What learning activities and games should I be doing with my 2 year old?

Question

My son is talking a little bit and says a few words here and there. We know he understands what we are saying and will go get a certain toy if we name it, etc.

I was just wondering what type of activities you do with your 2 year olds to help them learn to say more words and do certain skills. I want to break up the day in different types of activites, so he is learning more things that are age appropriate.

Some of the typical things we do are reading books and I started asking him to point out what was on the page and he has started to get good with that. We stack wooden blocks. We try and put different shapes into the correct holes. He watches educational programs, but I don't want it to take over his day. I started to take pictures with my digital camera with different things around the house to make flash cards with. I also did this with family members that live out of state that we don't see on a regular basis.

Any advice you could give would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

sounds life you are on the right track. and of course reading is the most important thing that you can do at this point. as long as you are talking with him in a normal tone, and not baby talk, and talking with him a lot! i don't know how far i would go with flash cards, although making a picture book with all of these pictures of family members is a great idea. flipping through the book and just saying the name of each person is perfect. not only can you ask him to point out things on the page, but you can point out things as well, things that you know he may not know yet. try books with more pictures than words at this age, but simple pictures. (example-golden books are a no-no, way too many words, and much to complicated pictures) Keeping his attention is key.

Music is also a great way to build language. Letter recognition can also start as this age with things as simple as the foam letter that stick to the walls of the shower or bath when wet. My daughter has gotten a new set of these each year from Santa and LOVES them still at age 6!

just remember not to overwhelm you son, and make sure the activities that you are doing are age appropriate and that his environment continues to be one rich with language. and don't forget that all child development happens at different rates for each child! Sounds like you guys are doing great so far!

i guess a good question from me would be how many months is he? closer to 2 or 3? if he is closer to 2, sounds like you are fine. if he is closer to 3 let me know and i would be happy to discuss some other options with you in a more private setting.

Answer 2

Well it sounds like your already teaching him alot of stuff that he needs to be learning. Another one is you can sing songs like abcs and number songs teaching numbers. colors.
My daughter is 16 months old and she can count to six and if you ask her much is 2 she holds up 2 fingers. So it is very possible to learn to count at 2 yrs old. Also another think that help me is I ask her do you want to wear the PINK shirt or the Red shirt so she can get familiar with colors. For her 1st bday she got the leap frog fridge phonics it teaches the alphabet and prununciations also it counts 1-10 you can get if from most toy stores and my daughter will play with it for hours. hope this is some usefull information to you and good luck on everything!!!

Answer 3

As you speak to him always use the color and a descriptive
word for the item you speak to him about. "Get the large red
car". See your tall blue High chair. This improves their speech
so they learn automatically.

The alphabet song is excellent for teaching them the alphabet.

We used flash cards from about 1 year and it was extremely
beneficial.
It sounds as if you are an involved concerned parent who is
already doing a great job. Good Luck!!!

Answer 4

1. sing action songs.motor imitation comes before imitation of sounds. =)
2. teach concepts.. start with common objects (objects commonly seen) first. your child will not learn to speak if he does not know what to say, so he has to know the names of objects as well as actions.
when you teach the concept of color, start with two colors first: red and blue then add color as he becomes familiar with the first ones.
3. language stimulation

information talk- put labels in everything your child does. for ex: when your child is playing with a red ball, say "wow, shoot red ball, oops, get the red ball"(whatever your child is doing with the ball). make sentences simple first. emphasize important words.

obstacle- create opportunities that would force your child to communicate to you. when there's a need to speak, he would try more to communicate. one disadvantage of a very independent child is that he would no longer find the need to tell you what he wants or needs since he can do it on his own. Make him NEED to say "give me milk' or "give cookie". make sure you reward him by giving him what he asked for to reinforce speech.

Answer 5

I cannot stress to you enough ----- READ, READ, READ!! Even if they are running around you ---read to them!!!! Play shapes and letter games with them --use simple puzzles or shape sorters --even computer games work well!!! Talk and interact with them and play imagination with stuffed animals. Enjoy the time and get in the floor at eye level!!!

Answer 6

Three ideas-
1. Read to him.
2. Read to him.
3. Read to him.

Also, crawl around, sing, and get silly!

Answer 7

say the alphabet and have him repeat the letter same with words,numbers,colors,ect

Answer 8

colors,shapes,number, letters, chutes and ladders,hi-ho cherry-o,matching games.

Answer 9

try this freebie