Coming up with ideas to keep a two year old occupied can be challenging. Here are a few art activities to try. These activities will not only be fun but they will work on fine motor skills and provide an opportunity to do a calm activity with your crazy toddler.
1. Play-Dough
- Supplies: Play- Dough and Cookie Cutters
- What to do: Use cookie cutters to make shapes. Roll the play-dough into snakes. Make a ball. Create letters. Flatten the playdough. Use your index finger to poke holes in the play-dough.
- Benefits: Builds hand strength. Introduces new textures.
2. Chalk Art
- Supplies: Chalk and a sidewalk or driveway
- What to do: Use chalk to draw lines and shapes. Trace your child, add a face. More ideas for sidewalk chalk.
- Benefits: Shape recognition. Develop skills for holding a writing utensil.
3. Painting with Cars
- Supplies: Washable paint, paper, and toy cars
- What to do: Pour a quarter dime size amount of paint on the paper. Use the cars wheels to spread the paint across the paper. Create lines, circles, and zig-zags with the wheels. Add another color and create more tracks.
- Benefits: Color recognition. Writing readiness.
4. Painting with Marbles
- Supplies: Washable paint, paper, cardboard box, and a marble
- What to do: Put the paper inside a cardboard box. Add a dime size amount of paint to the paper. Drop a marble into the box. Shake the box to roll the marble through the paint and across the paper to create lines and patterns. More on how to marble paint.
- Benefits: Writing readiness. Concentration and focus.
5. Stickers
- Supplies: Stickers and paper or a sticker book
- What to do: Help your child peel the stickers and stick them to the paper. For variety, draw a line or shape and have them place stickers on it. Try using different colored stickers and sorting them. Or use a sticker book and match the sticker to the correct shape.
- Benefits: Pincer grip practice. Visual awareness.
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