what activities to do with 2 year olds
Discover fun 2 year old evolution activities! From educational to outdoor to craft activities, get a list of ideas to do with your toddler.
I'm not your typical crafty mom.
I don't stock sensory bins or organize trays of card stock at habitation. I also don't like how many toddler activities seemed to focus on the parents' crafting skills, not necessarily the child's.
And I'm more than interested in child-directed learning, not the "final product." It'south not so much about creating a cute item as information technology is most allowing kids to be curious and ask questions.
Still, fifty-fifty as a non-crafty mom, I wanted to provide my kids with 2 yr old development activities that encouraged their desire to learn and explore. After all, toddlers still have the same marvel as when they were infants, just with the power to do more circuitous tasks.
Fun 2 year old development activities
Perhaps you tin relate.
You're more than willing to teach cognitive skills—you lot only need to exercise and so in simple ways. You lot'd rather utilize regular materials in your dwelling and observe uncomplicated activities to fit into your tight schedule. And you're looking for things to do that your ii year old would learn in preschool that will stimulate her encephalon.
Y'all've come to the right place.
Below, I've listed the best activities I've washed with my kids when they were that age. I divided them into 5 categories for a total of 30 activities (which makes for a fun calendar month-long challenge!). These activities are bound to keep your toddler busy and engaged.
That said, I purposefully kept these activities realistic to do as well. You won't need to purchase scientific discipline kits or craft supplies galore. If you do decide to purchase anything, you lot're more than than likely going to use the materials over and over.
And these activities are elementary. Nosotros're all busy, and we know 2 year olds don't exactly sit all the same for hours at a time. They can definitely go at their own stride.
So, let'due south dive in!
Arts and crafts activities for two year olds
1. Play dough
Coil play dough into balls and count them one past one as you place them into a pile. Roll them into long strings and spell the messages of your child'due south proper name. Encourage fine motor skills by allowing her pinch bits and pieces off of a big ball of play doh.
(Check out these Montessori fine motor activities for more ideas.)
2. Fractions with paper
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Grab a canvass of paper, cut it in half, and explicate how the two pieces make upwardly the whole paper. So, cut those two pieces in one-half, making quarters. Keep going, making eighths.
After each circular of cutting, get together the paper and so your child can see how all the pieces form the original sheet. You lot tin can also get these pizza fraction toys to make information technology even more fun.
iii. Matching game
Using card stock or index cards, write two sets of the messages of the alphabet and have your child match them together. Outset with a few at a time to avoid overwhelming her with all 26. Either way, keep the letters all the same colour so she understands that she'due south matching the letters by shape, not color.
4. Glue by colour
Cutting tiny pieces of colored paper—for instance, blue, crimson, yellow, and dark-green. So, on separate sheets of newspaper, draw 2 circles per canvass using different-colored crayons. One sheet will have a bluish circle and a reddish circle, while another has a yellow and a greenish ane.
Finally, have your child glue the cutting-up pieces into the matching-colored circles (light-green bits into the green circle, for case).
5. Colour mixing
Using the three master colors, show your kid how to mix and friction match to make new colors. A few to effort include:
- red + blue = purple
- yellow + blue = green
- cherry + yellow = orange
6. Counting with dot markers
Take your child practice numbers with dot markers. Impress ii sheets of newspaper in landscape format, with the numbers 1-10 forth the side. Show her how to color the advisable number of dots next to each letter, counting along with her.
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Educational activities for 2 year olds
vii. Sort items by color
Discover a set of similar items and sort them past color. A few ideas include building blocks, magnets, cars—anything yous've stored in a box! And then, brand different piles or lay out empty bowls, 1 for each color.
Observe even more than activities to do with two twelvemonth olds.
8. Count everything
Play a game of counting everything. Count toys similar building blocks and pom poms, or snacks similar crackers and carrots. Use any opportunity to count. Climbing a set of stairs? Count the steps you take. Pushing her on a swing? Count each time you give her a button.
nine. Cut paper strips by size
Play a game of sorting by size, using x pieces of newspaper strips, ranging from one to 10 inches long. For case, you lot'll have one slice that's one-inch long, then some other that's 2 inches long, and so along.
In one case y'all have all 10 pieces, shuffle them on the ground and encourage your child to arrange them in order, from smallest (1-inch) to largest (10-inch).
10. Sink or bladder
Get together a few household materials or toys and experiment to see which ones sink or float. Yous tin do this during bath time, or pour water into a large container, like a basin, water table, or kiddie pool. Find water-safe items with varying weights so your kid can meet different results.
Tip: Afterwards your h2o play, you lot tin use the water for your plants!
xi. Letters in the tub
My kids played with a set of foam pieces of the alphabet, which they used to acquire even more than about letters and numbers. I'd likewise prove them unproblematic words to spell, or how certain letters come together to form their names.
12. Trace and write letters and numbers
Worksheets similar those in my Messages and Numbers workbook are some other fun style to introduce your child to the alphabet. Beginning with large messages and encourage him to "trace" with his fingers, before moving on to smaller letters to trace with a pencil or crayon.
Outdoor activities for two year olds
13. Nature scavenger hunt
Brand a listing of items your child will likely notice outdoors and help her collect her findings. A few ideas include leaves, twigs, rocks, pebbles, or flowers. Bring a bag to store the items, and cross the detail off your list once you've found what you were looking for.
