12 Fun Indoor Learning Activities for 2-Year-Olds
Looking for ways to entertain and educate your toddler? Check out these expert-recommended indoor activities that will enhance your 2-year-old's development.
After your child celebrates their second birthday, they will experience major intellectual, physical, social, and emotional changes that help them make sense of the world.
"The stage from 2 to 3 is major because language is really beginning to develop," says Robert Myers, Ph.D., a child and adolescent psychologist, founder of the Child Development Institute, and assistant clinical professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine. "Children are also starting to recognize that they're independent beings and are actively exploring their world."
Related:Your Guide to Parenting a 2-Year-Old
Dr. Myers adds that parents can provide encouragement and support that enable the child to master key developmental tasks. For example, they can introduce children to hands-on learning activities.
"Always layer activities with lots of language, interaction, and imaginative play," adds Roni Cohen Leiderman, Ph.D., dean of the Mailman Segal Center for Human Development at Nova Southeastern University, and co-author of Let's Play and Learn Together. "Child development comes through the portal of relationships with parents or caregivers."
With that in mind, try these simple learning activities for 2-year-olds at home. They'll entertain your child while aiding their development.
Related:8 Learning Activities for Toddlers
1. Play Dress-Up
Haul out a pile of old clothes and let your child play dress-up. "You can also participate, but it's great to encourage group play with two or three other children their age," Dr. Myers suggests.
Skills learned: Creativity, imagination, language skills, and social development
2. Decorate a Crayon Carrier
Cover a table with newspaper, then gather a resealable zipper storage bag, glue stick, pompoms, and crayons. Let your child use the glue stick to coat the bag and help them stick on the colorful pompoms. They can fill the bag with crayons when it dries. Next time you go to a restaurant, whip out the carrier and let them show off their creation. They will be excited to use their creativity again.
Skills learned: Motor skills, planning, creativity
3. Hide Toys
For an easy indoor activity for 2-year-olds, hide a toy somewhere in the house, and ask your child to find it. Explore with them, using cues like "warmer" and "colder" to guide them. You can also use flashlights for the search or hide several objects at one time.
Skills learned: Listening, problem-solving, social skills, and memory
4. Make a Mailbox
Create a mailbox by decorating an old shoe box or cardboard box and cutting a slit in the top. Fill it with your junk mail for your child to open. "Not only does this develop fine motor skills as they open the envelopes and take out what's inside, but you can also use it to teach your child basic concepts," Dr. Leiderman says.
"Talk about the pictures, colors, and letters; help them sort it by size, shape, or color; or count the pieces. You can also layer in imaginative play by playing post office, or playing store with the coupons."
Skills learned: Develops an understanding of basic concepts, and fine motor skills
Related:8 Easy Educational Crafts for 2-Year-Olds
5. Imagine a Boat
Lay out a towel or blanket on the floor and have your toddler sit it, gently pull them around the room. Pretend the blanket is a train or a boat and that you are stopping at different places, like the zoo, the grocery store, or a favorite restaurant. This activity for 2-year-olds at home will also improve balance!
Skills learned: Balance, pretending
6. Trace Their Body
Have your child lie down on a large piece of paper and trace the outline of their body. "Because the child has to lay still to be traced, they learn self-control," Dr. Leiderman says. "You can show them where the two eyes, nose, and mouth go, but if your child just wants to color all over it, that's fine. Don't impose anything on them, just let them have fun with it."
Note: If your child doesn't want to lie still, don't force them. Start with tracing just their hand or foot, or tracing your hand or foot.
Skills learned: Sense of self, self-control, and identifying body parts/language skills
7. Play Simon Says
Start out with simple directions ("Simon says, touch your toes"). Then graduate to silly, more complex routines ("Simon says, tug on your left ear, then your right ear"). You can also encourage your child to jump, skip, catch something, and more. And don't forget to drop "Simon says" every now and then during this learning activity for 2-year-olds!
Skills learned: Gross motor skills, following directions, and receptive language
Related:20 Fun Family Activities to Do at Home
8. Try a “Stop and Go” Game
Play games that involve starting and stopping, such as "red light, green light" or "freeze dance." Developing self-control will eventually help children negotiate, compromise, and work out conflicts without losing their temper, Dr. Leiderman says.
Skills learned: Self-control
Related:8 Easy Math Games for Toddlers
9. Craft a Collage
Cut out different noses, eyes, hair, and other features from old magazines, and give them to your child. Encourage them to make funny creatures or silly faces with the features, then glue them onto a piece of paper.
"Talk to your child about the pieces and how to glue them down, but don't be too directive with it," Dr. Leiderman says. "Ask a lot of 'wonder questions,' like 'I wonder what would happen if you put the pieces down without the glue?' and 'I wonder why the glue is getting all over the table?' Childhood is about learning new facts and applying them to theories, so help them make theories."
Skills learned: Creativity, language
10. Pass a Ball
This fun activity for 2-year-olds requires a play tunnel. Standing at opposite ends with your child, take turns lifting each end to roll a softball back and forth. "This can take some trial and error for your kiddo to get the hang of, but it's great motor planning practice and takes teamwork," says Rachel Coley, occupational therapist, author of Simple Play: Easy Fun For Babies, and founder of CanDo Kiddo.
Skills learned: Motor planning, understanding cause and effect, teamwork
11. Draw a Song
As you sing one of your child's favorite songs, draw a simple picture of what is happening in the lyrics, then hand your child the paper to draw something else mentioned in the song. For example, Coley would sing "The Itsy-Bitsy Spider" to her son, first drawing the spider and then having him draw his version of the rain. Go back and forth until the song ends.
Skills learned: Language skills, creativity, storytelling
Related:12 Milestones You Shouldn't Overlook
12. Initiate Conversation
Hand over a doll or plush toy, and encourage your child to hold, talk, dress, and take care of it. "Talk to the doll the way you would talk to a child, and encourage your child to do the same," Dr. Myers says. In addition to language skills, this activity for 2-year-olds also teaches creativity and imagination.
Skills learned: Social, language, and fine motor skills, creativity, and imagination
