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It can be difficult to find activities to keep a 2-year-old busy all day, but this list of simple activities will give you plenty of ideas to not only keep your child busy and entertained, but also help him or her develop important skills.
1. Read to your baby as often as possible. Incorporating a ritual into their daily routine is an easy way to make sure you read to them often.
2. Put on some music and help your toddler clap their hands to the beat of the music. Over time, add other body parts, such as stomping their feet or nodding their head. This is a great activity for 2-year-olds because it teaches them about rhythm and following instructions.
3. Give your child a paintbrush and water and have him or her paint the outside walls of the house.
4. Get your child a balance bike to help them work on their sense of balance.
5. Puzzles are a great activity for 2-year-olds because they help them develop different skills, such as fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. The best puzzles for 2-year-olds have about 10 pieces, but you can easily increase the number of pieces as your child gets older or becomes more comfortable with puzzles.
6. Play Simon Says. Simon Says is a great game that children of all ages enjoy. Your baby will enjoy this activity, which will teach him to listen and follow instructions.
7. Make a path with all the pillows and cushions you have and ask your child to walk down it! You could also use tape to create this path.
8. Hide an object your child is familiar with in a pillowcase, then ask them to stick their hand in and guess what you’ve hidden.
9. Give your child a piece of cardboard and have him or her draw on it with kid-friendly paint.
10. Let your child help you in the garden. They’ll love looking for worms, watching for ants, pulling out the occasional weed, and eating all the cherry tomatoes!
11. Cut out different shapes from old magazines and newspapers and ask your child to sort them by shape. You can also do the same activity with different colors and have them sort the cutouts by color. Before doing this activity with your 2-year-old, talk to them about the different colors they are going to encounter. This activity will help develop their color and shape recognition and fine motor skills.
12. Talking is one of the best activities you can do for your child’s language development. Talk to them about anything. Tell them about your day, explain what you’re doing or about to do (I’m going to change your diaper), ask them simple questions and give them time to respond.
13. Encourage your child to dress his or her dolls. Letting them dress themselves is also a great activity. For example, they can learn to put on their own pants (if they have no buttons or zippers).
14. Helping in the kitchen is an activity your 2-year-old will love! They can help cut soft fruits and vegetables with this kid-friendly knife, help pour ingredients into a bowl, or help stir.
15. Participating in simple household chores is an easy way to help your child develop important skills they can use as an adult. At age 2, your child can participate in activities such as putting away toys, putting away books, putting diapers in the trash, and so on.
Useful reading
How to Actually Get Your Kids to Do Chores
16. Use pillows to create a hill that your child will enjoy climbing. This is a great 2-year-old activity because it encourages the development of gross motor skills.
17. Place objects of different textures in a see-through bag and ask your child to take them out one at a time. This is an easy activity for 2-year-olds because it teaches them about different textures.
18. Give your child grains such as rice, beans, and pasta and empty containers and have him or her transfer the grains from one container to another. This is an excellent activity to teach them about volume.
19. All kinds of stacking activities are great for this age group. You can simply tape boxes of different sizes together and let your baby play with them, or you can give them stacking toys like this one for endless hours of fun. Classic blocks are also a great option for 2-year-olds to work on their creativity and fine motor skills.
Further reading
Montessori toys for 2 year old toddlers
Non toy gifts for 2 year olds
2 year old not talking
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