Educational Ideas for 2 Year Old

The grocery store is a great place to learn counting, colors, food names and different smells. When walking to the park, we play "I spy . . ." (I spy something green, I spy something that barks, etc.) and on the swings I either count or sing the ABC's (I read somewhere, a long-long time ago, that the swinging motion may help some children learn and retain information). When we go to the zoo or sea world, I ask the children about letters or numbers on the signs; with the younger ones, I have them show me a particular letter for that day; and for the older ones either all the letters or read the sign. We make play-dough and goop, glue cereal and dry beans onto pictures and large letters (printed with computer), color with sidewalk chalk, cut pictures out of old magazines and paste them onto pages. Also, if you shop at Costco, grab a couple of the large paper dividers they have between the paper towels and toilet paper; these are great coloring sheets. I also have a list of web-sites for home-school printables and activities, send me an email and I will forward them to you.

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Kids this age learn best through play and hands-on experiences. Don't worry about a "curriculum"! Just play together and point out lots of things to him. You can let him play in the sink or bathtub with cups and containers. You can fingerpaint with him. Let him squirt the hose on plants. Take him to the pet store and point out animals. Go for a tricylce ride. Climb and run at the park. It doesn't have to be fnacy or expensive. Just about everything you do is educational for a 2 year old!

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Two is too young to have a set curriculum. He'll have his whole life to have to sit and learn. For now, let him learn by moving through the world. Your playdates and reading are a great start - keep up with that. Grocery store shopping is a great place to learn; colors, numbers, nutrition, how to behave, etc.. visit the library, play play play!! Water play, sand play, block play, make believe (dress up play), the amount of free things you could do are endless. Follow his lead. Attention span is short, keep it simple. He is learning every moment of the day! Enjoy!!
M.

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Let the world be your classroom!

I come from a famiy of teachers, and there is nothing better than using the everyday world to teach a child the 'basics'. Colors, shapes and numbers can be found everywhere.

My son is 2.5 now, and I started him in a 2 day a week class at a local preschool just for the social interaction. But, otherwise we go to the park, the zoo, grocery store, local hiking trails, Target...any place that you can point, show and talk about things that he can see and learn from.

My son loves the produce section...we talk about the fruits and he gets to pick at least one new one to try every trip we go. He's my little helper at the grocery and he gets to help me make the list by looking in the pantry and counting how many boxes of rice, pasta or whatever we have.

Use your imagination, and you don't have to spend a cent!

I also, have invested in the large wooden puzzles like someone else mentioned, and keep those for learning time. But, we do a lot of coloring, painting and artwork. Wooden Blocks of various shapes and sizes are awesome at this age.

Just remember to have fun!

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hi P. my name is J. and 2 is not too early, i started working with my daughter as soon as i seen that she was able to pay attention LOL. which was at like 6 months old that is early! anyways i started wirh singing all the educational songs to her counting and the little stuff then as she got older i got those little white cards and made flash cards with the ABC's and numbers shapes ect.. it really worked for her, my son is taking alittle longer with the whole wanting to pay attention but he is doing good with learning!! my daughter is now 3 and learning addition and my son is 14 months learning shapes! i hope my advice helps you out and good luck!!

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If you go into www.ivillage.com and onto their education section, they do have a list of everyday hands-on things you can do with your child at the pre-k level that will teach them about math, science, letter recognition, etc. Also, there's a Sesame Street magazine that you can subscribe to that provide you with a curriculum of learning activities that you can do with your child each month.

Please don't stress too much about teaching your child just yet. Play is so vital for them right now and that is actually the best way for them to learn right now. When they start climbing up that plastic slide, they are learning about heights and when they slide down, they are learning about gravity. When they are playing with their peers and with you, they are learning important social and communication rules like sharing and resolving problems with words, not hitting. Everyday play and just living your life provides lots of opportunities for you to teach your child. Just talk, talk, talk to him as much as you can and label things for him (e.g., "Mommy is picking up 1 more apple to put with the other 2, so now I have 3 apples," or "Look at that beautiful red box. It is shaped like a square.") If you want to target things to teach your child, you can choose one color, one number, one letter, and one positional concept (up vs. down) each day and point out look for those items in your house or while you are out in the community, throughout the day.

Children are natuaral sponges and want to learn. You really don't have to do much to get them to pick up new information as long as you are exposing them to different things and taking the time to play and talk to them through out the day will be all they need at this age.

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What a coincidence, my friend is a Science teacher and teaches 7th grade!

Anyway, I have a 2 year old. He likes bugs... I got a cool bug bottle for him from amazon.com, and we collect bugs... I teach him the names for them and the different kinds... he can 'name' them and when I say an insects name, he will point to it in books, which he also enjoys reading. He knows all about insects now! And, I buy crickets from the pet store as 'his' pet... and we feed them and he really likes it. It's a natural way of "learning"...

