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25 Fun and Simple Activities For 2 Year Olds At Home

February 9, 2022 No Comments
2 year old activities at home
Simple and fun activities for 2 year olds that they will actually enjoy!

All activities should be done with adult supervision.

Two of the most frequently asked questions I get is,

How do I keep my 2 year old entertained at home?

or

What activities can I do with my 2 year old that will last longer than 5 minutes?

I get it, 2 year olds can be tricky.  Wonderful, but tricky.

They are active, they are curious, and their attention spans are very very short.

Does this sound like a 2 year old who may be living in your home?

It’s frustrating, I know, to set up an activity for your 2 year old that you see online, only for them to take one look at it and walk the other way.

I also know what it feels like to want to tackle your endless to do list and resorting once again to the TV because you.just.need.a.minute!

So, here’s an important message for you before we start,  You are not alone.  You are doing a great job. 

RELATED: 5 Components For A Predictable Daily Toddler Routine

Days at home with a 2 year old can be long.  And that is why you need a toolbox of simple and fun activities that you can put together on a moments notice.

Before I share my favorite activities for 2 year olds, here are some important reminders about our favorite toddlers:

  • Their attention spans are smaller then you even think they are

  • It’s completely ok and normal for them to try the activity for a few minutes and then get up to do something else

  • If you leave an activity out for them, a lot of times, they will come back to it
  • Please supervise your child, especially if they are still putting things in their mouth.  Do not do activities that aren’t taste-safe or with small parts

These 2 year old activities promote:

  1. fine motor development
  2. allow for open-ended process art
  3. exploration with simple sensory bins and new textures
  4. early literacy exposure
  5. opportunities to help develop language and a love of reading
  6. early math skills

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Brown Bear Brown Bear Activities for Toddlers and Preschoolers

2 Year Old Fine Motor Activities:

  1.  Vertical Color Sort and Stick with Colorful Stickers 

2 year old color sorting with stickers as an easy at home activity.

2.  Paint With Water

Painting with water is an easy 2 year old activity at home

3.  Paper Tray to Rip and Crumple

4.  Cardboard Sticker Match 

Fine motor activity for 2 year olds to do at home.

5. Paper Towel Tube Pom Pom Drop

2 Year Old Simple Process Art:

1. Paint With Ice and Washable Paint

 

Ice painting for 2 year olds

2.  Paint With Kitchen Utensils (like spatula, whisk, spoons, and forks)

Paint with Kitchen Utensils for a 2 year old activity

3.  Paint and Stamp with Paper Towel Rolls

Paint with Cardboard Roll for 2 year old activity at home

4.  Paint The Circle Art Prompt

Trace circles onto a large sheet of paper and invite your 2 year old to paint inside of the circles

Process Paint for 2 year olds

Simple Sensory Bins For 2 Year Olds

1. Rainbow Rice Sensory Play

Create your rainbow rice using this recipe in this post: The Ultimate Toddler Activity Guide-March Learn and Play Activities

Rainbow rice sensory bin for 2 year olds

2. Hidden Puzzle Sensory Bin 

Use any sensory bin filler you like, (we used dyed penne pasta) and hide pieces from chunky puzzles inside for your 2 year old to find and match.

Puzzle Sensory Bin for 2 year olds

3. Wash The Dishes Sensory Bin with Soapy Water

Wash the dishes sensory bin for 2 year olds.

4. Two Ingredient Snow Sensory Bin

Combine 1/2 cup of white conditioner and 2 cups of baking soda to create sensory snow!

Taste Safe Snow Sensory Play for 2 year olds

5. Farm and Pond Sensory Play 

As a sensory filler I used dry split peas for the farm animal figurines to play on and blue play dough for the pond.  I paired this with farm books for some bookish play!

Farm and pond sensory play for 2 year olds

6. Hidden Puzzle Sensory Bin

Hidden Puzzle Piece Sensory Bin

If you want more simple sensory bins to get started with, head here: Sensory Bin Fillers

Play Dough Play For 2 Year Olds

  1. Baby Shark Themed Play Dough Tray

Baby Shark Play dough tray for 2 year olds

2. Play Dough With Loose Parts

Please make sure your child is no longer mouthing small parts before setting this up.  For set ups like this I like to include popsicle sticks and plastic straws to poke in the play dough. 

Play dough play for 2 year olds

3. Frozen Themed Play Dough Tray

Frozen play dough tray

4. Valentine’s Day Play Dough Tray

For our favorite play dough recipe, check out this recipe from I Heart Naptime!

To set out play dough trays like this, I love placing the play dough in the middle of this plastic appetizer tray from The Dollar Tree and then having loose parts to fit the theme in the other spots.

Valentine's Day Play Dough Tray for 2 year olds

Color and Shape Play For 2 Year Olds

1. Connect The Dots With Kwik Stix Paint Sticks

To set this up, I taped a large sheet of brown paper, you can also use white, and made shapes like triangles, squares, and rectangles using dot stickers.  I gave her Kwik Stix paint sticks to connect the dots and make the shapes.

Drawing Shapes with KwikStix

2. Flash Card Color Sort

These Disney shape and color flash cards we found at The Dollar Tree

Flash Card Color Sort for 2 Year Olds

3. Dot Sticker Sort and Stick

Anytime you can get your 2 year old to work on a vertical surface like taping things to the wall is great practice for their fine motor muscles!

Sticker Shape Match on a Vertical Surface for 2 year olds

4.  Counting Bear Color Sorting

Color Bears Sorting For 2 Year Olds

5.  Popsicle Stick Shape Match Puzzle

Popsicle Stick Shape Match for 2 year olds

6.  Brown Bear, Brown Bear Color Sort and Sensory Bin

This color sorting sensory bin activity pairs perfectly with a favorite book of ours!  You can find this activity and more to go along with the story by reading this post: Brown Bear Brown Bear Activities for Toddlers and Preschoolers

Brown Bear Brown Bear color Sort for 2 year olds

If you are still looking for more ways to keep your 2 year old engaged, learning, and playing at home, you may be interested in learning more about my parent membership The Purposeful Play Community.

Activity Parent Membership

Helpful Resources For Playing and Learning With Your 2 year old:

The Toddler Learn and Play Curriculum

Weekly Activity Plan for 2-3 Year Olds

Easy DIY Name Recognition Activity for Preschoolers

 

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Welcome!
Welcome!
Hi! I’m Jayme! A former elementary teacher turned stay at home mom sharing toddler activities, mom tips, and educational resources to help you learn and play with your children. I believe in the power of PLAY and creating meaningful activities for you and your little ones to enjoy together.

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