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Pool noodles are one of those inexpensive supplies that can turn into way more than a pool toy. When my kids were little, we cut them into pieces and used them for everything from fine motor activities and sensory play to early math, crafts and giant backyard games.

I originally put this list together because there were so many simple ways to reuse the same basic material. Some of these activities are ones we tried ourselves, while others link to creative ideas and tutorials from around the web.

Below you’ll find 50+ pool noodle activities for toddlers, organized by type so you can easily find something that works with the supplies and space you have.

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Pool noodles are usually inexpensive and easy to find during the summer. If you’re doing this out of season or can’t find them locally, you can also find basic pool noodles online.

What I like most about activities like these is that the same simple material can be used in completely different ways. Kids can build, experiment, create, sort, problem-solve or come up with ideas you never planned for them. If your child especially enjoys that kind of open-ended play, I’ve shared more of our favorite ideas and resources in my gift guide for curious kids who love to build, create and experiment.

How to Cut a Pool Noodle

Pool noodles are easy to cut into slices, halves or different shapes depending on the activity. An adult should handle all cutting using a serrated kitchen knife or utility knife on a protected surface. Once the pieces are cut, they’re ready to use for the activities below.

50 Easy and Creative Pool Noodle Activities for Toddlers

Here are 50+ ideas for pool noodle activities for toddlers broken down into categories.

• Fine Motor
• Sensory
• Educational
• Crafts
• Large-Scale Uses

Most of these activities use pool noodles cut into slices, although some use longer pieces, halves or whole noodles. Depending on the activity, you may also need basic supplies such as string, tape, pom poms, pipe cleaners, craft sticks, pegs, markers, plastic bins, sand, water, marbles or toy cars.

Fine Motor Activities

1. Necklace threading — string pool noodle slices together to make oversized necklaces or chains
2. Sorting with tweezers and pom poms — use the noodle openings as little sorting cups 
3. Poke pipe cleaners or craft sticks through the noodle openings 
4. Hammer golf tees into pool noodle pieces using a toy mallet 
5. Stack pool noodle slices to build towers
6. Connect noodle pieces with toothpicks to build small structures

Want to get even more use out of these activities? A small set of fine motor tools can work with several of the ideas above. The Learning Resources Helping Hands set includes kid-sized tweezers, scoopers, tongs and droppers that can be used for sorting pom poms, picking up small objects, transferring materials and sensory play. It’s one of those simple sets that can be reused with lots of different activities beyond the pool noodles.

Sensory Activities

1. Sensory bin with sand, rocks and pebbles 
2. Water sensory bin with floating pool noodle pieces
3. Use noodle pieces as bath or water-table toys 
4. Make small sailboats using straws and foam-sheet sails 
5. Create a water tunnel or water wall with longer noodle pieces
6. Sound exploration tube — add small objects and experiment with the sounds they make

You can use the same fine motor tools mentioned above for sensory play too. Try the scoopers, droppers and tweezers with water, pom poms or other sensory-bin materials to give kids another way to explore and transfer what’s inside.

Educational Activities

1. Color sorting — sort pool noodle slices by color into bins or containers 
2. Letter or number recognition — write letters or numbers on noodle pieces for kids to identify 
3. Letter or number matching — create matching pairs for kids to find and group together 
4. Spelling and name recognition — write letters on individual pieces and arrange them to spell names or simple words 
5. Alphabetical order and counting — arrange labeled noodle pieces in order or use them as hands-on counters 
6. Addition and subtraction stacking — stack noodle pieces to visually solve simple math problems 
7. Geometric shape building — connect pieces to experiment with making different shapes 
8. Weights and balance experiment — connect noodle pieces with string and experiment with weight and balance

If your child likes using the pool noodle pieces for counting, sorting and early math, a set of Learning Resources MathLink Cubes is another hands-on material that can grow with them. Kids can connect, sort, count and build with the cubes while experimenting with patterns and simple math concepts.

