How to Entertain a 2-Year-Old: Educational And Funny Activities

Do you have a toddler at home? Congratulations! Toddlerhood is an amazing age when your little one begins to be increasingly independent, learns to talk, and overall experiences physical, intellectual, social and emotional changes. He/she explores actively and makes sense of the surrounding world, everything is new and interesting. And parents play a key role in the proper development of their kids. They encourage, support, and provide access to age-appropriate activities for toddlers. This way children understand better their thoughts, feelings, actions, and behavior. Parents and caregivers should know how to entertain a 2-year-old in such a way to enable him/her to master all those much-needed skills. Toddler activities must include much interaction, imaginative plays, both educational and funny games. How development-promoting games can influence a kid?

• Fun learning activities for 2-year-olds introduce new things: colors, numbers, shapes, etc.
• Promote problem-solving skills and teach children to think strategically
• Help to learn communicational skills
• Enhance diligence and quick understanding
• Spark up creativity and imagination
• Help to process emotions

The educational methodology, a bit of a parent’s creativity and the best toys for 2-year-old boys and girls will do wonders for your child’s quick development. With the right games, you’ll not only entertain your little one but also educate him/her. Our team of childcare experts has created this post with children and their parents in mind. Here you’ll get to know the best activities to do with toddlers.

Toddlers have short attention spans, endless energy, and they are easily distracted. That’s why young children need lots of entertainment provided by parents or caregivers. Besides, taking into consideration kids’ psychology, adults have to switch activities often so that a little one doesn’t get bored and tired. So, what do toddlers like doing?

• Most of all they like spending time with parents. Remember that your child learns from you, not from even the best educational toys for toddlers. Parents are the most important people in the kid’s life, he/she absorbs information and knowledge from you. So, the more you communicate with your little one, the better he/she develops.
• All children like to be taken outside for walks to explore the surrounding world and nature: flowers, leaves, rocks, puddles, etc.; they like to find different objects and do various things with them: move, put together, put apart and so on. Take some of the toys for 2-year-olds so that your little one can play with them in a sandbox – kids love this.
• Children do like active outdoor games: jumping, running, climbing, playing with a ball, riding a tricycle, sliding, swinging, painting with chalks on the sidewalk, playing with cups/lids in water.

• And, of course, indoor games play an important role too. Children adore interactive games, such as hide-and-seek, Simon says, London bridge, pretend games, etc. – kids learn to communicate while playing them. Also, don’t forget about singing, dancing, building with blocks or Legos, and other best toys for a 2-year-old girl or boy.

• Lastly, children of all ages love reading and storytelling. Mostly, toddler reads fairy tales, funny stories, rhymes, before bed books. Read for your little one as often as he/she wants. The good news is that you don’t really need to buy hundreds of books as you can read your baby’s favorite books again and again – toddlers don’t get bored with interesting stories and rhymes. Plus, they learn and memorize easily; it is one of the best cognitive development activities for toddlers ever.

Sometimes 2-year-olds are just terrible, but most often they are cute and terrific. Kids live entirely in the moment and haven’t learned to think logically, so they want unreasonable things more often. Also, you should remember that children of different ages (even if the disparity in years is minimal) prefer different games and toys. In this post, we’ve other things to do with 2-years-old. All these activities require parents or caregivers’ participation, we hope you’ll be okay with that because you are the number one person in your little one’s world.

Educational Activities For 2-Year-Olds

Don’t think that cognitive activities for 2-year-olds are boring and your kid won’t be able to handle them. Contrary, they are funny and children can stay engaged for a long time. Let’s take a closer look at some of such games and activities.

1. Sort small stuff by colors

Take building blocks, Lego, buttons or other small items. Make different piles or fill empty bowls with these objects sorted by colors.

2. Sort objects by their size

Get to one room toys for toddlers of different sizes and sort them together from the smallest to the biggest. Or you can cut strows by size, ranging them from, let’s say, 1-inch long to the full size and ask your kid to sort them.

3. Count everywhere and everything

Count with your little one whatever toys or objects he/she plays with. Also, you can count snacks (crackers, carrots, etc.) while you are feeding him/her. Actually, you should use any opportunity: count steps, stairs, number of pushes on the swing, etc.

4. Sink or float

Fill a large container with water, take the best toys for 2-year-old boys and girls with different weights. Experiment to see which toys will sink and float; let a child guess what may happen.

5. Letters/ numbers/ shapes

Get a set or sets with all that stuff; they can be made of foam or use magnets. Children like to play and learn with them.

Show how to form the kid’s name from the letters or the simplest words.

Place the numbers in line and put objects respectively, e.g. 1 – one button, 2 – two buttons, etc.

Arts And Crafts For 2-Year-Olds

Сognitive activities for 2-year-olds include arts and crafts since they stimulate fine motor skills, good taste, and overall development. There are plenty of options to do with a kid, here are some of them.

