October 30, 2026 • From the Ready Set Rackets coaches
A lot of grandparents tell us the same thing: “I would love to play with her, but I cannot get down on the floor anymore.” Good news. The best games for a toddler do not need the floor at all. Here are eight you can play from a kitchen chair, a couch or a porch swing, with a balloon and a few things from the drawer.
Sit in a chair. Tap a balloon up and let your grandchild bop it back. Count the bops out loud. One is a win. Three in a row gets a cheer. This is the game toddlers ask for first, every time.
Hold two paper plates together like an alligator’s mouth. Your grandchild tosses the balloon and you “chomp” it. Then switch: they are the alligator, you toss. The chomp noise is required.
Roll up five pairs of socks. Put a laundry basket or a cooking pot between you. Take turns tossing. Move the basket closer when it is hard and farther when it is easy. Count how many land.
Balance the balloon on a paper plate and walk it to Grandma without letting it fall off. Grandma stays in her chair and holds out her hands as the finish line. Then they walk it back to the couch.
Your grandchild taps the balloon up. When you say “red light,” they catch it and freeze. “Green light,” tap again. You run the whole game with your voice.
Roll a soft ball across the table or the floor to your grandchild. They stop it with their hand and roll it back. Easy, calm and good right before nap time.
Put a pillow on the couch cushion between you. Tap the balloon over the pillow to your grandchild. They tap it back. The pillow mountain makes it feel like a real game.
Scatter five soft things on the floor: socks, a stuffed animal, a foam ball. Your grandchild races to put them all in the basket while you count to ten. Then dump it out and go again. You do the counting; they do the running.
Each game is built on the same five skills we work on in our classes: catching, carrying, sending, aiming and rallying. A balloon floats slowly enough that a toddler can actually hit it, and a paper plate is a paddle that cannot hurt anyone. None of these take more than five minutes, which is about the length of a toddler’s attention and a grandparent’s back.
Want the cards? All of these games and more are in Racky’s Play Pack: ten printable game cards, a 30-day play calendar, a star chart for the fridge and six coloring pages, for $9.99. Print it once and keep the cards in the kitchen drawer for every visit. It makes a good gift from a grandparent, too, printed and tucked in a card with a balloon.
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