Montessori-Friendly Indoors Play Ideas!

The following list contains ideas for totally indoors play activities with babies, toddlers, and preschoolers, only requiring materials that many families will likely already have on hand! That means there are no specialized Montessori materials included in this list.

Please be sure to use your best judgment as a parent when deciding if an activity is developmentally appropriate for your child (be on the lookout for choking hazards and other safety precautions).

Ideas:

Coloring/scribbling (plain paper)

Painting (on paper, or go mess-free in baggie for babies)

Paint in the bathtub (with washable finger paints)
- for babies, just mix baby rice cereal with food coloring for totally taste-safe, homemade "finger paint"

Kinetic sand

Chalk & chalkboard

Water beads

Stickers

Any arts & crafts or freestyle collage with glitter glue, googly eyes, pom poms, craft sticks, etc.

Make homemade playdough (recipe)

Make plain oobleck (recipe) or chocolate "mud" (recipe)

Make discovery/sensory bottles for baby to explore with water and craft bits inside, either empty/dry or filled with water or rice (hot glue the lid on!)

Make a family memory book using photos from a recent trip, have your child decorate the pages!

Bake treats, prep or cook together

Freeze water inside a balloon to make an ice ball, then remove the balloon and invite your child to paint on it

Build something with blocks, Legos, magnatiles, train tracks, etc.

Set up a color mixing station with food colored-water cups in each of the primary colors, plus extra scoops and cups for mixing

Make a DIY scavenger hunt with clues

Create an indoor hopscotch with painters tape

Play with musical instruments

Make a treasure basket (balls, large pom poms, various items of the same color, kitchen utensils, instruments, animal figurines, vehicles, etc)

Make an open & close basket to explore (for babies - include things with different types of closures, such as coin purses, wallets, Tupperware, small jars & other containers)

Set up a baby "drum circle" with pots, pans, bowls & a wooden spoon

Make a colored "pom pom drop" with paper towel tubes taped to the wall

Lacing (shoelace/pipe cleaners/trimmed wooden skewers, combined with beads/cut pieces of straw/Cheerios/dry pasta noodles; can also make DIY lacing cards using a shoelace and hole-punched cardboard shapes)

Stick skewers vertically into playdough and thread cut straw pieces onto them

Make homemade slime (recipe)

Scissor/cutting practice (with paper strips)

Gluing practice (with paper scraps, cut out shapes, pom poms)

Do yoga together

Make DIY stacking "blocks" with various sizes of cardboard boxes

Have a color hunt around the house, where your child find items to match certain colors and sets them on top of a corresponding piece of colored construction paper

Stick toys to the floor (or high chair tray) with painter's tape and encourage baby to "free" the toys

Set up a dry sensory bin (a "dig" with buried items to find, or just provide cups and scoops to play with in the bin) using dried beans, rice, or any expired cereals - can even be themed (insects, vehicles, etc)!

Set up a water play sensory bin (for babies - on a high chair tray, or a baking sheet & towel on the floor) - can even be themed (ocean, swamp, etc)!

Practice squeezing a small sponge in a bowl of warm water (soapy bubbles optional)

Make a DIY "jello dig" with figurines stuck inside for excavating (use unflavored gelatin)

Play dress up (using real items of adult clothing is fun for kids, especially old hats, scarves, large t-shirts, slippers, socks, etc).

Set up an obstacle course with pillows, ottomans, & other furniture

Blow bubbles in the bath tub/shower

Sing songs together (put on a concert!)

"Race car" rides in a laundry basket

Have open-ended fun with a cardboard box:
- Decorate a DIY racecar or spaceship, then race/blast off to the moon
- Role play fun in a pretend bakery/restaurant/grocery store/post office

Basketball, bowling, soccer, hockey (with boxes, baskets, bowls, balls, cups, broom, etc)

Soft ball, bean bag, or extra-large Pom Pom toss (into a bin)

Practice rolling/throwing/catching with soft balls

Wash windows together (use water! 😊)

Teach your toddler how to match socks, or how to fold napkins/small towels while doing laundry

Play with stuffed animals and/or dolls

Play with animal figurines

Have a parade (musical instruments, flags, singing, etc)

Have a dance party

Set up a domino track with wood blocks

Have a "sleepover" party with curtains closed, flashlights, and make shadow puppets

Piggy back races

Play "I Spy"

Make sock puppets & put on a puppet show

Make a DIY ball tracker with cardboard (or magnatiles on the fridge!)

Make DIY roads/ramps for toy vehicles with scrap cardboard

Shaving cream (or food coloring, or extra bubbles, or any combination of these) "fun bath" with bath toys

Play "Hide and Seek"

Play "Duck, Duck, Goose"

Play "Musical Chairs"

Play "Red Light, Green Light"

Make a DIY "Pin the Tail on the Donkey" game

Have a tea party

Build a fort

Have an indoors "camp-out" complete with DIY blanket tent (or a real one, if you have one!)

Role play doctor check-ups

Read books

Do puzzles

Play a board/card game

Sorting activities (by quantity/numbers, or anything colored/patterned - pom poms, buttons, etc.) - use muffins tins or empty egg cartons to hold items!

Transferring activities (pouring or moving materials between bowls/cups/pitchers with various tools such as a small sponge, spoons, ladles, scoops, quickstix/chopsticks, small cups, small pitchers, or eye droppers - as appropriate for the type of material and/or child's level of ability):
- Pom Poms
- Ice
- Beans
- Rice
- Colored water
- Water beads