Toddlers Development & Engaging Activities

A baby's brain development and stimulation start right from the time they are inside a mother's womb. They learn new skills, touch new milestones, and have unique learning needs at every step, even in the outside world. Research has proved that a baby's brain rapidly develops and, learns & grasps its fastest during the first eight years (1)

Once your baby turns two, they start understanding and communicating better. Their linguistic skills are developing, and they can learn much more than in the first two years. Thus, this article will discuss the 2 year old development activities, the milestones that a 2-year-old baby will achieve, and how you can support them to learn those as a parent or caregiver.

Developmental Milestone at 2 Years

They call it the terrible twos for all the right reasons! At the age of two, your baby is bustling with energy. They are running, climbing, jumping, walking, talking, and are all over the place! They will achieve many new milestones now that will keep surprising you. Here are the significant milestones that your two years old toddler will be reaching:

• Can frame a short sentence using 3 – 5 words together.
• They can point at them if you name any objects and tell you where they are.
• Can identify shapes, colours and body parts.
• Can sort and club shapes and colours together.
• Will start using one hand dominantly for eating, scribbling, picking things etc.
• Can chew food with complete jaw movements.
• Can use most utensils but will still have spills around.
• Can copy straight lines and circles using a crayon or pencil on paper.
• Can kick and throw a ball over the head.
• Can follow simple two-step instructions.
• Can build towers using blocks or stacking objects.
• Can recognize familiar and regular faces from friends, family and neighborhood.
• Is ready for potty training and can tell you when they need to pee or poop.

Red Flags In Development At 2 Years

Sometimes, it is also essential to keep an eye on certain red flags in your baby's developmental milestones to ensure that there is nothing to worry about. And if there are any of these red flags or developmental delays, there is nothing to worry about. Early intervention can help them catch up. Here are the red flags to keep an eye for:

• If your baby is unable to or is struggling with using everyday objects such as a spoon, crayons, etc.
• Is not able to string words together into a meaningful two words sentence.
• Is not repeating words or copying actions.
• Is unable to maintain eye contact.
• Is unable to walk steadily.
• Is unable to follow basic instructions.
• Is regressing and losing the skills and milestones that were achieved in the past

IMPORTANT NOTE – You might also be thinking about potty training your baby at this age. Potty training is one of the critical milestones your toddler will achieve. Get the best Potty Training Pants by SuperBottoms to accomplish this milestone effortlessly.

Fun And Learning 2 Year Old Development Activities

To help your toddlers achieve the milestones and master them, there are a lot of fun activities that do not even require a lot of extra spending. All you need are some materials and supervise or help them while they do these activities. So, here are some fun and learning 2 year old development activities and engagement activities for your toddlers:

1. Play Dough – One can never go wrong with play dough. It is the most popular among the fun activities for kids. Kids love to smash it, mould it, make shapes, create alphabets and numbers, and make toys out of them. You can make your own easy homemade DIY play dough with ingredients readily available in your kitchen. Add flour, salt, food colour, oil and water and bind a dough for your toddler to enjoy!
2. Matching & Sorting Game – You can use coins, blocks, wooden sticks, shape chips, or even utensils or laundry for this activity. This is among toddlers' most effortless and fun 2 year old development activities. Ask them to sort and match items of the same shape, colour or size.
3. Tracing – For this activity, you can use a washable or wipeable board, paper, a black slate, or even your tablet / iPad. Then, using tracing movement, teach them shapes, lines, strokes, alphabets and numbers.
4. Gardening or Planting Seeds – Depending on whether you have a large garden, a terrace or balcony, or just a tiny space for 2 – 3 pots, you can do this activity with your kids. This is not just a life skill and developmental training; this is also a chance for you to teach your kids the importance of plants and greener earth.
5. Self-Feeding Different Food Textures – Your toddler must have learned to self-feed at this age. In the initial months, parents usually introduce finger foods and non-messy food items that kids can pick with their pincer grip and put inside their mouths. Then, for two years, as a part of the 2 year old development activities, you can introduce food items such as soups, daal, and other food items that require more precision and let your kids experiment with the food, the texture and eating independently. In addition, you can keep Washable Waterproof Cloth Bibs handy to help avoid messy clothes.

6. Paper Cutting – This activity helps them refine and practice their fine motor skills and learn how to cut papers for art and craft projects.
7. Mud Play – Sometimes, it is OK to let kids get messy and let their immunity against foreign material develop. You do not have to let your kids go out in the roadside mud and play, but you can create a muddy bucket with clean sand or go to a pristine beach and make a day out of it and let kids explore playing with sand and mud.
8. Chalk Fun – There are a lot of black chalkboard stickers available online that you need to stick to a surface, such as a door or a wall, and it converts itself into a chalkboard. Let your kids practice the shapes, alphabets, and numbers, create art and have fun!

No matter what skill you develop or what activity you choose with your kids, please remember to supervise it, as, at this age, kids can put objects in their mouths and get into trouble. But, make the activities fun and bonding time and see them falling in love with learning new skills every day. Happy parenting!

Key Takeaways

1) Starting with suitable activities with your toddlers in time will help them achieve their age-appropriate milestones.
2) Mix and present them with activities that help their cognitive development and motor skills.
3) Do not let your kids do unsupervised activities involving props or smaller items.

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