The ultimate DIY-play guide to keeping your homebound toddler happy

Banish baby’s boredom with these fun and easy activities that are bound to keep you happy too

My toddler is an extrovert. She’s a bubbly, people-loving, affectionate bundle of chaos and these months at home have been a struggle. I used to pack her into the car and head out, to her baby classes, the shops and best of all, other people’s houses.

Now we’ve been stuck at home, and she is bored. Heartily sick of her toys, stacking her rings without interest, yawning when we take out her puzzles.

She wants to be where the people are. If I’m brave enough to take her to the nearby park with a jungle gym, she makes a beeline for anyone with a snotty nose or drool running down their chin. She makes sure to give them a hearty, head-to-head hug and if she can, a kiss.

This is not the best PR for the Steele family, and has led to a few awkward conversations with other parents.

So we’ve been leaning into the home-time, DIY play and I’ve become innovative about keeping her busy with ‘sensory play’.

Sensory play is “any activity that stimulates your young child’s senses: touch, smell, taste, movement, balance, sight and hearing.”

Sensory activities encourage children to use scientific processes while they play, create, investigate and explore.

The hashtag on Instagram has over 1.2 million posts so you won’t be short of inspiration.

Here are some DIY play ideas that have been a big hit in my house and were inspired by the talented Play at Home Mummy.

If You Have 5 Minutes to Prepare

• Spoons: Put some spoons in a Tupperware. I don’t quite get it, but my little one went crazy for this.
• Orange slices in water: Cut an orange or two into thick slices. Get a heavy dish your little one can’t lift up and add water and the orange slices. Trying to catch the bobbing pieces teaches coordination, it engages all five senses and best of all, it’s safe to eat!
• Edible paint was a huge hit and tons of fun. I added food colouring to yoghurt and painting on the tiles (and then eating generous portions of the colourful concoction) was a lovely, messy game.

If You Have 15 Minutes to Prepare

• Egg carton pipe cleaner: Tape an egg carton shut and poke holes in it. Thread a variety of pipe cleaners in the holes and it’s guaranteed fun trying to pull them out.
• “Muddy” water, balls and kitchen utensils: This is probably our biggest hit so far! Mix cocoa with water, add to a heavy dish and lay out an assortment of kitchen utensils like wooden spoons and basting brushes. I threw in some plastic balls and my little one had the most fun splashing, playing and exploring.
• Colourful pasta: Boil up a mixture of pasta and dye each lot a different colour. Coat in coconut oil so it’s slippery and eating-safe.
• Rubber band puzzle tray: Take a deep baking dish and stretch elastic bands in a criss-cross pattern over the tray. Add raisins. This is great for coordination and fine motor skills as your little one has to aim and concentrate to get the raisins out.

If You Have 1 Hour to Prepare

• Balloons floating in water: Very slightly blow up normal balloons (not water balloons as these are designed to pop easily) and add a bit of water to each balloon. Pop them into a heavy dish filled with some water.
• Ooblek: This “non-Newtonian substance” looks liquid but feels solid when you push it and is nice and complex for the older babies. Mix together 1.5 cups cornflour with 1 cup water, and add a few drops of food colouring for fun.
• Aquafaba: Pour the liquid out of a can of chickpeas and add a pinch of cream of tartar and some food colouring. Beat until stiff. Fun to play with, and vegan too!

If You Have Considerably More Time to Prepare

• Playdough: Salty but edible playdough is tons of fun for your older babies and toddlers – fun to squish, cut shapes out of with a cookie cutter, and more. Here is our favourite recipe.
• Jelly dig: Take some of your munchkin’s favourite (smaller) toys and set them in jelly, or cut up fruit slices. This is fun to mush up, break, dig through and eat. There are some great sugar-free and vegan jellies available too.
• Rainbow rice: My daughter squeals with delight when she sees me preparing this. Take a bag of rice and divide it into how ever many colours you want to make (I generally do 4, and leave the 5th portion white). Put each portion of rice into a ziplock bag, add 1 teaspoon white vinegar and 1 dollop of food colouring gel. Close the ziplock bag and move the rice around to dye easily (and keep your hands clean!). You might need to lay out to dry (sometimes overnight) before you play with it. This is fun to run your hands through but you can also hide toys in it, for example. This is also a big hit with dry chickpeas.