Educational Toddler Activities Ages 2-3 Years Old
Educational Home for Toddlers
2-3 years
Summary
These are activities that we have found successful in our house for ages 2-3 years in order to create a learning environment for our children. Some of the activities you are able to start as early as birth, but they should be continued throughout childhood. The headers outline the general skillsets I focus on for this age group. Feel free to allow these activities to spark more ideas that will fit you and your child! The best part of these is they not only educate, but they provide quality play time for you and your child to bond.
Language Development
Activities:
· Read together daily! (starting at birth)
· Learning Letters (starting around 2 years)
· Regular conversations (starting at birth)
Resources & Tips:
· At this age kids will really start showing specific interests. Find books related to these interests and encourage learning.
· Begin to introduce the alphabet (our son preferred Dino ABC’s to the regular alphabet song – find one that works)!
Imaginative Play
Activities:
· Train Sets (starting around 2 years)
· Building Sets (starting around 2 years)
· Kitchen Sets (starting around 2 years)
· Dress Up (starting around 2 years)
Resources & Tips:
· This is the age to really encourage imaginative play! Between ages 2-3 the majority of my kids learning comes from free play. Find sets that encourage constructing an imaginary scene, whether it be through “house” and “dress up” or through tools and car/train tracks.
· Melissa & Doug Jumbo Roadway Activity Rug (also comes in smaller sizes and different themes)
· Melissa & Doug Wooden Town Play Set 32 Pieces
· Melissa & Doug Wooden Car Set/Town Vehicle Set
· Melissa & Doug Wooden Sandwich Making Set (etc.)
· Look on Facebook Marketplace for train tables and wooden train sets to construct.
Habitual Tasks
Activities:
· Help with Laundry (starting around 1 year)
· Dusting (starting around 1 year)
· Cleaning their room (starting around 1 year)
· Sweeping/mopping the floors (starting around 18 months)
· Help with Cooking (starting around 18 months)
· Washing windows (starting around 18 months)
· Making their bed (starting when they get a big kid bed)
Resources & Tips:
· Kids 2+ can use brooms and swiffers to “help” with floor cleaning (Melissa & Doug Set if you want something kid-size)
· Tovla & Co Kids Kitchen Knife and Foldable Cutting Board Set: Childrens
· Curious Chef Vegetable Scrubber
· Joie Fruit and Vegetable Wavy Chopper Knife
· I recommend organizing their room so that everything is accessible to them so they can learn to clean up on their own. Have book shelves low, store bins in cubbies at a height where they can access them and designate items to go on certain shelves so they learn to know where they go.
· Have them throw the laundry into the washer and help you turn on the machine. Then, have them hand you the clothes out of the drier so you can fold them. As they get older you can begin teaching them how to fold their own clothes.
· In the kitchen, start by having them help you wash the fruits and vegetables. Give them a small bowl of water and ask them to give the foods a quick bath. You can then help them to cut things by first holding their hands and guiding them until they learn to do it independently.
· Anytime you are performing a simple household task like washing the windows or dusting, give them a rag and ask them if they’d like to help you. My kids absolutely love this and feel such empowerment when they feel like they are helping and contributing. Bonus, it is great bonding time!
Creativity
Activities:
· Painting with a brush (starting around 2 years)
· Dry-Erase Boards/Books (starting around 1 year)
· Coloring sheets (starting around 1 year)
Resources & Tips:
· Roles of craft paper are great for creating large art spaces. I will cut a big piece out and cover a large part of a table for them to color freely. Starting around 2 years old you can find free online coloring pages geared towards their interests.
· Walmart sells plastic mats that you can put down at your kids space on the table to protect the table from art time. I sill place this down below the kids paper and allow them to paint watercolors. It helps with clean up.
· Priddy Baby makes wonderful dry-erase reusable activity books that my kids love.
Basic Knowledge (colors, counting, writing)
Activities:
· Practice numbers 1-20 (starting around 2 years)
· Identify colors with them (starting around 18 months)
· Tracing Lines (starting around 20 months)
· Learning how to problem solve (starting around 2 years)
· Bible Stories (starting around 2 years)
Resources & Tips:
· Colored poker chips or balls are fun ways to learn colors. You can also begin to introduce which colors mix to make other colors at this age.
· Brain Quest makes some really great travel-size little flip books/cards that have beginner questions for kids this age
· Search for line tracing worksheets online. There are plenty of free downloads you can print. Start with straight lines, and increase in difficulty as they become better.
· We begin to teach Bible stories around this age. I will usually read a story out of the Children’s Bible ahead of time and then break it down into a much shorter, much simpler version and tell the story to the kids. I’ll use props to tell the story if I can do so easily, and will often have a “moral of the story” lesson afterwards.
Motor Skills
Activities:
· Sports, sports, sports! (starting around 2 years)
· Digging (starting around 2 years)
Resources & Tips:
· This age is all about sports and games!
· Franklin Sports NHL Indoor Sport 2 in 1 Set (you can also get a soccer ball to use in these goals)
· Uarzt Soft Foam Indoor/Outdoor Baseball Bat and Ball Set
· Little Tikes Easy Score Basketball Set
· Little Tikes TotSports East Hit Golf Set
· Balance Bike
· Sand Pits and a Set of Diggers (Excavator, Dump Truck, Bulldozer)