I walked into the library for storytime with my two-year-old. My hopes were high. I dream of taking him to storytime, day trips to the park, and even sweeping up the food he throws on the floor a million times a day.
As a teacher, we only get to go to storytime a couple of times a year. The stars have finally aligned and today was the day. The day I got to be a “good” mom. We were going to walk into the library, enjoy the story together, and do all the things. It’s going to be great.
Right.
He wouldn’t sit and listen to the story. At home, he will sit with me for hours looking at books, but at the library, it was a different story. He just wanted to get up and look around.
All of the other kids were sitting quietly, listening to the story. I felt the heat rush to my cheeks as I watched him continually get up to walk around. What did the other moms think? Would we even be allowed back at storytime?
I left the library feeling like a terrible mother because I clearly wasn’t working with my child enough.
Once again my expectations and “the way things are supposed to be” (the way I pictured it in my mind) got in the way of the joy of the moment.
Working with your child doesn’t mean by the time they are 2 they have to be able to sit quietly and focus on one specific activity for 10 minutes.
My favorite way to introduce beginning concepts is to integrate learning during our daily routines, with play. I don’t do anything that takes hours to prepare, and nothing that takes hours of searching on Pinterest, followed by a trip to the store an expensive shopping trip on Amazon, and definitely nothing that requires sitting still for hours at the kitchen table.
Research shows that kids learn best through play, so we love to do that. It works the best, and it’s more fun.
What You Can Teach Your Two-Year-Old
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1. Routine
Kids thrive on routine, they love knowing what to expect and what’s coming up next. A healthy routine includes a consistent bedtime and time to wake up, and varied activities throughout the day. Having some free time throughout their day allows them to practice independence and being in charge of playing and exploring in a way that is fun and interesting to them.
RELATED POST: Creating a Toddler Routine that Will Set Your Child Up For Success
2. Colors
We love reading books about colors and going on color hunts. Inside, outside, at the park, in the car, colors are everywhere and easy to find. Your little learner will feel so proud when they can start to find colors throughout their daily routine.
- Take a color bath! Have your child collect all of their (water safe) toys of one color. Put them in the bath and enjoy a color bath. Add glow sticks of the same color for some extra fun.
- Talk about colors while getting dressed or playing with toys.
- This is our favorite game that also teaches colors
RELATED POST: Teaching Your Toddler Colors? 14 Activities Your Child Will Love
3. Shapes
We always start with our favorite shape books and focus on one shape at a time.
- Make posters of each shape and hang them around your house. Every time you pass a poster, have your child identify the shape. This is a simple way to teach shapes throughout your daily routine.
- Go on shape hunts inside, ouside, or even at the store.
- Trace shapes
- Check out our Shape of the Week Curriculum that teaches 9 shapes through hands on activities. Your child will strengthen their creativity and fine motor skills while learning all about shapes.
RELATED POST: Shapes for Toddlers: Activities to Effortlessly Teach Shapes
4. Independence
Your two-year-old can begin some independent tasks. Some jobs 2-year-olds can do are:
- Clearing their plate from the table
- Help put groceries away
- Put their dirty clothes in the hamper
- Begin to make their bed
- Pick up and put away toys
- Help check the mail
- Feed pets
While they are learning to do new things, let them do it! It will take longer, but giving them the opportunity to do tasks on their own is important.
RELATED POST: Fostering Independence in Young Children
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5. Healthy Boundaries With Technology
Up until 2 years old, the American Association of Pediatrics recommends no screen time (other than face time with family). At 2 years old, they recommend less than 2 hours a day.
Your child does not need to be on learning apps or watching learning shows. Some screen time is ok, but don’t use this as a teaching tool. Kids, especially young children, learn best through hands-on activities and play. It’s important for young kids to learn healthy boundaries with technology, and how to learn and entertain themselves without screens.
RELATED POST: Screen-Free Kids: The Effect of Technology on Kids
6. Reading Books
Books are vitally important to the developing brain. Read every chance you get. TV doesn’t make the brain work hard enough, and books with just words aren’t interesting enough for little learners. Children’s books are perfect for the developing brain. When you read, point to the pictures, and discuss what’s in the pictures. Point out colors, shapes, and characters.
Always have books where your kiddos can reach them. Babies and toddlers who love looking at books will become kids who love to read.
RELATED POST: 14 Must-Read Books for Toddlers
7. Role-Play
Role-play helps kids understand the world around them. By pretending to be in different situations, kids develop social skills, emotional skills, better communication, and problem-solving skills.
