Active play for the two year old (1058)

Encourage your two-year-old to run, jump, and climb out of doors. Sing simple songs with her. Sing and act out songs with simple movements or finger plays. Play pat-a-cake. Children this age enjoy hearing simple short stories, especially about themselves or other two-year-olds.

The two-year-old loves to play in a sandbox. Give him water to measure and pour. Encourage dramatic play with trucks, cars, and other sandbox toys.

Children this age enjoy pounding away at a toy workbench. Give them plastic tools, since their coordination is still in its early stages. Let them stack blocks and other objects. Give them toys that can be taken apart and put back together, such as pop beads.

Spend time reading together. Two-year-olds enjoy hearing the same books over and over. Ask them to name things in picture books. Give them the correct word if they cannot think of it.

Play matching games and do simple puzzles with the two-year-old. Encourage pretend play by providing dolls, housekeeping toys, dress-up clothes, and toy telephones. Engage him in pretend play by having make-believe phone conversations on toy phones, shopping to pretend stores, or doing other dramatic play.

Introduce art activities such as scribbling and/or painting with crayons, chalk, and paint. Make sure the crayons and brushes are big for little hands. Provide play dough and finger paint as well. Be prepared for messes and lots of clean-up.

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