70 Indoor Gross Motor Activities for Toddlers (Ages 1-3)

Sorted by age, because what works for a 1-year-old will absolutely not impress a 3-year-old.

It was raining for the fourth day in a row, my toddler had just attempted to climb the bookshelf for the third time that morning, and I remember thinking: this child has the energy of a small, very determined hurricane and nowhere to put it. We don’t have a backyard. We don’t have a playroom. We have a living room, a hallway, and a roll of painter’s tape that has quietly become the most valuable item in our house.

Here’s the thing nobody tells you before you have a toddler: they need to move their whole body, every single day, or the day falls apart by 4 p.m. And here’s a fact that might validate your last six rainy weeks: searches for movement activities for toddlers have climbed sharply over the past year, right alongside searches for indoor activities for kids. Translation: you are very much not the only one standing in a small apartment wondering how to burn off this much energy without leaving the building.

So here are 70 indoor gross motor activities, sorted by age so you’re not stuck guessing what an 18-month-old can actually do versus what your very capable 3-year-old is ready for. No yard required. No special equipment beyond stuff you probably already own.

🦵 Gross Motor Activities for 1-Year-Olds

The simplest, gentlest place to start. Most of these only need you, your toddler, and maybe a roll of tape.

1. Jump over the lines. Tape a few lines on the floor like a mini ladder rung and cheer them on as they attempt to jump (or step very dramatically) over each one.

3. Bubble chasing. Blow bubbles and let your toddler chase, pop, and shriek their way around the room. Works every single time.

5. Gentle balloon keep-up. Hit a balloon up gently and watch your toddler try to copy you. Builds early hand-eye coordination.

6. Row, row, row your boat. Sit facing each other, hold hands, and rock back and forth while singing. A favorite for a reason.

7. Hide the toy (easy mode). Hide a favorite toy somewhere obvious and let your toddler crawl or toddle off to find it.

10. Dance party. Put on music and dance like nobody’s watching, because nobody is, except your toddler, who is watching very closely and copying everything.

11. Animal sounds and movement. Crawl like a bear, waddle like a duck, hop like a bunny. Simple but surprisingly tiring for tiny legs.

12. Tunnel crawl. Drape a blanket over two chairs and let your toddler crawl through the tunnel again, and again, and again.

🏃 Gross Motor Activities for 2-Year-Olds

A little more coordination, a little more challenge, a lot more energy to burn.

16. Beanbag catch. Toss a soft beanbag back and forth, stepping further apart each time they get the hang of it.

18. Balloon waddle. Place a balloon between their knees and challenge them to waddle across the room without dropping it.

20. Shape tag. Call out a shape (“square!”) and watch your toddler run off to find and tag something shaped like it.

21. Stuffed animal relay. Set up a simple relay: run to the pile of stuffed animals, grab one, run it back, repeat until the pile is gone.

23. Move like an animal. Crab walk, frog jump, snake slither. Add new animals each round to keep it fresh.

24. Musical statues. Dance to music, then freeze the second it stops. A toddler classic that works every time.

27. Mirror game. Stand face to face and copy each other’s movements. The bigger and sillier, the better.

28. Paper plate hop, skip, jump. Scatter paper plates across the floor and call out which way to hop, skip, or jump between them.

🤸 Gross Motor Activities for 3-Year-Olds

Bigger moves, longer attention, and just enough challenge to keep things interesting.

30. Indoor hopscotch. Tape a simple hopscotch grid on the floor. Counting the squares out loud sneaks in a little number practice too.

31. Balance the balloon. Challenge them to balance a balloon on their head, hand, or elbow and see how long they can keep it there.

33. Balloon taps. Hang a balloon from a doorway just out of reach and challenge them to tap it as many times as possible without missing.

34. Paper plate skating. Two paper plates under bare feet turn any hard floor into a mini ice rink. Endlessly fun, surprisingly tiring.

36. Classic hide and seek. A rainy-day staple that works just as well indoors, especially with a few good hiding spots like behind curtains.

39. Straw javelin throw. Mark a starting line with tape and see how far a straw can be thrown, then try to beat that distance.

40. Beanbag head race. Race across the room with a beanbag balanced on the head. Drop it, and back to the start they go.

41. Container ball toss. Set out a few boxes or bins and challenge them to land a [AFFILIATE LINK: soft ball pit ball set] inside each one from a distance.

🔤 Gross Motor Activities With a Learning Twist

These sneak in early letters, numbers, and colors while bodies are still moving, which is honestly the best way to get any of it to stick.

44. Beginning sounds hunt. Pick a letter and send your toddler off to find something around the house that starts with that sound.

45. Who am I? Take turns moving like an animal while the other person guesses which one it is.

47. The listening game. Give a short string of instructions (“jump twice, then spin around”) and see if they can remember and complete them all in order.

50. Color hop. Place colored paper around the room and call out a color for them to hop, run, or crawl toward.

51. Shape hunt. Send them around the house to find something round, something square, something that’s a triangle.

52. Counting jumps. Count out loud together as they jump, clap, or hop a set number of times.

54. Simon says, body parts edition. “Simon says touch your toes” mixes listening practice with full-body movement.

56. Size sort on the move. Scatter big and small toys around the room and have them run each one to the matching “big” or “small” basket.

🎉 Group Gross Motor Games (Siblings, Playdates & Parties)

The more little ones you’ve got running around, the better these work.

58. Duck, duck, goose. Sit in a circle and take turns being chased around it. Works best with three or more kids.

59. What’s the time, Mr. Wolf? One “wolf” calls out a time, and everyone takes that many steps closer until “dinnertime” sends everyone running.

63. Follow the leader train. Line up and copy whatever movement the leader at the front decides to do, then take turns being the leader.

65. Animal charades. One child acts out an animal while the others guess, then the next child takes a turn.

66. Group obstacle relay. Set up one obstacle course and let kids take turns racing through it, cheering each other on at the finish line.

67. Partner mirror game. Pair kids up to copy each other’s movements, then switch partners for a fresh round.

69. Gentle freeze tag. One or two players are “it” and must tag the others to freeze them, until someone unfreezes the group.

70. Group dance-off. Everyone takes a turn showing off their best move in the middle while the rest cheer. Always ends in chaos, always ends in laughter.

Frequently Asked Questions

What exactly are gross motor skills? They’re the skills that use the big muscles in the body: running, jumping, climbing, balancing. Pretty much anything that gets the whole body moving counts.

How much active play does my toddler actually need each day? There’s no single magic number, but most toddlers genuinely need several short bursts of active, whole-body movement spread across the day rather than one long session. A handful of these activities scattered between meals and naps usually does the trick.

My toddler won’t engage with any of these. What do I do? Let them lead a little more than the instructions suggest. If they’d rather just chase the balloon than catch it properly, that’s still gross motor play. The goal is movement, not perfect technique.

Are these safe to do in a small apartment? Most of them are designed exactly for that. Clear a little floor space, keep an eye on anything breakable nearby, and you’re good to go.

At what age can toddlers start more structured games like Simon Says? Most toddlers can follow very simple one-step instructions by around age 2, and build up to multi-step games like Simon Says closer to age 3. Start simple and add steps as they’re ready.

Burn the Energy, Save Your Sanity

Some days you’ll only have time for one of these before nap time wins. Other days you’ll work through half the list before lunch. Either way, the next time the walls start feeling a little too small, you’ve got 70 ways to fix that without opening the front door.

P.S. If you haven’t already, check out 90 No-Prep Toddler Activities for Ages 1-3 for even more screen-free ideas to mix into your week, and stay tuned for a printable activity card set I’m putting together to make all of this even easier to grab on the busiest days.