Toddler activities in Bali are more plentiful than you might think, from sensory play and animal feeding to swimming and arts and crafts; this tropical island has something for just about every age. Whatever your little one’s interests, there are a lot of options here to keep them engaged and growing.
Between 12 months and 4 years old, toddlers grow fast, and the right kind of play supports both brain and body development, building new neural connections that are key for intelligence, focus, and long-term physical health. If you’re an expat parent in Bali searching for age-appropriate activities for your toddler, this guide is a great place to start.
Best Toddler Activities in Bali by Age
Activities for 12-18 months
1. Sensory Play
Sensory play activities for toddlers are essential to introduce from a very early age, even as young as 12 to 18 months. This period marks the early golden window of brain development, when toddlers are at their most active in exploring the world around them using all five senses, building millions of new neural connections in the process.
Sensory play offers a wide range of benefits, including strengthening brain connections, developing fine and gross motor skills, supporting emotional regulation, and boosting cognitive and language development.
There are plenty of simple activities toddlers can try at home, like playing with jelly, edible sand, or squishing ripe fruit to build the sense of touch, filling plastic bottles with rice and bright colors to shake for sight and hearing, or introducing fruit slices with different tastes and smells to engage smell and taste.
2. Water Splashing
Water splashing is another easy activity to try in Bali. It’s a safe option as long as it’s supervised, and it makes for a simple, budget-friendly way to stimulate your toddler’s development while still keeping things fun.
This activity offers plenty of benefits for kids, from strengthening gross motor skills and fine motor coordination to stimulating the senses, building vocabulary, and helping regulate emotions.
For a practical way to play at home, try giving your toddler exploration tools like a large bucket, scoop, or funnel, letting them transfer water between containers using a sponge or spoon, or turning it into a hunt for rubber toys floating in a pool or bathtub.
3. Soft Play
Another great activity for a 1-year-old in Bali is taking them to a dedicated play space with soft, cushioned equipment like slides, ball pits, or foam blocks, often known as soft play.
Bali has plenty of places offering this, including Mai Main Playground Canggu. With safe play structures lined in soft foam material, toddlers can move around freely to build coordination, balance, and physical strength.
Taking them to a place like this is also a great way to teach interaction and sharing with the other kids they meet there.
Activities for 18 months-2 years
1. Animal Feeding
Once your little one reaches 18 months to 2 years old, taking them outdoors for more complex activities like animal feeding can be a great option.
Beyond being fun, this activity helps stimulate fine motor skills, build empathy from an early age, sharpen sensory awareness, and expand vocabulary. It also gives toddlers the chance to interact directly with living creatures and learn about animals with a growing sense of confidence.
You can visit a zoo for a wider variety of animals, or head to one of Bali’s most recommended playgrounds, Mai Main Playground, where kids can feed calm, gentle animals like rabbits, goats, and poultry, among others.
2. Messy Play
Messy play is a fun yet beneficial activity for a 2-year-old in Bali. This activity invites toddlers to explore textures like mud, dough, paint, or other materials, stimulating sensory-motor skills, sharpening creativity and focus, and supporting emotional regulation.
Just like the name itself, this kind of play will get kids physically messy and a bit wild, since they’re diving headfirst into exploration. But from a developmental standpoint, it’s about far more than dirty clothes; it’s an important medium for hands-on learning.
Messy play can happen anywhere, including at home, but Bali also has plenty of kid-friendly play spaces and outdoor venues where parents can let their little one enjoy this activity in a fun, guided way.
3. Ball Pit
A ball pit is one of the most popular play features you’ll find almost anywhere, from playgrounds and shopping malls to fast food restaurants. While designed for fun, it also doubles as a light workout for motor skills and is sometimes even used for sensory therapy.
Beyond that, ball pits support cognitive learning too, helping kids explore colors, shapes, and simple cause-and-effect as they watch balls shift and bounce around them. It’s also a great space for building social and emotional skills through sharing, taking turns, and simply having fun, all while helping kids unwind and de-stress.
Activities for 2-3 years
1. Intro Swimming
Intro swimming is a great activity to start once your little one turns 2 to 3 years old. It’s basically a beginner swim class made just for toddlers, designed to help them get comfortable with water.
These classes focus on building confidence and teaching water safety first, before moving into the basics like floating, gliding, and breathing. Once those fundamentals click, kids are better prepared for more advanced swimming down the line, and Bali has plenty of kids’ swimming classes where you can join your little one and learn together safely.
2. Storytelling
If you want to build your child’s communication skills, including language, cognitive thinking, and emotional intelligence, storytelling is a great activity to try. It helps enrich vocabulary, build listening skills, and strengthen the bond between parent and child.
This activity is simple and can be done anywhere, even at home, though visiting a library or reading corner is a great way to keep things fresh for your toddler. Pondok Pekak Library and Learning Centre in Ubud is worth checking out, a bilingual children’s library with a large English-language collection alongside books in Indonesian and several other languages.
3. Simple Cooking
Simple cooking is a fantastic source of stimulation for 2- to 3-year-olds. It’s not just an enjoyable activity; it also helps build several basic skills that matter for their development going forward.
Beyond boosting fine motor skills and vocabulary through new food-related words, cooking introduces toddlers to early science and math concepts too, counting fruits or ingredients, exploring textures, and noticing color changes as food is prepared. It also helps build focus and patience, encourages a healthy appetite, and strengthens self-confidence.
