With summer in full swing and having summer break with my daughter – our last summer with just one child! – I’ve been trying to find ways to fill our days with educational activities to soak up family time and learn too. However, as a two-year old, my daughter is at that weird age where she still can’t go to a lot of “preschool” activities. But after researching and scrolling through family Facebook groups, I’ve found 11 programs for toddlers that will be filling our summer!
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1. Tinkergarten
Tinkergarten is an outdoor class that goes for an entire season. Spring, summer, fall, and winter – they have a focus for each series and it is quite fun to let your little just get a little dirty. Our first class last summer was making mud pies. At the end of the class, there are extension activities provided to continue the learning at home as well! Another positive is that if you sign up for the email notifications, you get a monthly calendar with activities for each day as well!
With an outdoor learning class, don’t forget bug repellent and sunscreen! We don’t want a sunburn or bug bites to take the fun away!
2. Zoo pass
While this isn’t always a program, getting a zoo pass makes it less expensive to go to the zoo – especially our family that goes once a week. Our zoo also has fun theme days that we get notifications about and early access to buy tickets as well!
3. Parent and Me Yoga
Parent and me yoga is the first activity that I did with H. We signed up for a parent and me yoga class when she was just 6 weeks old and it was something I looked forward to every week. Not only did I get to have some gentle exercise, but also got to spend time with my daughter that strengthened her body as well. Along with that, the small business that I went with has expanded their programs to literacy, STEM, and art classes as well. I’ve been able to make connections with other parents with kids that are my daughter’s age and we have a little community that we all set up playdates and have birthday parties to go to!
I’ve found that my daughter is way more involved and interested when we got her her own kids yoga mat – I recommend this adorable fox one!
4. Library
Our local library has TONS of activities and programs for toddlers that are free! One of our favorites is the toddler storytime, which has the librarian allow some play time and then reading a book as well. My daughter loves books and reading – feel like this has played a huge part in it!
5. Music Together
Music Together is a program that we have absolutely loved in our family. The kids and adults participate in a music class where they sing songs, instruments, and do other music based activities as well. Over the past year that my daughter has been doing it, her musical knowledge and ear has grown so much! You also get a music book, CD, and the app to continue to play music outside of class as well!
6. Museum
Another thing to do with your little is find a local museum in your area. Then go check it out for the day – that’s it! Super easy! They often have themed days or special programs or areas for little kids to explore!
7. The Little Gym
The Little Gym has gymnastics classes for kids 4 months old to 12 years. This is a great class for your adventurous or high energy toddler (but really, what toddler isn’t high energy? Where can I get one?). My daughter has been involved in a gym class that her grandma signed her up for and she has been loving it. We’ve had some birthday parties at The Little Gym and she has an absolute blast at the parties there!
8. Local Parks and Recreation
Look into your local parks and recreation! I’m in an area where we have access to 3 local parks and rec programs since there’s three cities all super close together (so lucky), so every season, I check out their programs for toddlers and preschool age. One of the favorites that is offered is a toddler and me hike that meets weekly, which is perfect for the summer season, when our weather is FINALLY nice here in the Pacific Northwest!
9. YMCA
Our local YMCA is where we go for swim lessons, even though there are always other programs in our area. I just love that the YMCA is a recognized organization and my husband’s family has been super involved with their local YMCA, so it’s like a home away from home for his family. We are looking into doing more swim lessons this summer, as our daughter LOVED her previous Parent and Tot lessons that we did before we went to Hawaii!
10. Michael’s Makebreaks
Check out your local Michael’s in-store events! They often have free crafts one day a week that you can drop in for a couple of hours and create whatever they have planned! My daughter loves painting, so we always try to plan to go to the painting ones. But they provide everything for you and it’s a mess NOT happening at your house 😉
11. Home Depot Kid Workshops
Another great free program is the Home Depot Kid Workshops that happen every first Saturday of the month. Take the time to go check them out, as it’s a fun craft for a few hours that you can look forward to each month!
4 Comments
Thanks for putting this together! Libraries and museums have such great programs for kids.
This is great! Lots of good suggestions for toddlers!
These are such great ideas. I’m definitely going to share these with my friends.
We got a zoo pass and use it SO often! Any time we can’t think of what to do we head down at the zoo opening time, do a few laps and head home. My son loves it and every time he sees more / does more!