Crafts

1. Lightsaber — wrap or decorate longer noodle pieces to create pretend-play lightsabers 
2. Flower garden — turn noodle pieces into colorful flowers for a pretend garden 
3. Monster sculpture — combine and decorate noodle pieces to create silly monsters 
4. Animal creatures — use different shapes and sizes to build simple animals 
5. Stamps — dip the ends or cut shapes into noodle pieces and use them for painting 
6. Wreath base — form a pool noodle into a circle and decorate it as a lightweight wreath 
7. Pom pom shooter — use a small noodle section to create a simple pom pom launcher 
8. Water blaster — use a hollow noodle piece for outdoor water play 
9. Catapult — build a simple launcher using a pool noodle as part of the structure 
10. Telescope — decorate a short noodle piece for pretend-play exploring 
11. Building cities — combine noodle pieces with other building materials to create structures 
12. Small or large raft — connect multiple noodle pieces together to experiment with floating 
13. Racquet — create a lightweight pretend racquet using a noodle and other basic craft materials 
14. Abacus — string noodle slices to create large movable counting pieces 
15. Garland — string colorful noodle slices together for an easy outdoor decoration 
16. Rocket — decorate noodle pieces with paper flames and other details to make pretend rockets

If your kids enjoy turning simple materials into something completely different, there are plenty more ideas in our Eric Carle-inspired painting and collage activity, where kids create their own painted papers and decide what to turn them into.

Large-Scale Uses

1. Street or lane obstacle — lay full-length noodles out to create paths, lanes or boundaries 
2. Marble run — cut noodles lengthwise to create tracks for marbles or balls 
3. Race track for toy cars — use cut noodles as ramps and tracks for small cars 
4. Swimming — use whole pool noodles for their original purpose: floating and water play 
5. Bat or hockey stick — use noodles for softer indoor or outdoor versions of active games 
6. Goal structure — connect full-length noodles to create lightweight goals 
7. Croquet hoops — bend noodles into arches for a backyard croquet-style game 
8. Sprinkler — add holes to a noodle and connect it to a hose for outdoor water play 
9. Car wash structure — build a kid-sized pretend car wash for bikes, scooters or ride-on toys 
10. Hurdle obstacle course — create low hurdles for kids to step, jump or crawl over 
11. Rings obstacle course — form noodles into rings for kids to move through 
12. Weave obstacle course — arrange noodles at different heights for kids to weave around or under 
13. Ring toss — form noodles into rings for a large backyard tossing game 
14. Ring target — create oversized targets for tossing balls, beanbags or other lightweight objects 
15. Bed bumper — place a pool noodle under a fitted sheet along the edge of a mattress as a simple bumper

If building tracks becomes a favorite activity, a National Geographic Kids Junior Jumbo Marble Run gives younger kids more ways to experiment with building and movement using oversized pieces made for little hands. And as kids get older, our paper roller coaster STEM project takes the same idea further with paper tracks, turns and drops for a marble.

Which One is Your Favorite?

Pool noodles ended up being one of those surprisingly useful things we kept around when my kids were little. We used the same cut-up pieces for everything from sorting and counting to building, sensory play and outdoor activities.

You definitely don’t need to try every idea on this list. Cut up a few inexpensive pool noodles, save the pieces in a bin, and pull them out whenever you need an easy activity. It’s amazing how many different ways kids can find to use them.

The best part is that the activities can grow with your child. A toddler might start by stacking, sorting or floating the pieces in water, while an older child may turn those same materials into tracks, structures or experiments. You don’t need a separate setup for every activity—sometimes giving kids a simple material and seeing what they decide to do with it is enough.

More Easy Kids’ Activities

Looking for more simple activities to try with the kids? Here are a few more ideas from ThanksMommy:

• How to Make Tear-Free Bubble Foam for Kids
• Easy Paper Popsicle Craft for Kids
• Eric Carle-Inspired Painting & Collage Craft
• 70+ Fun Kids Activities You Need at Home Right Now