To make this game even easier, job her with finding merely ane type of item during your nature walk. For instance, my son loved finding baby pine cones, which our local park had plenty of. We'd just brand a pile of pine cones on the base of operations of a tree until we found nearly all of them.
xiv. Collect and compare leaves
Collect a variety of leaves outdoors, lay your findings in a row, and talk near how each leaf looks and feels. You might talk about the dissimilar textures, colors, or shapes, and draw why some are soft and light-green while others are brown and crinkly. This will help build your kid'south vocabulary!
15. Plant a seed
Institute a seed and sentinel it abound over the next few days and weeks. Depending on the weather, you can start the seeds in minor containers indoors, or sow them directly into the ground exterior. And stick to large seeds like sunflowers or dark-green beans—these are easier to hold and grow quickly.
16. Bucket of ice
At a children's altogether political party at a friend's home, the kids were intrigued with nothing more a elementary saucepan of water ice. They had found an empty water libation with but water ice and water, grabbing pieces of water ice and moving them to the grass to watch it cook.
You can do something like by placing a few ice cubes in a bowl and heading outdoors. Let your child to grab the water ice cubes and place them on the ground. Talk about the differences between how it melts on the grass versus the hot physical.
17. Mud play
Detect a spot in your backyard or park and pour water into the soil. You lot can fifty-fifty bring kitchen play items or one-time kitchen tools you no longer use so your child can practise pretend play with the mud.
xviii. Sidewalk chalk
Grab sidewalk chalk and head to your sidewalk or park. Depict pictures, write words, and exercise coloring in shapes. Sidewalk chalk lets her be artistic, in a fashion that's different from the crayons and pencils she probably uses often.
Practical activities for ii twelvemonth olds
xix. Sweep into a square
Encourage your child to do chores with unproblematic sweeping! Using painter's record (we have a bunch of these at home), make a square on your kitchen floor. Then, with a child-size broom, have her sweep all the dirt from the rest of the flooring into that square.
20. Pouring
Place a bowl and a measuring cup filled with water on a blistering sheet. (I similar this Oxo ane because it'south lightweight with a rubber grip for easy treatment.) Then, accept your child pour water from the measuring loving cup into the bowl.
Using ii measuring cups, she can pour the water into one measuring cup, going back and forth easily. She can besides cascade small items like dry out rice, beans, or sand.
21. Basting with water
With liquid droppers for kids like these, bear witness your child how to collect water past pinching the baster and dipping the end into a bowl of water.
So take her open her fingers, drawing water into the baster. And finally, she can press the baster once more than, releasing the water into some other bowl. This is a fantastic way to develop fine-motor skills likewise.
22. Tweezing puffs
With kitchen tongs (or tweezers for kids similar these), have your child collect cotton or puff balls from one bowl to some other.
If yous use different-colored puff balls, yous can besides accept her sort them by color or number. For instance, all the blues in one pile, or make a pile of i, then two, and so three, and so forth.
23. Sorting laundry
As much every bit we dread laundry, you take to acknowledge, it can brand for easy ii twelvemonth old development activities. For case, have your child sort laundry by type—from shirts to pants—or sort by color. She can too match socks or prepare aside household laundry like napkins and rags.
24. H2o plants
Kids dearest watering plants! Utilize a simple watering tin like this to help your child learn how to h2o both indoor and outdoor plants. Yous might even make this part of her weekly chores, something she can do every Saturday morning, for instance.
Places to get with 2 year olds
25. Children'south museums
Well-nigh every major urban center has a children's museum your child will love. I adopt these types of museums considering they invite hands-on participation (then I don't have to holler "Don't touch!" all the fourth dimension). In Los Angeles, I love going to Kidspace, California Scientific discipline Eye, Discovery Cube, and Skirball's Noah Ark.
Check out more than things to practise in Los Angeles with kids.
26. Libraries
Many libraries include activities for kids, from story time to magic shows to arts and crafts. Take hold of calendars from your local libraries and then you can attend events specifically for toddlers. Plus, going to the library encourages yous and your family to make regular trips to infringe and read books at abode.
27. Nature walks
Explore a new trail or nature walk with your child! You might check out a local hike, the lagoon, or forests in your expanse. Bring a magnifying drinking glass so she can observe curious finds along the way.
28. Sandbox or beach
Playing with sand either at the beach or in a sandbox at your local park can make for many fun 2 yr old evolution activities. Bring sand toys and encourage your child to build, experiment with water, and larn through sensory play.
29. Botanical gardens
I beloved taking my kids to botanical gardens because they invite so much exploration. The copse and plants are wilder than more polished gardens, and they include streams and even animals like lizards, fish, and turtles.
In Los Angeles, my favorites are the UCLA Botanical Garden and the South Declension Botanic Garden.
30. Aquariums
Discover the sea and marine world by visiting your local aquarium! Your child will have an upwards-close opportunity to come across many of the animals who live in water, while learning well-nigh ways to care for the surround.
Conclusion
Equally you can see, 2 year onetime evolution activities don't need to be complicated or take too much time. Yous as well don't demand to be the next Martha Stewart or produce finished crafts to offer your kid a learning experience.
Instead, you now take at your hands a compilation of artistic activities to start. She tin play with mud or mix main colors, and larn about sizes with paper strips or water book with measuring cups. And almost of import, she'll develop a love of learning, especially with these stress-free and fun activities.
You can teach activities to your decorated toddler, even with express time and materials, or a lack of whatever crafty inclinations whatsoever.
Get more tips:
- 4 Easy Ideas to Nurture Your Child's Inventiveness
- How to Heighten Kids Who Love to Learn
- Preschool Pros and Cons: Should You Send Your Child to Preschool?
- How to Create a Math Rich Environment at Dwelling
- How to Encourage Your Child to Keep Learning in the Summer
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