Activities for a Busy Two Year Old

A few times a month, I get the opportunity to watch a couple of sweet two year old boys (one is a "new" two and one is almost three).  I'm definitely learning that these two guys aren't as excited to read books, watch movies, and play Barbies as my 5 year old daughter is.  :)

So... I've been finding lots of different activities to keep these two men busy!

Paint Tape Race Track

Originally, I made an elaborate tape course thinking that they would have fun "walking the line" and trying not to fall.  And while that was fun for a bit, they had WAY more fun turning it into a race track! Lots and lots of cars, small animals, and Little People explored the family room on our roadways (and then we let G, who is 12 months, peel up all the tape!).

Baking

Never too young to pour in pre-measured ingredients, stir, or even sprinkle some candies on top of the batter.  This little guy asks to bake something every single time he comes over!   

Clean Art

Pour a couple colors of poster paint into a Ziploc bag and tape it down to the table.  Let your budding artist (and scientist! Look at those colors mixing!) squish and squeeze and mix to their heart's content.  Best part?  NO mess! 

Painting Found Objects

I keep a box of objects that hold a bunch of "found" items that we can recycle by painting.  Cheap wooden frames (Ikea has them for a $1 and they're great to frame kiddo's artwork), simple shapes from the unfinished wood section at craft stores, and even egg crates or cereal boxes.  My little guys tend to get bored with traditional paper and paint, but give them something "new" and it captures their attention!

Play Dough

 Oh the old stand by: play dough.  Summer is almost here so pop the play dough box outside and plop the kiddies on a towel.  With some fun objects like toy hammers, rubber stamps, and tiny animals (they make great animal tracks!), play dough will never feel old!

Written by Jill