What to Do With a 2 Year Old All Day: 19 Activity Ideas
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As a homeschooling mom of three, I no longer really think too much about what to do with my toddler during the day. Her siblings entertain her and she just tags along with everything.
However, when I just had the one child, I totally wondered what to do with a 2 year old all day. Their energy is boundless and their attention span short.
This can make things challenging, especially if you are pregnant or have a new baby to care for.
You want to make sure you’re spending quality time with them and helping them to learn new skills, but it’s also…exhausting!
What you need is a go-to list of ideas to give you something when your mind is drawing a blank. You need to take the mental work away so that it’s achievable to help keep your toddler entertained.
What to Do With a 2 Year Old All Day: Your Go-To List of Easy Toddler Activities
Before we jump into the list of ideas, I do want to mention that I actually am a firm believer in NOT entertaining my children all day. I do not believe that is my job as a mom. Free play is strongly encouraged in our home.
Boredom is the ground from which springs creativity. If we never allow our children to be bored we deprive them of the opportunity to unleash their incredible imaginations.
So, with that said, don’t ever feel guilty about not having constant activities available for your child. They will be more than alright. I mean, we all know that toddlers are often more entertained by the cardboard boxes that toys come in than they are the toys themselves.
Less is more.
#1 Playing With Playdough
Playdough is one of my all-time favorite toddler activities. In fact, I love it for all of my children ranging in age from 6-3. It combines sensory play with imagination and there are so many wonderful skills being developed!
Playdough is cheap and can even be made at home. Let your toddler play with it just as it is or add a couple of open-ended play items that they can add to the fun.
We never owned proper playdough toys for the longest time and my children always had a blast going through my baking drawer and using whatever they found in there as well as other household objects.
Kinetic sand is another popular option, but I personally find it just gets everywhere. Play dough can also be made to be toxin-free but I’m not sure the same can be said for kinetic sand. Messy play is not my favorite, so playdough wins out in our home.
#2 Dress Ups
Again, this is potentially a very cheap (or free) activity idea for your toddler that can provide hours of fun!
Invest in a few dress-up costumes or alternately, give your child some hand-me-downs from your or your husband’s closet.
My girls love dressing up in my old dresses and shoes and my son loves anything my husband passes onto him.
I remember loving the dress ups I had as a child and not one of them was actually from a store. They were all just old dresses, skirts, and shoes that were handed down from friends.
One thing that my children have all loved is a doctor’s kit. This is a cheap thing to purchase and toddlers love playing pretend.
Young children typically love to pretend play and they need very few tools with which to work with.
#3 Play Doctors
On that note, playing doctors or even veterinarians is a wonderful activity idea.
This is also a wonderful way of being able to rest while also keeping your toddler entertained. You can rest on the couch as the “sick” patient while they pretend to be your doctor.
Just grab a doctor’s kit and your little one will love playing along!
#4 Play With a Preschool Busy Book
As a homeschool mom, I feel pretty adamant about not pushing formal learning until more like ages 6-7. However, there are fun, play-based ways of introducing concepts such as color recognition, shapes, letters, and numbers to your child.
One fun way to do this is with an interactive preschool book. You can get one already made up here, or I have one available that you can print and put together yourself, here.
Not only does it introduce early learning skills such as the ones mentioned above, but because of the interactive nature of it, your child also gets to practice their fine motor skills.
#5 Reading
Reading to your child is one of the most beneficial things you can do for them from a literacy standpoint.
While this activity idea list isn’t meant to have a heavy focus on education, reading books together is just so wonderful that I can’t help but point it out.
I love this activity because it can bring calm when emotions are running high. It engages your child, increases their vocabulary, improves language skills and overall literacy, as well as creating a wonderful bonding moment between you and your child.
Snuggling up to read a book with my toddler will forever be one of my favorite parenting moments.
We read so many different books, but here are a few favorites if you’re looking for ideas:
#6 Indoor Water Play
I don’t know what it is about water that helps to take a grouchy toddler to a happy one, but I am oh so thankful for it!
Often times when we’re having a challenging day full of big feelings, temper tantrums, and lots of crying, I default to using water to change the tone of our home.
Either I run a bath for my toddler, or I bring out a container and lots of Tupperware for her to play with. It never ceases to be the best way to turn frowns into smiles.
This is also an activity that I default to when I’m trying to homeschool my older two and the toddler is not interested in allowing it to easily happen.
I set out a large beach towel in our kitchen and put a container with a little bit of water on it. I then give her a few other containers to play with.
This keeps her occupied for a good long while and allows her to work on all sorts of skills. I can keep a close eye on her while also getting school done with my big kids.
