Low Prep Educational Toddler Activities For 2 to 3 Year Olds

My goal is to do one educational activity with my toddler son each day. But, I also don't want to have to go out and buy lots of equipment to do activities.

Here are the best low-preparation educational activities for toddlers that I've found. I only list activities that need little preparation and equipment.

Learning colors and counting with pom poms

I have some pom-poms left from when I played with my son a few years ago, and this Color Matching and Counting Activity is a good low prep low equipment activity to do to teach him counting and colors. It includes a free printable.

Learning shapes with playdough mats

My son used to be very much into play dough, but nowadays he doesn't want to play with it. I'm going to try these free Playdough Shape Mats to see if he likes playing with it. I'll keep you posted.

Teaching your child the alphabet

A good way to teach your child the alphabet is to do letter activities with them (for example watching a video about the letter or coloring a picture with the letter and so on). The best letters to start with are the letters of their name. My son's name starts with F, and here's an example of Letter F activities.

Teach your child their name

My son is very into his cars. I came across this activity that uses cars and stickers to teach him his name. My son's name is short and he already knows it, so this activity may be short lived. I'll extend it by writing other words on the cars as well. I'll also keep it easy by using his whiteboard to write his name or the words.

Recycled items sensory bin

This post (making a recycled items sensory bin) made me realize to be more selective at what items I recycle, because you can instead add them to a sensory bin.

I'm now waiting for us to use up all the eggs, and then I'll add the egg carton to his rice sensory bin. You can also vary the sensory play by adding or using beans, making some moon sand, or adding play dough.

Toddlers learn amazing skills from sensory bins. They learn about scooping and pouring, they learn about capacity, cause and effect, spatial awareness and fine motor skills.

Fine motor skills number weaving

You need a few more supplies for this Number Weaving Activity, but the upside is that you'll create a learning board that your children can come back to again and again. The lady who did the original post said it only took her 5 minutes to make. I don't have a hot glue gun, so I'll use a glue stick and staples.

Learning with blocks

I like to do activities that use everyday items. There are a lot you can do with blocks. You can sort them according to colors or number of bumps. And you can write on them to make matching words and letters. I'll also use it to teach my son simple additions and subtraction.

Here are 6 great ideas for learning with blocks.

Do you have any interesting or fun education ideas? Let me know and I'll share them!