At-home play for 3-year-olds! Let’s play freely with materials you have at home.
Three-year-olds are full of energy.
Even on days spent at home, they get bored if there’s nothing to focus on—and mom and dad end up exhausted.
At times like these, try adding some at-home play ideas that kids can enjoy using materials you already have at home or items from the dollar store.
This time, we’ve gathered ideas that don’t involve complicated prep or steps.
If you enjoy them together with your child, at-home play can transform into a fun time!
Use this as a reference for those moments when you’re wondering, “What should we do today?”
- [Childcare] Recommended for 3-year-olds! Craft activity ideas
- Let's play with paper cups! Crafts and indoor play
- Easy to make! DIY ideas for Whack-a-Gator
- A handmade collection of Anpanman ideas to enjoy
- Craft ideas using plastic bottle caps [for boys]
- [Childcare] Recommended for 3-year-olds! Play ideas everyone can enjoy
- Let's make and play with kids! A collection of handmade yo-yo ideas
- [Make with Kids] Handmade Outdoor Play Toy Special
- [Childcare] Recommended for toddlers! Toy ideas you can make and play with
- Made of paper! A fun collection of DIY toy ideas you can play with
- Fun DIY Toy Ideas You Can Make with 100-Yen Store Materials
- Make It with Pipe Cleaners! A Collection of Simple, Fun, and Playable Toy Ideas
- [For Kids] Today’s Handmade Craft Ideas
Play-at-home fun for 3-year-olds! Enjoy free play with materials you have at home (1–10)
Making a spinning top with a milk carton
Let’s make a spinning top using an easy-to-find milk carton.
Cut open the milk carton toward the center and round off the edges.
Attach a plastic bottle cap to the center.
Color the outer part in bright colors.
If you place masking tape before coloring and then paint over it, it will come out nicely.
For children who have trouble twisting the cap, you can make a round hole on the outside; turning the hole will make it spin easily.
You can also use the leftover paper to make a buzzer top (whirligig).
Shape Play with Construction Paper
I recommend a shape activity where you prepare construction paper or colored paper in various shapes and colors—circles, triangles, squares, and so on—and have everyone imagine what they could be, then add drawings to complete the picture.
For example, a red circle could be an apple, a pink circle a peach, and a triangle and square together could make a house.
It’s also fun to see each child’s individuality—some will line up lots of colorful shapes, while others will fill the paper with patterns.
Activities that boost imagination are also great brain training.
Make thorough preparations so children can imagine many different things before you begin.
Let’s play freely with clay
Let’s use clay and freely create all sorts of things! Around age three, children gradually start producing recognizable creations, which helps them enjoy clay play even more.
Using tools like spatulas and cutters is also recommended.
Your child can choose their own theme, or caregivers might suggest one, like “Try making this.” It can be fun to use the finished pieces for pretend play as well.
Make lots of different things and enjoy clay play more than ever!
Indoor play ideas for 3-year-olds! Have fun freely with materials you have at home (11–20)
Art project using tissue paper
How about some creative play using tissue paper? Enjoy the soft texture of the tissue paper, the fun of how it lets light pass through, and its colorful hues.
Prepare various sizes of tissue paper, water, a spray bottle, plastic bottles filled with colored water, a funnel, construction paper, glue, and so on.
First, have fun with the sensations by dropping, grabbing, and crumpling the tissue paper.
Next, mix tissue paper with colored water in a plastic bottle, shine light on it, and observe how the light passes through.
Finally, it’s also fun to stick dampened tissue paper onto a window or other glass surface.
You can then paste those pieces onto construction paper to make a lovely wall decoration!
[On the Balcony] Playing with Soap Bubbles
![[On the Balcony] Playing with Soap Bubbles](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/GK3bpgYy_7A/sddefault.jpg)
Let’s enjoy soap bubbles using items you can buy at 100-yen shops.
You can find bubble solutions in a variety of sizes, from large to small.
The blowing wands also come in many different shapes.
If blowing bubbles is difficult, a parent or guardian can blow them—just watching is fun, and you can also play by chasing and catching them.
Also, if you make a large loop with a hanger and pour the solution into a washbasin, you can play by enclosing your whole body in a giant soap bubble.
[Using Toys] Playing Store (Shop Pretend Play)
![[Using Toys] Playing Store (Shop Pretend Play)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/B1E0LxTM99g/sddefault.jpg)
How about playing store using toys? Playing a shop game by pretending that various items—like large LEGO bricks or building blocks—are products helps develop imagination, and the back-and-forth communication will improve their speaking skills.
On the caregiver’s side, try asking questions like “How much is this?” or “Do you have this one too?” to get the children thinking and observe their reactions.
Enjoying it together is the key to a successful play-store experience.
Cooking rice with origami
Let’s try a game where we make food out of origami and pretend to eat it.
If you scrunch up white paper and wrap it with black paper, you can make a rice ball.
Scrunch up red paper and add a green origami stem, and you’ll have a strawberry.
Use your imagination to create all kinds of foods! For example, making a chick’s beak and feeding the chick could be fun.
Using a spoon to feed scrunched paper or marbles is also perfect for practicing fine motor skills.
Once you get good with a spoon, try using chopsticks too.