Closer to age three I sometimes fill up the kitchen sink with warm water and dishwashing liquid. I give them some plastic cups and bowls and let them have fun “washing” them.
My toddlers have always loved being able to do that as it wasn’t just fun, but they also felt as though they were doing something helpful for mama.
You can actually also get a cute toddler sink toy that they can call their own if you want to be really fancy. I’ve not used it myself but I do think it’s a lovely idea.
For outdoor water play, I love using a water table or even just the garden hose.
#7 Building Blocks
I love this activity because it is so open-ended. Your toddler can use their imagination however they like and create whatever they wish.
You can either buy blocks brand new or pick them up second-hand. They last so well that if you get them new you can pass them down to all of your children.
Toddlers can use them on their own or you can give them other toys to add alongside such as farm animals.
Better yet, take them outside and let them use whatever they find in nature to really add to the fun.
They can learn all sorts of skills such as shape and color recognition, spatial reasoning, and fine motor development.
Understanding different shapes and how they work together to fit is a wonderful skill that they can learn using these.
#8 Coloring
Not all toddlers love to color in. If that’s your child then don’t feel as though there’s anything wrong with them.
My son was never fussed when he was little and he still doesn’t care for it all that much.
However, my girls both love to draw and color. It has been a go-to activity for years in our home.
My biggest tip is to invest in washable markers and crayons as well as a few coloring books. Otherwise, you’ll end up with drawing where you don’t want it and papers all over the house.
#9 Playing With Pom Poms
When it comes to sensory activities for 2 year olds, I really do like to keep things simple. Honestly, we’ve really overhyped the whole “sensory activity” concept.
Parents are led to overthinking it when in reality, sensory play is something that is quite simple to come up with. This is especially true if you spend a lot of time outside.
However, one of my favorite toddler activities that is also a great way of allowing sensory play is playing with pom poms. This is a great activity for keeping my daughter engaged and occupied.
I tend to set it up in two different ways. The first is where I lay out a couple of muffin trays and give my daughter some toddler tweezers to use to move them between the muffin compartments. This is especially good for developing hand-eye coordination.
However, her favorite way to play with them is when I add water into the mix. I’ll generally set up just as I would with the water play idea mentioned previously, but then just add a bunch of pom poms for her to play with as well.
Pom poms are cheap and can be reused over and over again.
#10 Playing With Stickers
This is yet another very easy and cost-effective activity for 2-year olds. Buy a big book of stickers, give them some paper and let them have fun.
Now, a word of caution…this can be an impossibly frustrating activity for them if you do not remove the sticker background first.
If you pull away the background of the sticker sheet then it is far easier for them to get their little fingers to pull up the stickers themselves.
Also, it is a really good idea to monitor this activity if you don’t want stickers all over your walls and furniture.
#11 Have a Dance Party
Physical activity is so important for children in general, but this age group has an abundance of energy that needs to be let out.
Turning on their favorite song and letting your toddler dance is a wonderful way to let them have fun and lighten the mood when necessary.
The best part is that it requires no set up on your part.
We actually tend to incorporate this into our daily routine to make sure we get wriggles out before I need my toddler to be still for any length of time.
Developmental Toddler Activity Ideas
Often times I see parents specifically wanting 2 year old development activities. The thing is, I don’t usually focus specifically on the skills that my child will develop through doing set out activities.
The reason for this is because a toddler’s best form of learning is through play. You can be guaranteed that if your 2-year old is playing…they are learning.
I did not do one single set up toddler activity with my son until I began homeschooling him at 4.5 years old and he’s done perfectly fine.
Somehow he learned all his shapes, colors, and numbers without me ever having to lift a single flashcard up or make him do a worksheet.
So many of those things will be taught to your toddler simply through living, everyday activities, conversation, and reading books.
Never feel as though you need a curated list of activity ideas for your toddler in order for them to learn.
Final Thoughts
We can often pressure ourselves into thinking that things need to be a lot more complicated than they actually do. I find that the best activities are usually the ones I put the least thought into. Typically, the simplest things are often the most effective.
While indoor activities are all well and good one of my favorite ways to keep my 2 year old entertained is to let them play outside. We have a fully fenced yard and so I don’t need to keep eyes on them constantly.
This allows for pure imaginative play full of sensory experiences and ample learning opportunities. Outdoor play is invaluable and unfortunately something that we’ve strayed away from in more recent times.
If you do want a specific list of things to do with a 2 year old outside, you can check out this post. I also have a post full of sensory bin ideas to keep your toddler entertained.
It’s wonderful to have a list of things to do with your 2 year old for the times when you really need them to be engaged in an activity, but you never need to feel guilty for not constantly playing with them.
The important thing is that you provide them with ample opportunity to play. Play is a child’s work.
