Please tell me I am not the only one with a hyperactive toddler. Well, we have two toddlers in our home now. Our 1 year old thinks she can conquer the whole wide world (while she’s still not able to walk by herself) and our 2,5 year old thinks she the queen of the house. And they both are so unbelievably active! My goodness, I can play with them for an hour straight, and they are still not satisfied physically. The jump on top of me, the bounce on the couch, they run (and crawl) while playing hide and seek, and they still burst of energy. So I was going on the hunt for some fun and energy-sucking toys for toddlers. Hoping that they would finally lose some steam and be able to have a great nap in the afternoon, instead of bouncing the whole day like crazy kangaroos. ‘Cause lets be honest, that’s just plain right exhausting. So here are our best gift ideas for active toddlers. 

A (wooden) slide

We just love slides! Well, the kids of course. But I love them too. It makes the kids run round and round, lets them climb and then slide (duh). So you would say those active toddlers would get all of their energy out of their tiny bodies.

You can buy a normal plastic slide, that you can also use outside in the garden. But for the more stylish moms and dads out there, there are wooden slides. I wanted the Ikea slide so bad (I hate the red color, but you can put some sticky contact paper over it. I was planning on using a marble design so it would awesome!) but they don’t sell any longer. So I am still on the hunt for a second hand one but no luck so far. 

There is also the Jupiduu white wooden slide. So you don’t have to make it a big DIY project, just buy the gorgeous slide that fits with every interior. 

An indoor swing

First of all, we love swings! But most of them are made for outside play. Unfortunately, we live in the Netherlands where shitty weather is the status quo. So getting outside isn’t that easy (especially during winter time). With an indoor swing you can do all kinds of active play. 

Are you choosing for a regular swing, or do you style it up, and get an awesome skateboard shaped swing, like this one from JipFish. 

You could also use ropes, a trapeze or other fun hanging toys. You can hang up a swing where there is enough space to…. swing. So make sure your toddlers are not hitting walls or bumping into furniture while swinging. 

A ball pit

We gave our 2 year old a stylish ball pit for her first birthday. And everyone fell in love with it. Me for it not being too in your face (with all it’s bright colors and awful looking plastic) and the kids loved it because it was just the best gift they could wish for. 

As soon as the kids wake up, they want to play in it. Yes, the thing they toddlers like to do most, is just throwing the balls out of the ball pit. But this is the perfect way for them to learn how to clean up after themselves right? At first, I was a little annoyed every time they threw the balls out, but now I just let them. After their all done, I let them clean up the room and put all the balls back into the ball pit. You see, this way they’re not only playing actively in the ball pit, but also being active gathering all the balls and throwing them in the pit again. Win-win for sure!

How a balance board can entertain your active toddler for hours at a time

We gifted our kids for ‘Sinterklaas’ (the Dutch version of Santa Claus) a balance board. We bought it second hand and had it engraved with an eagle to pimp it up a little. And the kids have played with it every single day so far.

The oldest three kids really balance on the balance board while standing, the youngest one just loves to move her tiny but to let the balance board move a little bit. Then, of course, there is the climbing on it, putting it on the couch and letting it be a slide (yay, we don’t need an indoor slide for now!)

Not only balancing on the board is fun for the kids to do, they also use it as a stage, or a chill out place. They search for some blankets and pillows and make a bed out of the balance board. 

Our son uses it as a bridge for his cars, the little girls love to turn the bridge upside down and let the cars roll from one end to the other. Our 1 year old can use the balance board as a slide herself when it’s with both ends on the ground. Yes, sometimes she does some scary stuff and I almost get a heart attack, but I can’t complain. She is busy doing her thing all by herself for a long time.

Get your active toddler a play tunnel

We got ours at Ikea, but you can buy those play tunnels almost everywhere. If any one knows a stylish play tunnel, please let me know. I’d love to get rid of our green with fluor pink tunnel, ‘cause it’s a sore in my interior loving eyes. But for now the kids love to play with it. The little girls can get rid of a lot of energy by crawling through the play tunnel a hundred times in just half an hour. They play peek-a-boo, crawl through it, hide themselves in it, and roll in it. The last thing is kinda dangerous when you have a lot of furniture, but when there is a little space, just let them roll.

Gift yourself the gift of a trampoline

We celebrated our kids birthdays all combined last year. I didn’t wanna bake four stunning cakes (standing in the kitchen for hours), decorate four times, have four kids parties and think of birthdays for 6 months straight. But the most important reason for celebrating their birthdays together was because I wanted to give them a trampoline. How much fun would that be? We celebrated early June, so they played on the huge trampoline outside for almost every day until cold November came.

Big trampolines are a life saver for moms, thats for sure. When the kids got a little bit bored, I just kicked them outside and let them jump their negative energy off on the trampoline.

By buying a huge trampoline we are able to let all the kids go on the trampoline at te same time. So no crying about who was first. Now they only cry about why someone bumped into them… Well that’s to bad.

If you don’t have a big yard, or you have the problem of having shitty weather half of the year, an indoor fitness trampoline is a great option. It’s not big at all, and only one child can bounce on it. But it is big enough to just get some of your active toddler’s energy out.

You could also look into having a bouncehouse in your home. Greatest thing about it, that when not used, you can just deflate them and store it away nicely, which is quit impossible with a huge trampoline.

Take your active toddler outside the home

If you have the option to go outside with your active toddler, please do so! Outside those little once can run, and play. walk or climb and explore the world.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BoEaYq1gvbX/

As I said earlier, we just can’t go outside as much as I’d love to. But as soon as the weather is not as shitty as normally, I take my toddlers outside. They love to walk (yes, even the 1 year old, who can bearly walk), run and play hide and seek. Sometimes I take my kids on an ‘adventure trail’. It’s just a path through a park nearby. But it’s not suitable for strollers, so I have to carry the little one in a carrier. We climb up the hills (don’t forget we don’t have hills in the Netherlands so the hills we climb are not even as high as I am), walk along small dirt paths and explore. The oldest know the way, but the youngest two get excited every crossroad we face. Where to go next?!

Fun rides for active toddlers

And when you go outside with your active toddler, you can do so much. Not just walking, running, jumping and swinging. But what about rides. Yes they might still be a little small to ride on a bicycle, but there are a lot of fun rides for active toddlers that they can use. 

A balance bike for active toddlers

A balance bike is the best way to start with the bicycle journey of your youngsters. You can also choose for a tricycle like the Wishbone bike, which you can transform into a balance bike later on. So even your just one year old can enjoy having their own bike.

A small kart

We bought our kids a fun and big kart where two kids could sit and ride on. You can buy a little trailer to put behind it, where your active toddler can sit it. But by sitting still most active toddlers don’t use their energy. So gift your active toddler the gift of a small kart. They can usually use them ages 2 and up. 

An electric car

Yes, this is more for the dads I know. I already told you that most active toddlers don’t lose steam when they sit still. But an electric car is a way to get your toddler outside the home and have a little fresh air going through their hair. So we’ll just squeeze this one in, to make all the dads that are reading, happy too.

What’s your favorite way to keep your active toddler busy?

© Shutterstock


*This post may contain sponsored/affiliate links. You don’t pay more, and we get to provide for our family this way. Thank you for supporting us.