# Activities

**2** **HELP YOUR CHILD LEARN AND GROW!**

### AGEYEARS

Try these fun and easy activities with your 2-year-old—a great way to have fun together and encourage your child’s healthy development.

#### Big and Little

Collect little and big things (balls, blocks, plates). Show and describe (big/little) the objects. Ask your child to give you a big ball, then all of the big balls. Do the same for little. Another big/little game is making yourself big by stretching your arms up high and making yourself little by squatting down. **Developmental Areas: Problem Solving, Communication** **Materials Needed: Household objects of different size**

#### Let’s Make a Necklace

Wrap tape around one end of a piece of yarn to make it stiff like a needle and put a large knot at the other end. Have your child string large elbow macaroni, buttons, spoons, or beads onto the piece of yarn. Or, make an edible necklace out of Cheerios. **Developmental Areas: Fine Motor** **Materials Needed: Yarn; Tape; Macaroni, buttons, beads, or Cheerios**

#### Up, Up, and Away

Cut a stiff paper plate to make a hand paddle and show your child how to use it to hit a balloon. See how long your child can keep the balloon in the air or how many times they can hit it back to you. This activity helps develop large body and hand-eye coordination. Always fully supervise when playing with balloons. **Developmental Areas: Gross Motor** **Materials Needed: Stiff paper plate; Balloon**

#### Decisions, Decisions

Your child will begin to be able to make choices. Help them choose what to wear each day by giving a choice between two shirts, and so forth. Give choices at other times too, like snack or mealtime (two kinds of drinks, crackers, etc.). **Developmental Areas: Personal-Social** **Materials Needed: None**

##### Want to learn about developmental milestones for your 2-year-old?  
### Visit [https://bpub.fyi/CDC2year](https://bpub.fyi/CDC2year)  
Excerpted from ASQ®-3 User’s Guide by Jane Squires, Ph.D., Elizabeth Twombly, M.S., Diane Bricker, Ph.D., & LaWanda Potter, M.S. ©2009 Brookes Publishing. All Rights Reserved.