Also, with any toy he has, I teach him his colors... and then ask him to point to other things with the same color. I also teach him 'counting' and he already knows 1-10... and he will actually tell me or point to the number in a book, or on house mailboxes etc.

Anything fun is an opportunity to teach them anything... it doesn't have to be a "curriculum" per say... just play-teaching.

Also, they love to finger paint... but to have less mess for me, I put him in the tub or shower enclosure in just his diaper, and let him paint. He can get messy and so what, he's in the tub! Then I just wash everything off, and him too, afterward. And he gets his 'bath' at the same time. THEN, while painting, I teach him 'colors' and scribble shapes on the paper like 'square', 'triangle', 'circle' etc. and let him 'mimic' me and have him try to "draw" the same thing the best he can. It's fun and he gets proud of himself too.

My son also likes playing "Simon Say's"... it teaches them how to follow simple requests and how to 'name' their body parts and all the while having "fun."

My son is also at the stage that he likes to help and "cook" with me. So, I just let him 'make' things and then I name the cooking utensils, show him how to 'stir' etc. It's good for them to do an assortment of things like this. I also give him the salad spinner, and he spins the lettuce for me. All of this IS learning and "teaching" them.

Or coloring books...then as he's coloring it helps his fine-motor skills too, and then name things as he colors. Ask him questions about it... like "is that a big or small dog?" "What color is that?" "is that the sun or the moon?" etc. Then it helps them reflect and 'think' about what they are doing... bringing it on to another level of "learning."

My son also LOVES doing anything with a ball. He can even hit a ball we toss him with a 'bat." Doing things with balls... like bowling is fun too.. and helps their coordination and focusing. It also teaches them how to manage if they "miss" a ball etc. All great skills, emotionally.

Also, with sidewalk chalk, I draw shapes on our patio... then I put numbers on them... and he hops hops hops onto the "shapes" and then I say the numbers out loud to him at the same time. Then as a variation, I clap a rhythm and have him "hop" to this... and when I 'stop' he is supposed to stop too. Then we start again... it's real fun.

There's tons of things you can do, without having to spend money...at this age, just exposing them to things. Sometimes we just lay out on our backs on our lawn and look up at the sky.. and I just ramble on talking story with him and "pondering" things out loud, then I will say "what do YOU think?" And whatever he says is great... it 'teaches' them to have their own thoughts and to pretend...

Pretend play is a GREAT learning activity for any child. Play tea with him.. .my son loves this too.

Just some other ideas.

Good luck,
Susan

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My 20 month old son loves it when we draw on the magnadoodle. He likes to guess what I draw... We also count on it (draw 4 moons, and draw the number 4). We play color games with toys, like find all the toys with red in them. Simple, fun, and stimulating. They learn so fast and easilly, you will be amazed at what they pick up!

Good luck, and have fun!

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My son really enjoyed those wood puzzles with the large pieces. I had the letter ones, number ones, ect. and I would recite each letter or number as we put them into the frame. We also did lots of alphabet and counting books.

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i didn't read the other responses but i will tell you this. my son was most stimulated by things that don't cost anything. we would talk together, read, mostly talk. he learned a lot going on walks in his stroller with my mom. grandmas are good to learn from because they take their time, point out unusual birds, stop when there is construction going on, take you by schools to see the older children, walk you through the park, let you get dirty (that's the most important). it's amazing what my son knew that others didn't because of the every day things he had learned. in preschool when asked what a squirrel does with nuts, most kids said eat them or something like that. my baby said digs a hole and hides them. he had seen it first hand!!! life is the best teacher of all!!!! good luck

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Everything you do can be educational. When you walk count things point out things ad name them. When you are in a restaurant count. When changing diaper say what color is your shirt it is yellow. Buy alphabet magnets for the refrigerator the leap frog makes a great set that has a little thing that you put the letter in and it say the letter and the sound. Don't make her sit and learn just use every moment to teach her in a natural enviroment. PBS channel on TV has great learning programs for her age. When she gets interested in letter use flash cards.

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P.,

Play cars with your son... think of it this way, just as we mothers can teach our SONS to be sensitive and soft, we can also teach them how to pee standing, how to be clean down there, how to stretch the skin on their wee-wee or no no... how to play with blocks, how to color and draw... Sebastian and I lay on our belly's on my days off and color, draw, watch movies, read at night, pray before bedtime, and even play on the playground down the slide (I'm a bit old for this but still can do it)... we even play kick ball and teeball when its nice outside.

Good luck and be creative... my son has enjoyed cooking with me and even building our very own gingerbread house....

I personally think reading and music are the best educational tools, especially at this young age. However, I have been told not to get to set a strict schedule, and to let the child set the pace. You do not want to overload them at a young age. Reading all types of books(age appropriate), and exposing him to different types of music should help. If you would like to hear more about what has worked for me, you can contact me directly. Best Wishes