Toddler game: Sockfuls of surprises

Want your toddler to stand still for twenty minutes? This is the game for you. It’s also the game to play when the weather’s grey outside and the toddler has gotten tired of all the things he can play with inside the house (this usually includes non-toys). It’s the WHAT’S IN THE SOCK? game!

All you’ll need is a bunch of clean socks and a couple of toys — one toy per sock. You then stuff each toy in a sock while the toddler’s not looking. That’s more difficult than you think!

When all six socks were stuffed, I gave them to the toddler to play with. He’s looking a bit wary in this picture. What Timmy did was he felt the sock first, trying to analyze why it’s bumpy and lumpy. When his curiosity got stronger, he put one hand inside a sock to feel the surprise. He had a lot of fun trying to peek into each sock before sticking his hand in. As each toy was revealed, he laughed and clapped his hands. It was like he had new presents!

While he was busy taking out toys from the socks, I gathered the toyless socks and re-stuffed them with toys I had hidden behind me. Keep the curiosity going and you’ll get a good twenty minutes of rest time while the toddler amuses himself with sockfuls of surprises.

Some surprise toys didn’t make him laugh. This was one of them. That’s Nico from Rio. When he saw the toy bird’s feet sticking out from the sock, he wasn’t too impressed. Okay, no more stuffing toys feet up from now on.

Keep the game going for as long as he’s amused! I was able to stuff other things like small books, a hair brush, a bottle of powder, a box of band-aids… It’s a lot of fun. We played this during a grey day last week, but we’ve been playing it everyday since then too. I’m running out of things to stuff the socks with!

The best thing about this game for Mommy is that the toddler stays still for those twenty minutes. That’s a huge relief. Timmy runs around A LOT. A WHOLE LOT. Twenty minutes of quiet time? That is most welcome! I better think of more things to stuff the socks with! Maybe you can give me ideas so I can stretch it to a whole hour of sock time. That’s wishful thinking, but hey, who knows what other surprises these socks can hold?

Hi! I'm Toni Tiu, and I've been blogging at at Wifely Steps since 2003. This started as a blog to help newly weds adjust to married life. It has evolved into a home and parenting blog. I write about things close to my heart -- good eats, good reads, family, marriage, and the little things that make everyday happy.