Toddler Play with Straws and Cotton Swabs

We love quick and simple sensory activities at our house, and as a bonus, this one doesn’t make a mess and is easy to pick up: Toddler Play with Straws and Cotton Swabs!

It’s a classic toddler boredom buster with simple materials that you most likely have on hand right now, takes a minute to set up, and is engaging for your toddler – just all around a great little activity!

Quick and simple engaging toddler boredom buster: Toddler Play with Straws and Cotton Swabs! Great little sensory activity that's quick to set up and even quicker to clean up.

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Materials for Toddler Play with Straws and Cotton Swabs

  • A handful of straws, bonus points if you have brightly colored ones.
  • A handful of cotton swabs.
  • A small sensory bin (optional).

It really was as simple as it sounds. I put a big handful of straws and a big handful of cotton swabs into our shoebox-sized sensory bin and stepped back to let my son explore.

Quick and simple engaging toddler boredom buster: Toddler Play with Straws and Cotton Swabs! Great little sensory activity that's quick to set up and even quicker to clean up.

He reached right in and grabbed straws and cotton swabs by the handful, dropped them, and picked them up again.

Quick and simple engaging toddler boredom buster: Toddler Play with Straws and Cotton Swabs! Great little sensory activity that's quick to set up and even quicker to clean up.

He spent some time exploring just the straws.

Quick and simple engaging toddler boredom buster: Toddler Play with Straws and Cotton Swabs! Great little sensory activity that's quick to set up and even quicker to clean up.

Of course, some of them had to go in his mouth 🙂

Quick and simple engaging toddler boredom buster: Toddler Play with Straws and Cotton Swabs! Great little sensory activity that's quick to set up and even quicker to clean up.

After he’d explored the cotton swabs separately, he decided to try how they fit together. I was impressed that he managed to fit the cotton swab into the straw.

Quick and simple engaging toddler boredom buster: Toddler Play with Straws and Cotton Swabs! Great little sensory activity that's quick to set up and even quicker to clean up.

He wasn’t able to get it all the way in, though, and I showed him how to do it. He quickly lost interest in this, however.

Handfuls of straws and cotton swabs kept his interest for quite a while, though.

Quick and simple engaging toddler boredom buster: Toddler Play with Straws and Cotton Swabs! Great little sensory activity that's quick to set up and even quicker to clean up.

He didn’t put the materials back in the bin, but it was really easy to pick them up again.

Quick and simple engaging toddler boredom buster: Toddler Play with Straws and Cotton Swabs! Great little sensory activity that's quick to set up and even quicker to clean up.

More Toddler Activities

If your toddler enjoyed this quick and simple activity, he or she may also like to try

Cheerio Activities for Toddlers

Tracing Activities for Toddlers

Toddler Paint with Flour Paint

Flower Sensory Soup

Fine Motor Activity with Straws and Pipecleaners

or one of these

Spring Toddler Activities

Or you may want to make your child some DIY toys with these fabulous

Fruit Felt Craft Ideas!

 

3 Comments

  1. I love this! My tot loves to play with straws and insert them into a drink cup with an opening in the lid, so this is another perfect activity. As long as he doesn’t try to eat the cotton swabs lol. I have to keep him from chewing on the straws. Thanks for this idea 🙂

  2. Fehmina Shokat says:

    Try cutting the straws a little shorter than the cotton swabs. Toddlers love putting the swabs in the straw. And builds their hand eye coordination and they also get excited wen they see the swab coming out from the otherside of the straw.

    1. That’s a great idea!

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