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1. Start with fun games for three years old.
For three year olds, getting active is definitely the name of the game as your busy toddler tests their ability to dash about - often picking up a few bumps and bruises along the way. When parents sigh about how their little one runs rings around them, often they mean literally!
2. Fun and Free Games
As well as helping your family have fun - and get active - running-around games can also help with child development.
" Children at this age love running around, so active games such as hide and seek and simple treasure hunts are very popular ways of promoting social development," says psychologist Dr Amanda Gummer, who has developed an online guide to children's play named the Good Toy Guide.
3. Development Games
"At three years old, children are starting to make friend s and play with - rather than just alongside - other children. Promoting interaction with other children will help develop a range of social skills that will stand them in good stead for starting school or nursery."
So what kind of games can you play with your three year old? Look for inventive games that capture your child's imagination.
"Play is messing about and having a good time and the games you make up together are often the best ones," says Sue Palmer, a child development expert. "The tried-and-tested games are usually pretty cheap or free. The point of playing games is to help you connect more and more with your child and to give your child a chance to play."
And, if you feel exhausted at the prospect of more high-energy play, don't worry - it is possible to keep your toddler entertained without embarking on an Olympics-style athletics program me for them!
4. Chasing Shadows with your child
Warm, sunny day s are perfect for this one. Show your child the different shadow shapes you can both make. Try chasing each other round the garden or pretending to be different "shadow animals" - birds, elephants, or join together to make a pony. "We play a game where we have to try to jump on each other's shadow," says Sam Hough, mum to three-year-old Evan. Just remember your high-factor suncream if you're spending time out in the sun.
5. Fun and Active Games
"Sam loves running round, so we try to turn our family activities into some sort of game," says Rachel Evans, from Essex, mum to three-year-old Sam. "For example, we try to go for a family walk in the park on a Sunday morning. Sam would get quite bored if we were just walking but, if we turn it into a game of tag, he suddenly gets excited. Plus, it helps to tire him out so we can relax later on!"
6. Summertime snowballs:
Scrunch pieces of old newspaper or magazines into balls, then have a "snowball fight". Try ducking and diving as your toddler tries to pelt you with paper - and then they have to run and hide while you try to get them back.
7. Build an extension:
"We love to make a pretend camp in the living room," says Emma Walters from Stoke-on-Trent. "We put up 'tents' (made with sheets) and pretend to camp out. We gather round an imaginary campfire and 'cook' tea with his play food. Then when the camping holiday is over, I talk him into packing up and going home, so that covers the tidying too!"
8. Go disco dancing:
"One of my favourite activities with my three year old is dancing," says Fay Wheeler from Norwich, mum to Samuel. "I'll play 30 second snippets of songs. The songs are all different, e.g. a classical piece, a heavy metal song, a children's song, a pop song and natural sounds of the sea or rainforest. Then Sam and I dance around in a way that's suitable for the music. It's lots of fun, changing the way we dance according to what we hear."
9. Get cooking:
A bowl, a spoon and lots of old clothes for your little one are important elements of this activity. Mix up a flour and water paste, divide it into balls, then add a few drops of different coloured food colouring to each ball and ask them to mix it up for you. Warning: this one can get messy!
10. Treasure hunt:
Hide a few little treats around the house and ask your child to go and find them. Give them little clues like "Go and ask Teddy - he might know" - and hide one of the treats near Teddy. They'll love telling you all about how they found everything you hide.
Water the plants:
"We use Samuel's squirter bath toys to water all the plants in the house. We have lots of fun and it's another household chore done!" says Fay Wheeler, from Norwich.
Additional Activities;
1. Have a picnic:
Put a picnic rug down - either outside or, if the weather isn't conducive to eating outdoors - the living room floor. Then do your baking - get your little one to stir up some biscuit mix, put chopped fruit into a salad and use star-shaped cutters to make sandwiches. Then pack it all into a basket and head to the living room for your big day out!
2. Easy-peasy kites:
A great one for those windy walks in the park. Get your toddler to design their very own kite on a small piece of paper - about the size of a Post-it note. Then simply tape it to a long piece of ribbon and wait for the wind to blow.
3. Sock it to them:
Spend a morning making some new sock friends out of some old (preferably washed) socks. Use a bit of glue to stick on eyes, a mouth and maybe a bit of glitter and wait for it to dry. Then crouch behind the sofa and put on your very own sock puppet show.
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