1. Play hide-and-seek.
2. Collect rocks and sticks in a basket.
3. Make homemade play dough , or sacrifice a can of refrigerated biscuit dough for the sake of play.
4. Scribble with dry-erase markers on a mirror.
5. Build a playhouse or choo-choo out of a cardboard box.
6. Give your toddler a gentle piggy-back ride.
7. Pull out a quilt and lay it on the floor with lots of pillows, then look at a book together.
8. Play “post office” by putting junk mail in a cardboard box with a slot cut in the top.
9. Draw big lines and circles with thick chalk on concrete.
10. Make an edible necklace of O-shaped cereal on a string.
11. Kiss the clean bathroom mirror wearing lipstick.
12. Make a shoebox train for toys.
13. Play with a flashlight inside a table “tent” covered with a sheet or blanket.
14. Learn about the days you and your toddler were born.
15. Paint the bathtub with big painters’ brushes and water tinted with food coloring.
16. Try rolling down a grassy hill.
17. Play peekaboo.
18. Bang on pots and pans.
19. Have a tea party on the floor with small sandwiches and juice.
20. Play in sand with water, spoons, and molds.
21. Put lids on small plastic storage containers, and try stacking them like blocks.
22. Loosely wrap yourself in toilet paper like a mummy.
23. Help sweep and mop the kitchen floor.
24. Push animals around in a play stroller, then rock them to sleep and put them to bed.
25. Gently bounce belly-down on an exercise ball.
26. Make a few beanbags out of an old pillowcase and then play throwing games.
27. Peer through a magnifying glass.
28. Throw a parade with marching music, pot lids, and wooden spoons.
29. Talk to sock puppets.
30. Go to the library and look at picture books.