16 Best Extracurricular Activities for Every Type of Toddler Based on Personality

Active children with a lot of energy will likely excel in a youth sport. There are many options for young children — from micro soccer to T-ball to track and field. Check with local recreation centers to see what options may exist nearby. Just remember, at this age, it's about encouraging them to get their energy out and have fun — not necessarily to win.

Many martial arts centers accept young students with the goal of teaching them skills like confidence, coordination, and focus, according to Faust's USA Karate. For toddlers who can be easily distracted, martial arts can be a great way to help them learn to combat that.

Tumbling and gymnastics are popular activities for young children. These classes help active kids get their energy out, and the group settings can help foster friendships for shy children because they all have this one thing in common to talk about. A quick internet search should bring up gyms nearby that take toddlers.

Active children can benefit from the calming environment of the library, while quiet and shy children won't feel out of place. Many local libraries offer storytime programs for little ones, and libraries also usually offer robust kids' sections with books and sometimes even toys for all ages.

More from Mom.com: 5 Mommy-and-Me Toddler Activities

Music can be an extremely beneficial part of a young child's life, which is why many parents start playing songs while the child is still in the womb. As toddlers, they can participate in music classes where they can practice playing instruments, singing, moving to the beat, and more.

Even local libraries may offer these sorts of musical enrichment activities.

Dance classes available for little ones range from free-form to more structured, so it's easy to find one that's best suited for a specific personality.

Children who seem easily distracted may enjoy a freestyle class without a lot of structure. Conversely, maybe something like ballet could help them learn to adhere to structure a little bit more. Additionally, outgoing children may appreciate being in group dance classes where they can learn routines with their friends.

It's just about finding what suits each child best.

STEM is short for science, technology, engineering, and math — all of which are important to introduce to our kids. Outschool has a bunch of online video lessons in these areas for little ones. And since they're internet-based, they could be good for shy children who don't do as well in larger in-person groups.

Exploring drawing, painting, crafting, etc., can be good for toddlers who already show a penchant for creativity. But these types of classes are also good for more intellectual overthinkers to practice unlocking their right brain activity. Many local recreation centers offer these sorts of arts and crafts classes for children.

For active toddlers, yoga may actually be a great way to help calm them a little bit. There are tons of yoga videos for kids on YouTube, or parents can see if their local rec centers offer any toddler classes. It's the perfect way to start their day off on a more relaxed note.

Toddlers may not be able to use the oven, but they can actually do a decent amount of food prep like measuring ingredients, mixing, seasoning, and more. Cooking classes could be perfect for kids who are picky eaters because giving them an inside look at the process may help make new foods not seem so scary.

If there aren't any toddler in-person cooking classes nearby, Kids Cook Real Food offers online courses.

The European Union's website praised the benefits of children learning languages when they're young. Teaching little ones a new language can enhance their communication skills as well as their cognitive skills, memory, problem-solving, and more.

There are online language classes for toddlers, like Little Pim, or parents can see if any local classes are being offered in their towns.

Children are never too young to start giving back. Parents can have their toddlers help out with things like litter pickup or community gardening. For parents with little ones who are more serious or focused, they might appreciate these sorts of activities with tangible results.

Toddlers who are very emotional, sensitive, or anxious could be a good fit for animal shelter activities. Parents will have to check with their local chapters, but some humane societies offer youth programs where kids can come pet the animals, listen to stories, and more.

Many towns offer summer day camps for children of all ages. These camps provide a place for kids to get outdoors, learn new things, make crafts, and more. They're sort of like a combination of several activities on this list all at once. That's perhaps perfect for indecisive toddlers who don't yet have a passion in any one direction — or for easily distracted children who like to move from activity to activity.

Parents don't necessarily need to pay for a specific activity for toddlers to get enrichment by doing new things. Even just playdates with friends can encourage imagination, sharing, communication, relationship-building, etc. And, as a bonus, the parents can make friends with each other as well.

We can put our children in swim lessons when they're still babies to get them a head start. Water safety skills are extremely important for children of all ages — regardless of temperament — especially for young children who have a higher drowning risk. The United States Swim School Association has a web tool to help parents find lessons near them.