We’ve put together a collection of fun indoor activities that 2-year-olds will love.
By age two, children’s motor skills have developed, and they become much more active.
Many kids love playing outside, and once they head out, it can be hard to get them to come back home, right?
It’s wonderful when children are full of energy, but when they have a cold or the weather is bad, no matter how much they say “I want to go outside!” you just can’t take them out…
I’m sure many parents are struggling with “constant fussing!” in those moments.
In this article, we’ll introduce recommended indoor activities you’ll want to know about for times like these.
We’ve gathered activities that 2-year-olds will be totally absorbed in, so please use them as a reference and have fun playing together.
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Indoor activities that delight 2-year-olds. Have fun inside on rainy days! (1–10)
Newspaper play
You can use newspaper—which every household has—to play all sorts of games.
There’s rock-paper-scissors where the loser folds their sheet smaller and smaller, balloon-carrying using newspaper, making paper helmets, and even a contest to see how long you can keep a strip connected while cutting it.
They’re fun activities that also help develop fine motor skills!
building blocks
Building blocks may seem like a simple game, but they likely provide excellent stimulation for a child’s brain development.
They help cultivate a sense of balance and offer practice in expressing one’s ideas using blocks.
It’s also good for parents to request things they’d like their child to build, give a little advice, and ask questions like “What’s this?” while they play.
drawing
At this early stage of “drawing,” it’s very important to let children draw.
It can spark their imagination and help them learn color names, opening up wonderful possibilities.
Adults should try to let them draw as freely as possible so as not to narrow their ideas.
It’s also fun for parents and children to complete a single picture together.
playing house
“Playing house” is also a very important activity for children at this stage.
It’s fine to let them play freely on their own, but it might be even more fun to make various requests or have them try different roles.
Even if real-life experiences are still difficult, pretend play helps nurture a child’s imagination.
Tickling game
When you play with children, “tickle play” really gets everyone excited.
It seems this classic game—doing a hand game and then ending with a tickle—is found all over the world.
Laughing from being tickled seems good for the body, and the thrill of not knowing exactly when it will happen is fun too.
Enjoy some parent–child bonding with tickle play!
playing with a ball
Games that use a ball can be played indoors even on rainy days, and if you use a light ball, it’s safe for small children too.
Try to put away anything that might be dangerous.
Throwing the ball in different directions and repeating throw-and-catch activities should help improve children’s motor skills.
hand play
For simple hand games that even small children can understand, we recommend ones that are easy and teach them something.
Games like rock-paper-scissors, easy animal imitations, or hand games that help them learn the names of their fingers can let children happily play while naturally picking up all sorts of knowledge.