Toddler Games 

Engaging toddlers in games and other fun activities develop various skills, from interpersonal skills, to motor skills and cognitive skills. Toddler games also help introduce desirable values such as honesty, team work and cooperation. Packaging these formative activities as indoor and outdoor toddler activities encourage toddlers to have a positive outlook on learning and value formation.

There are hundreds of kid games on the market. From indoor sesame street, dora games, to outdoor toddler party games, all these games cater to toddlers, preschoolers and school age children. There are even infant games developed to encourage the positive development of babies. Here are some indoor toddler games that you can enjoy while stimulating your toddler's mind.

Fun-filled kitchen tinkering for toddlers

With the rising curiosity of toddlers, it is inevitable for them to have a phase when they would want to include the kitchen in their playground turf. The kitchen has materials of all kinds and sizes, from the frying pans, designed plates, wooden ladles, etc. These attract children in an interesting game of make believe. Guide their interest in your cooking tools by introducing their proper functions. Include toddlers in baking by asking them to knead dough and form different shapes as they would with their toy clays. After baking the formed dough, let them paint their creations and decorate them with icing, chocolate chips and candy. Take a photo of the best creation in every baking session. Compile the photos and after a few sessions, put a star on the best creation. Toddler games in the kitchen will advance their creativity with each baking and decorating activity.

Heightening the senses

Improve a toddler's senses with a touch and feel game. You can put objects of varied texture, size and shape into a bag. Some things you can use are cotton, a silk dress, a small pillow, a feathery bag, a spoon, and a paper scrub. Ask the toddler to close his eyes and to take an object from the bag. Ask him to describe how the object feels, including its shape. Then, still with his eyes closed, ask the toddler to guess what that object is. Each correct answer gains him a point. Toddler games on senses are good ways to add excitement as you encourage the toddler to associate texture and shape with an actual object, heightening his sense of touch.

Card games to stretch the memory

Card games are also enjoyable to toddlers just as they are to adults. Innovate the use of cards to improve the memory of your toddler. There are affordable cards that are specifically made for matching exercises for toddlers. In this game, different pairs of cards are placed upside down on a table. Each player gets a chance to turn over two cards at a time, until he finds two cards that match. A toddler can play this game with older siblings. Other than exercising his memory, these memory toddler games give a boost to the toddler who likes to feel older when playing with older children. Preschool games are filled with games that target the memory of young children to better prepare them for school. It is better to introduce your toddler to preschool games slowly before they actually enter preschool.

Chores made fun in working games

Kids games don't have to be entirely about toys, game boards or hide and seek. Toddler activities can also be filled with games that involve regular household chores. One way to introduce a toddler to household chores without making him resent the necessity of doing them is by integrating these chores into games. The toddler maintains a play time orientation while helping out around the house. You can ask your toddler to put the laundry into the dryer and count each item. Another activity is that you can let the toddler separate white clothing from colored ones. With some creativity, you can turn household chores into enjoyable toddler games.

Online toddler games for the new generation

Online toddler games have become the latest enjoyment of toddlers, as much as they are to teens and adults. Toddlers are fascinated with the colors, images and motion in online games. Online toddler games are highly educational, with themes varying from alphabet, numbers, sciences and art. Cartoon characters that are a hit on TV, such as sesame street or dora the explorer, now have games that can be played interactively online. There are lots of sesame street and dora games available on the Internet nowadays.

Exposing your toddler to the use of the computer allows him to realize the diversity of the world. While some parents doubt the use of computers over motion games, playing online games exercises the toddler's hand-eye coordination. Furthermore, it prepares the toddler in the use of the computer even before he attends formal schooling.

Games with music and dancing

A toddler is greatly stimulated with music that he can sing or dance to. Including music and song in toddler games encourages repetition of words and rhythm. These activities help in developing the memory of a toddler, and associating meanings with movement. Asking a toddler to present an interpretation of a song using his body helps in gauging the toddler's understanding of the song. These songs can include numbers, simple stories, the alphabet or animal characters.

Dancing and singing also builds confidence. Holding a party for your toddler on his birthday, or bringing him to other toddler parties, can be a good way to let him practice that song and dance you've been teaching him. Make sure to include singing and dancing in your toddler party games aside from just letting them play with popular toddler toys and the usual fanfare.