The Sanity Drawer- Toddler Homeschool Ideas

Toddler homeschool ideas that will maintain your sanity- that’s the goal here. We’ve started into our second year of homeschooling this year, and one of the main “issues” (if you will) was to prevent a certain little someone from peeling the drywall off the walls silently while we were studying spelling.

The solution that I went with was to put together little baggies of preschool activities…special toys and crafts that she can *only* do in her highchair during school. These are just for her, and they are special school activities, so she feels that she is SUCH a big girl and is doing school along with us (and sitting in for reading!)

I wasn’t sure how it would go over, because this child…this precious little dumpling, does not like to be contained, confined, or ‘entertained’ against her will.  That mighty, mighty will of hers that resides in such a wee little body.

We are about to embark on week 6 of school, and her special drawer of toys is one of the things she loves best!  Each toy or craft is packed into a small bag or container.  She gets to choose one toddler homeschool idea baggie at a time.

Usually, I get between 5 and 15 minutes out of each set before she says “I’m done!”  She will usually already have the next thing she wants to do in her mind, and she excitedly cleans up the current set of toys, packing them back into the bag to trade for the next activity. That built in clean up deal is SUPER important for toddler homeschool activities, and is *excellent* way to teach and train them at this age to tidy up after each activity!

At this age, toddlers can learn routines like “tidy up”, sitting in one area for a bit while we’re doing school, and snack time. They can begin to participate and learn the rhythms of a school day!

I tried to choose age-appropriate toddler homeschool ideas that she could do herself, since I’m usually busy working with the older kids during her activity time.  I chose the drawer for her toys since it is right behind my chair in easy reach, so it’s not a hassle at all to reach over and switch out activities for her.

She’ll usually switch out between two or three different things, and then it’s time for a snack, and we move into the living room together for reading time.  Sometimes, I will take the chair into the living room if she wants to color or do a craft like the big kids are doing.  So far, so good!

I plan on updating and switching out toys a couple of times a year.  Stocking stuffers, party treat bags, Happy Meal toys, (these can often be found in the bottom of your toy box or van floorboard) and the Dollar Tree or Target $ area are all great places to find goodies for your own sanity drawer.  I’ve also seen Mama’s who are low on space just use a small storage bin to hold the bags of toys.

Here’s what you’ll find in my toddler sanity drawer, but just use these ideas as a jumping off point for your little one. Every kid has a unique little personality and take on life, so find things that really resonate with your little one that can fit into your homeschool day. What I’m saying there is no harmonicas, maracas, or small choke-able pieces. 🙂

Our Toddler Homeschool Idea Drawer Contains

Amazon Prime affiliate links included on some of these just to give you an idea- most of the items in my drawer were either already in my house, or were purchased at a dollar store or thrift store. 🙂 

• toddler sized crayons and a coloring book (check out these awesome DIY block crayons here!)
• big beads and lacing string with a knot in one end
• foam pieces, a small bottle of glue, and construction paper
• small plastic barn with animals
• wooden puzzle
• a small purse filled with fun stuff (a plastic mirror, compact with makeup brush, play jewelry, old i.d. card, large coins)
• small doll with easy to put on clothing and a bottle
• My Little Pony with brush or comb & easy open barrettes
• a Cheerios play book
• animal and Insect flash cards- the Owl is her favorite!
• a small plastic doll with a bathtub & sponge– her FAVORITE is when I wet the sponge…she’ll spend a LONG time cleaning her doll.

The irony here being that these little ‘scatter all over the house’ toys that used to drive me batty are now a part of my sanity plan.  The math sentence looks like this:

anything with smallish (non-chokable) parts + a plastic bag = part of sanity plan

More Toddler Homeschool Ideas

Other great toddler homeschool ideas for two and three year olds:

• a slightly damp sponge brush and heavy duty construction paper (the water ‘paints’ on the paper)
• modeling clay, a rolling pin, a toothpick and some little cookie cutters
• colored objects to sort into cups by color- we like these counting bears
• toy cars
• blocks
• plastic bugs
• picture dominoes
• tangram shape puzzles or with simple laminated pictures
• lacing cards
• bristle blocks– my kids ADORE these for years, and play with them daily before graduating to big kid Legos

What toddler homeschool ideas and activities hold your two and three year old’s attention?

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