Cooking at home can be as simple as involving your toddler in everyday kitchen tasks. If time is tight, though, a kids’ cooking class is a great alternative. Mai Main Playground Canggu offers a fun pizza-making session that’s perfect for little ones to get hands-on.
Activities for 3-4 years (ballet intro, playground, group play, arts and crafts)
1. Ballet Intro
If your child shows a strong enthusiasm for classical music and a natural pull toward moving their body gracefully, it could be a sign they’re drawn to ballet, an interest that often shows up early through distinct physical and visual cues.
Ages 3 to 4 are a great time to introduce your child to ballet lessons. Beyond teaching a new skill, it also helps shape good posture, build muscle strength and flexibility, train coordination and balance, and boost self-confidence.
If your little one enjoys dancing but ballet isn’t quite the fit, there are other dance classes in Bali worth exploring too, a great way to support their growth and nurture their interests going forward.
2. Playground
Bali isn’t just packed with destinations for adults; this tropical island also has plenty of playgrounds worth visiting with your little one, offering a fun and beneficial way to support their growth.
Visiting a playground comes with a long list of benefits waiting for your child, from sharpening motor skills to stimulating imagination and building social skills. It’s also a safer alternative for keeping kids active without exposing them to extreme heat or heavy rain, since many playgrounds in Bali offer indoor activities too.
3. Group Play
Group play is a stage in a child’s social development, usually starting around age 3 to 4, when kids move from playing alone or just alongside others to actually playing together with a shared goal. This is when you’ll start seeing your child cooperating with other kids, taking turns, and following the same “rules” of a game together.
This stage matters because it builds real teamwork and communication skills that stick with kids as they grow older. You can encourage it through simple activities like pretend play with other kids, building something together, or easy team games, and places like Mai Main Playground in Bali give toddlers plenty of chances to practice this kind of play with their peers.
4. Arts and Crafts
Arts and crafts are another great way to support your little one’s growth and skill development. It’s flexible too; you can do it anytime, anywhere, even at home with simple materials like origami paper, cardboard, or paper for collages.
If you’re looking for something more structured, Bali also has plenty of art workshops and kids’ classes across the island. These sessions often introduce techniques and materials you might not have at home, like painting, clay modeling, or beading, giving your child a chance to explore different mediums while building focus and fine motor skills along the way.
Indoor Toddler Activities in Canggu
Toddler activities in Canggu are easy to plan around when you want to stay comfortable and out of the harsh sun or heavy rain during monsoon season. If you’re looking for an indoor spot for your little one to play, Mai Main Playground Canggu is one of the best choices around, packed with fun, beneficial attractions like:
- Sensory Play: Kids can find a range of activities here designed to train their sensory skills, including the ball pit, sensory toys, and more.
- Indoor Playground Zones: There’s also plenty of indoor fun to support physical movement and growth, from slides and trampolines to the flying fox and Ball Blast Quest, among others.
- Swimming Class for Toddlers: A dedicated pool lets kids enjoy a fun swim, with professional, kid-friendly instructors running classes starting from IDR 150,000, held every Sunday and Monday.
- Baby Spa: Beyond active play, Mai Main Canggu also offers a place to unwind, Svaha Spa Mai Main, where kids can relax with gentle massages and treatments after a full day of play, starting from IDR 580,000 per 120-minute session for one child.
All of these toddler activities in Canggu are available in one place at Mai Main Playground, with entry tickets starting from IDR 180,000 per person, giving your little one access to a wide range of attractions that support their development.
You can also book your tickets in advance through Mai Main’s official website for a smoother, queue-free process. If you’re planning a visit, don’t forget to bring a change of clothes and any essentials your little one might need for extra comfort.
Outdoor Toddler Activities in Bali
When it comes to kid-friendly outdoor activities in Bali, there’s no shortage of beneficial options to try, including:
- Beach Play (Sanur, Jimbaran): Bali is home to plenty of beautiful coastlines, and taking kids to calmer beaches like Sanur and Jimbaran is a great, mindful choice. Let them dig, build sandcastles, bury their feet, or shape sand with molds to build fine motor skills, creativity, and tactile sensory input.
- Animal Encounters: You can also take kids to Bali Zoo for animal feeding sessions, or to a bird park, turtle conservation center, or even the Ubud Monkey Forest to see and learn about wildlife in their natural habitat, a great, hands-on lesson about animals.
- Nature Walk: Walking through nature, whether along the beach, through Ubud’s valleys, or across rice fields, is another great outdoor option for kids. It keeps them physically active, helping build gross motor skills, while sparking curiosity about the world around them.
- Mini Farm: Bali also has several mini farms worth visiting to introduce kids to animals and their surroundings, like Bali Farm House in Buleleng, the Petting Farm at Bali Zoo in Gianyar, and Hidden Mini Zoo Bali in Guwang. All of them make for a fun, educational outing.
Conclusion
There are so many toddler activities in Bali that have to offer for brain and body development, from simple play you can try right at home, like sensory play, to more structured yet still fun options like a trip to the playground.
If you’re looking for all these benefits in one place, without the hassle of traveling around or switching locations, Mai Main Playground Canggu is a great choice. We offer daily programs suited for toddlers, from attractions that build physical agility to those that spark creativity and movement, like Balinese dance classes.
