There are various activities that you can carry out for your two-year-olds. However, not every child of the same age thinks and reacts in the same manner. Their likes and dislikes also differ, making each child unique. As a parent you must identify your child's interests and plan activities accordingly. At the age of two, the hand-eye coordination, motor movements and speech are in developing stages. Carrying out activities that will help your child's motor skills, linguistic skills and overall development will benefit your child in the long run.
Kitchen Activities
At the age of two, your child will want to follow you around and do all that you do, especially when you are cooking. What you could do is get a tiny table and chair set for your child. Provide large plastic bowls, spoons, plates along with real food like bananas, cornflakes and milk. You could show your child how to peel a banana and then let him or her peel it on his or her own. In the course of peeling the banana, if the banana gets completely smashed, it's alright. Children at this age love to get messy.
If the banana has managed to retain its shape in your child's hand, then you could give your child a plastic knife (so blunt that it can do no harm) and ask him/her to cut it into pieces and then put it into the bowl. You could even give your child some pieces of bread and ask him/her to apply peanut butter or jam on them. Don't forget to cover the table with a plastic sheet prior to initiation of the activity. (This will help in the cleaning up). If possible, make your child wear a small apron.
Play Dough Activities
Children love to play with dough. The number of things a child can do with playing dough is vast. Irrespective of what they make, children enjoy squeezing the ball of clay in their hands. You could either buy playing dough from the market or you could even make some at home. This way, you don't have to be apprehensive about the health and safety of your child. Playing dough is very simple to make and all it requires is some flour, water and food coloring.
Take the flour and food coloring in a bowl. Add water slowly and periodically, all the while kneading the dough. Once the dough is ready, keep it in a closed container for approximately half an hour. This makes the dough softer. You could provide your child with cookie cutters and playing dough tools to make different shapes. You could also teach them shapes through playing dough. Playing with dough improves a child's motor skills and even enhances his/her creativity.
Gluing Activities
Gluing is another activity that two-year-olds thoroughly enjoy. You could put bits and pieces of different wrapping papers into a cardboard box and ask your child to glue them onto a large sheet of paper. To make it easier for your child, it would be better to tape the sheet of paper to the table so that it doesn't interfere with the pasting. Usually, glue sticks are less messier, however, most children love mess and love to apply glue with their fingers. However, make sure they don't eat it.
If your child grows out of this, you could try another level of gluing activity. Take large construction paper and cut out a big supermarket basket (the kind of supermarket basket your child is familiar with). Tape this basket on the wall so that your child can comfortably glue items on it. Cut out items that you buy at a supermarket like milk cartons, baby food, fruits, vegetables, etc. and put the cutouts in a box. Ask your child to take any 'picture item' of his/her choice and paste it onto the basket.
You could even cut out shapes of clouds or sheep, and have your child glue balls of cotton onto the cutouts. Since toddlers love to touch different textures, they can be given pieces of colorful fabric to paste. Ask your child to feel each piece of fabric and then paste it. Once your child has mastered the skills of gluing, to keep him/her still entertained, cut out large paper dolls. Separate the hands and legs. Make separate eyes, nose and ear cutouts. Help your child to assemble the doll and in this way, your two-year-old will learn about the different parts of the body.
Coloring and Painting Activities
Large, thick uncovered crayons are what two-year-olds love to color with. You could draw different shapes and figures for your child to color in. (Keep the picture simple). Painting is more messier and that is why children love it. You could also try hand painting. All you need is a bowl of paint (3-4 colors). Dip your child's hands into the paint and then get his hand's impression on a plane white T-shirt. Kids love this art and craft activity, but the problem is they never get tired of this activity. Keep lots of T-shirts ready. Further, if you have large sheets of paper, you could tape four of them together and make a large canvas and place it on the floor. Provide diluted paints and sponges for your child to paint with.
Bathtub activities
Playing in water is the favorite pass time of any child. You could fill the bathtub with some water and provide plastic containers, plastic bottles and other bathtub toys to keep your child entertained. Since children love to do what their parents are doing, it becomes an issue when you are trying to get some washing done. You could provide your child with his/her doll to give a bath in the bathtub. You could even give some of the doll's clothes for him/her to wash, while you get your washing done.
Throwing Activities
To develop your child's motor skills you could have throwing activities. Just crumple some newspapers into medium-sized balls and ask your child to throw the balls into a waste bin. Adjust the distance of the waste bin according to your child's throwing ability. You could also have your child throw colorful balls into a cardboard box. You could also have a small tower of blocks at one end of the room and have your child roll a ball to break the tower.
Sorting Activities
Sorting colored blocks and balls is another interesting activity. Place all the blocks on the floor and ask your child to sort them according to the colors. If you are giving balls, then it is better to provide four cardboard boxes to sort the four colors. Your child can put all the red, yellow and other colored balls into the different cardboard boxes. You could also give different shapes of cookies and ask your child to sort them out.
Tea Parties
You could organize tea parties for your child. Invite his/her toy friends to come along. To make your child feel even better, have him dress up for the party. Let your child make sure each toy guest is seated and has something to drink. You could prepare some snacks which can be eaten at the party. A photo session would be great. Ask your child to pose with his/her toy friends. If possible, some party hats would also be great.
These were some of the indoor activities that you could carry out with your two-year-old. However, there are several activities that you can carry out outdoors as well, such as taking your child for a walk, playing in the garden, helping him climb the stairs or visiting a zoo. Have fun!