RELATED POST: 30 Genius Role-Play Ideas that Boost Your Child’s Imagination
8. Sensory Exploration
A sensory bin is a hands-on learning experience for kids. Stored in a container, a sensory bin can be made around a theme, academic concept, or just your child’s favorite toys. A sensory bin includes a filler, a fine motor tool, and toys. They are simple to make and kids love them. They promote language skills, academic skills, fine motor skills, and social skills. Sensory bins are a hands-on way for your child to explore and pretend…and kids love to play with these toys for hours.
RELATED POST: Simple Sensory Bin Ideas for Toddlers
9. Fine-Motor Skills
Every year in kindergarten we see kids fine motor skills decreasing. More time playing on phones and video games leave kids with less practice manipulating and using their fingers. This leads to difficulty coloring, writing, and even turning the pages of a book. Research shows fine motor skills are a preditor of academic success, and it’s essential to practice with your kids.
Simple Ways to Practice Fine Motor Skills:
RELATED POST: Simple Ways to Strengthen Your Child’s Fine Motor Skills
10. Letters
When learning letters, begin with all uppercase and just the letters in your child’s name. When they know those, add in the beginning letters in names of people your child loves. (For example, G is for Grandma….) After that add in commonly used letters and vowels. Finally add in the letters that are less frequently used like x, z. Once your child knows all the uppercase letters you can add in the lowercase letters!
- Chalk Letters on the Driveway
- When we are playing outside, one of our favorite things to do is play with chalk. We draw, color, and make designs. If I draw my son Jacob, I write his name and we talk about the letters. I also have written letters on the driveway. I will call out a letter and he will go jump on it. He loves rocks. Sometimes when I call out a letter he covers it with a rock. He also loves his toy mower, and can drive his mower to the letter I call out. It’s such a fun game that you can play in many different ways, using his favorite toys he doesn’t even realize he is learning. You can do this with numbers and shapes too.
- For an extra fun twist, tell your child how to travel to the next letter. Have them jump, hop, crawl, crabwalk, etc to the next letter.
- When we are playing outside, one of our favorite things to do is play with chalk. We draw, color, and make designs. If I draw my son Jacob, I write his name and we talk about the letters. I also have written letters on the driveway. I will call out a letter and he will go jump on it. He loves rocks. Sometimes when I call out a letter he covers it with a rock. He also loves his toy mower, and can drive his mower to the letter I call out. It’s such a fun game that you can play in many different ways, using his favorite toys he doesn’t even realize he is learning. You can do this with numbers and shapes too.
- Foam Letters
- Bathtub Fun: We slowly add letters to the tub. Once he masters all of the letters we are working on, we move on and add more letters (don’t take out the letters he knows). We don’t work on more than 5 unknown letters at a time.
- First, I just put the letters for his name in the bath. Every time, we would spell his name and stick them to the wall.
- After a while, I tell him the letter and have him find the letters and put them on the wall until he could do it on his own.
- Next, I added the beginning letters of the names of people we love. G for Grammie, N for Uncle Nick, H for Aunt Holly, D for Daddy, and M for Mommy.
- After that, we add vowels.
- Finally, we throw in the common letters that aren’t already in the tub (F, L, R, S, T…)
- Last, we added whatever was left.
- You will be surprised how quickly your child picks up letters. We like to prop up letters on the side of the tub, and either say the letter or have our son say it and then flick it at him while he’s in the tub.
- I also have letters floating around him, and I call out a letter. He has to squirt it or dump water on the letter I call out. We use the twisty dropper in this fine motor tool set for this game.
- Bathtub Fun: We slowly add letters to the tub. Once he masters all of the letters we are working on, we move on and add more letters (don’t take out the letters he knows). We don’t work on more than 5 unknown letters at a time.
- Driving on Letters
- Make some letters on your floor by using blue tape to draw letters or cut them out of paper. Draw yellow lines in the middle of the letters to make them look like a road. Have your child drive their cars and trucks on each letter, saying the name of the letter they are driving on. You can move the letters around to spell their name too!
- Sing
- We love to sing! There are so many songs that teach letters.
- Traditional ABC Song
- Sesame Street ABC Song
- Sesame Street Alphabet
- Jack Hartmann Alphabet
RELATED POST: Letter Recognition: Simple Activities to Teach Your Child the Alphabet
11. Counting
The easiest way to practice counting is to count things you do as you go about your daily life! Begin counting to 5, when your child can count to 5, start counting to 10. After your child can count to 10, keep going to 20. (Listen very carefully to the teen numbers though, many sound similar and if you aren’t listening carefully your child may be mixing some of the numbers up.)
