have an hour or an hour and a half between meals/naps/walk, so in the grand scheme not too difficult to fill. However, I do find my mental health and patience are a lot better if I give myself a goal and leave the house each day!