Activities for Toddlers

These fun activities will enhance your toddler’s development and we are pretty sure that you will enjoy taking part too.

Jurassic Dig >

This is a great outdoor activity for all of the family, or it can be adapted to a small indoor activity on rainy days. Let your little ones be a paleontologist for the day and see what scary dinosaurs they uncover!

You will need:

• A medium-sized plastic container
• sand (if indoors)
• 10 objects such as toy dinosaurs, plastic trees, and toy bones. Dinosaur construction kits are ideal for this activity.

Benefits:

• Tactile stimulation
• sensory development
• motor skills

Chalk Numbers >

If you're able to be outdoors, write the numerals one to seven on the driveway or sidewalk. Have your child locate and stand on the number you call out; for instance, say, "Stand on number seven," "Sit on number two," and so forth.

You Will Need:

• Chalk

Skills Learned:

• Listening
• counting
• numbers

Indoor Basketball >

Use sheets of newspaper to make lots of balls, by scrunching them up small. Practice by having a competition to see who can throw the balls the farthest. Then play basketball. Place a wastepaper bin about three feet or so away and see who can land a ball in it. Besides being lots of fun, this game will help improve your toddler's hand-eye skills.

You will need:

• Newspaper
• waste-paper bin

Benefits:

• Hand-eye skills
• coordination

Soapy Goo Sensory Play >

There is nothing kids love more than getting messy. If you are worried about the mess that your kids will make, it is worth investing in a sensory table to contain all of your sensory activities.

You will need:

• water
• dishwashing liquid
• cornstarch
• food coloring

Benefits:

• Helps children to learn sensory attributes, calms anxious children

Colored Egg Carton >

Identifying colors is one of the first activities you will do with your toddler, and this simple egg carton activity is perfect for your 2-year-old. She can group these objects into different sections, and learn to recognize their written names using a homemade egg carton sorter. You can extend your child’s learning by placing colorful objects all around the room to encourage her to explore.

You will need:

• Paper egg carton (half-dozen or full dozen)
• Paint or markers in 6-12 different colors
• Writing pen
• Small, brightly-colored trinkets such as buttons, beads, or glass stones

Benefits:

• Color recognition
• organizational skills
• exploration skills

We are sure that you will have a ton of fun with your 2-year-old with these activities, and they are sure to inspire many hours of creative play.