- Counting Steps
- How many steps will it take to get from the kitchen table to the sink as your child is taking his plate to the sink after dinner?
- Counting Laundry
- How many shorts are in the laundry today? What about shorts and shirts? You don’t have to explain addition, but small tasks like this are the beginning of understanding that when I have a group and combine it with another group I have more.
- Counting Stairs
- My son could count to 13 by the time he was 2. 13 is a really random number for him to have mastered counting to….unless you know we have 13 stairs to our basement. Every time we go up or down we count. This is such a simple way to get counting past 10-and if your child can count to 10 in August the year they start kindergarten they will have an enormous advantage.
RELATED POST: Recognizing Numbers: Teaching Your Child Number Recognition
12. Practice Spelling Their Name
- Sing their Name
- This is my all-time favorite way to teach names. My son could spell his name verbally before he was a year and a half old because we sang about it all the time.
- I made up a song to the tune of BINGO because Jacob also has 5 letters in it. “There is a boy who is very special and Jacob is his name-o. J-A-C-O-B…
- Write their Name
- Write their name whenever you get a chance. When they draw, write their name on top and talk about the letters. When playing in the tub with bathtub crayons, or a letter puzzle. Whenever letters are handy, spell their name and point to each letter and name it with them. Once they can say the letters in order, mix up the letters, and see if they can put them back together again. Sometimes for our “pancake Saturdays” I get out the letter cutters and cut his name out of a pancake. He loves seeing his name in different ways.
- Decorate their Name
- One of my favorite activities in Kindergarten was to decorate our names. I typed each child’s name in bubble letters and they could watercolor, color, put stickers on, etc. to decorate their name. Your goal here is to get them looking at the letters in their name in order and beginning to recognize which order the letters go in. Hang their masterpiece in a window when you are finished, especially if you have used watercolors.
RELATED POST: How to Teach Your Child to Write Their Name
13. New Words
At this age, kids are soaking up everything around them. Reading is really important to help with new vocabulary, but so is narrating your everyday life. “We are driving to Grandma’s. On the way, we will see a farm. Let’s look for the cows!” “I’m cooking dinner. First, I’ll get out the measuring cup and measure two cups of flour.” Between ages 2 and 3, your child’s vocabulary will seem like it is exploding.
Encourage more vocabulary by requiring your child to verbalize their needs. If they are still pointing to ask for something tell them what to say and have them repeat it before you fulfill their request. “Oh, you want a banana! Can you say ‘banana?'”
Your next goal is to move to longer phrases. When your child says “banana” you can respond with “Can I have a banana, please?” and have them repeat it.
14. Drawing and Coloring
This is something I wish I would have done more often when my son was 2. We colored a little, but I always thought he just wanted to be active (which is a good thing) so we spent the majority of our time doing physical things. Now that he’s learning to write, he’s struggling with fine motor control because we didn’t spend a lot of time coloring or drawing.
You don’t need to have elaborate crafts set up. A piece of paper and crayons are sufficient. Coloring books are great too, but it’s also important to allow your child to discover their own creativity by giving them blank pieces of paper.
RELATED POST: The Three Important Developmental Stages in Children
15. Puzzles
Puzzles are great for fine motor control and spatial awareness. They help with hand-eye coordination and even strengthen beginning math skills.
16. Time Outside
Time to be active is important for developing gross motor skills.
These include:
- Running
- Jumping
- Climbing
- Throwing/Catching a Ball
Time outdoors is also important for exploring. Research shows time spent in nature has a calming effect, and people who spend regular time exploring nature are less stressed.
17. Manners
It’s important to start teaching your child how to treat others right away. It’s important for kids to understand how to use polite actions and respect for others. Some of these include:
- Saying please and thank you
- Waiting your turn to talk
- No pushing, hitting, biting
- Saying excuse me
- Coughing into your elbow
We love reading books about manners and gentle reminders throughout the day go a long way when teaching manners.
These skills can be taught to your two-year-old, but remember, every child develops at their own pace. By no means, if your child has not mastered these skills yet are they behind. If you have any concerns, talk to your pediatrician.
Children at this age learn and grow quickly. Sometimes, you can see big changes daily. Enjoy these special moments teaching your child, they go quickly.
Want More?
If you liked this, you’ll love:
When to Teach Your Child What: A Guide to Teaching Your Child
How to Teach Your Toddler (or Preschooler) to Read
Why Minimalism is Important With Kids
Your Turn
What are your favorite skills to teach your 2-year-old?
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