1. Playdough/ modeling clay

Let the kid pinch pieces from the large ball of dough and play with them the way she/he wants. Then teach your little one to make balls and strings from modeling clay, after that you can try to create simple figures. While you are playing, prompt the child to count balls, strings, or figures. Also, you can model letters, shapes or numbers from the dough. Be creative!

2. Cut the paper

Take a sheet of paper, cut or tear it in half and explain to the kid how 2 pieces can make the whole paper; allow him/her to put those pieces together. Then go on cutting the paper in four and eight; after each round, assemble the pieces. It’s one of the favorite toddler entertainment, then you can make confetti and fave so much fun!

3. Matching games

Use cards, write letters on them and ask your kid to match them together. Don’t give all the cards at once because the child will feel overwhelmed, give just several at a time and increase the quantity little by little. You can write numbers or draw shapes and play with them.

4. Finger painting

This activity is messy but fun and toddlers adore it! Take a large piece of paper and give your kid several cups with finger paint. Let the child paint whatever he/she wants. It’s better to dress your little one in old clothes and keep wet wipes close to you. Also, you can mix colors and see the results, it’s one of the best ways to learn colors.

Indoor Activities For 2-Year-Olds

You can find or even create thousands of indoor activities for toddlers, and they’ll be happy to play with you. Taking into account that you have to entertain your little one almost all the time, you’d better have some ideas in mind.

1. Building blocks

It’s one of the favorite games for toddlers. The blocks are big and easy to grip – perfect for little hands. First, teach your kid to put items on each other, then build castles with him/her. Actually, building blocks are one of the best toys for 2-year-old boys, which sparks up their creativity. And if you will play this game with your little princess, beyond all doubt, you’ll agree with us that Building Blocks can be the best toys for a 2-year-old girl, too.

2. Simon says

It’s a funny game, which teaches children to follow instructions, react fast and improves coordination. Two or more people (children) can participate in this game. One person is a “Simon” and gives commands, the rest listens carefully and follow the instructions only if they begin with the words “Simon says”. Begin with easy commands, something like “Simon says to touch your mouth”, then you can switch to more complicated instructions. This activity can keep children entertained for a long period.

3. Pass obstacle

It’s one of the best activities for 2-year-olds at home; this game is very simple and your little one can play alone or with your minimal participation.

Create an obstacle course using different objects and prompt the kid to navigate a toy car through it. Use various objects and textures.

4. Opposites

It’s an excellent game if you want to develop vocabulary in your kid. Besides, it doesn’t require any materials or special preparations.

Choose any easy opposites, something like “happy-sad” and ask your child to act them out. After he/she does it, have a kid repeat the words.

Outdoor Activities For 2-Year-Olds

Children and adults like spending time outside, so make the best toys for 2-year-old boys or girls and head to the yard! And we’ll give you a few ideas on how to entertain your kid there.

1. Pour water in containers

This activity is one of the simplest and doesn’ require much from you, just a pitcher with water and several containers. Let your child pour water from the pitcher into the containers. This activity improves eye-hand coordination.

2. Water the plants

Children love playing with water, but this activity is not just a game! You teach your little one to take care of the environment, tell about different plants and keep him/her entertained for a long time. It’s an excellent family-bonding work.

3. Planting seeds

Another eco-friendly method to entertain your baby is to plant seeds. The kid will be excited! It’s not just sitting in the sandbox with toys, but doing something good to nature. Plus, he/she will see the results – a beautiful flower or a plant.

Physical Activities For 2-Year-Olds

Being physically active is a must for every child because his/her health depends on it. You can practice physical activities both indoors and outdoors. First, you have to exercise with your kid daily; it’s a good idea to get monkey bars, this way you’ll make the process funny and enjoyable. We’ve prepared a list of the best physical activities.

1. Zig-zag

Stick the colorful tape on the floor and ask your child to walk on it without losing a balance. Such an activity improves coordination and balance.

2. Movement games

Move like different animals – the kid will memorize names, sounds, movements of the various animals.

Chase – toddlers do like this game, however, they may get too excited and hurt themselves. So, be careful!

Dance – turn on the music, start to move, and your kid will dance with you! It’s so fun! Add some accessories or dress up, the baby will be excited.

3. Take walks

Nature walks are always great physical activity, encourage your little one to enjoy flowers, trees, smells, running, jumping, playing, etc.

As a good, loving parent, you are always ready to play and spend much time with your kid. However, we are all people and need time to relax or do our own business. How to keep the toddler busy? Here is a list of ideas!

• Make a toy (game) box – put different toys into the box, but the toys must be new or forgotten.
• Give your kid an important task – if the baby thinks that it’s really important, he/she will do the task diligently.
• Let your baby listen to an audiobook – let your little one listen to the favorite story and turn the book pages.
• Give the kid chores – keep your little one occupied with chores, children like helping, let him/her sweep, dust and do other simple tasks.

We, at parenthoodroutine.com, hope that you have found the way how to entertain your toddler in this post. Toys, games and communicating with the dearest people are very pleasant methods to teach a kid something new and have him/her to explore the world around.

Have a fun time with your little wee!