Looking for simple ways to support your two-year-old’s learning at home?
Well, here are tons of fun Montessori-inspired activity ideas for your toddler!
Whether your little one just turned two or is getting ready to enter preschool, you’ll find plenty of easy and age-appropriate learning activities you can do at home. From movement, art, and language activities to practical life, sensory, fine motor, and more.
Let’s get started…
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Easy Montessori at Home Activities for 2-Year-Olds
While this list isn’t exhaustive, it does have enough ideas to keep your toddler busy for a LONG time. Just remember to follow your child’s lead. If they’re not interested in one activity just yet, no worries — you can always try again later. For little ones, learning should be active, hands-on, and stress-free. So keep it simple and have fun!
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Movement & Music
• Walk the Line
First, place a line of masking tape on the floor. (If space permits, you can make a tape square instead.) Then, show your child how to carefully walk on the line, heel to toe, like you would on a balance beam. If you can, leave the tape line on the floor so your child can practice walking the line whenever they want.
Balancing on a log, curb, or balance beam are some other fun options. With regular practice, this activity will help your child gain focus, balance, and coordination.
• Yoga Cards
Practicing simple yoga poses, like Downward Dog or Butterfly, is a great way to help your toddler stay active while building strength and flexibility. Since toddlers are such visual learners, child-friendly yoga cards can help your little one learn new poses more easily. Over time, your child may even begin practicing yoga independently with a little guidance from their yoga cards!
To get started, try selecting 3-5 basic poses from the deck to teach your child over your next few yoga sessions. Then, store these cards in a basket (or other accessible place) for your child to practice whenever they’d like. As your child shows interest, you can begin rotating in new yoga cards and removing old cards that your child has already mastered.
• Play Musical Instruments
Exploring musical instruments is a ton of fun for little ones! Look for toddler-friendly instruments your child can hit or shake, like a drum, xylophone, bells, or maracas. You can also get creative and make music using household objects, like pots and pans, metal spoons, or even DIY shakers.
• Climbing
Toddlers need opportunities to climb on a regular basis. Outdoor and indoor climbers are an obvious option. Scaling the furniture can be fun too, if it works for your family. You can also encourage your child to safely practice climbing a step stool and then hold your hand while they jump off.
For a sensory seeker, you can make a DIY “crash mat” in a safe, carpeted room by piling cushions, bean bag chairs, blankets, and other squishy materials to create a pile for your child to jump in and climb on top of. An indoor obstacle course is another fun and easy activity to help your little one burn off some energy.
• Take a Walk
This is a good go-to activity to get you and your toddler outside. Simply take a walk together through your neighborhood, local park, or other walkable outdoor space. If you want, you can encourage your child to gather natural objects such as pinecones, flowers, or stones during your walk. Or you can just chat and enjoy the scenery!
• Dance
Dancing helps children learn to coordinate their body movements, navigate through space, and express themselves creatively. Moving around to music is also a lot of fun. So, try dancing to all kinds of music from around the world: Fast and slow, modern and classic, familiar and new.
Give your child opportunities to dance freely without any guidelines, and try following instructions while you dance sometimes, too. Dance with scarves, or instruments, or even your little one’s baby doll. Just get moving and have fun!
Practical Life
• Whisking Soapy Water
This activity combines two things toddlers love: Practical life activities and bubbles. To get started, add some water and dish soap to a medium bowl. You can place a large towel underneath the bowl or take the activity outside to minimize clean-up. Then, give your toddler a small whisk and show them how to carefully whisk the soapy water to make bubbles.
(If your child loves this activity, try making some scrambled eggs together next time!)
• Pouring
Pouring is a basic practical life skill that helps children build fine motor control and independence. To set up a simple pouring activity, put a small amount of water (colored with food dye), uncooked rice, or dried beans in a clear child-sized pitcher. Then, show your child how to carefully pour the pitcher’s contents into a second pitcher. This activity can be repeated as many times as your child wants.
It’s also a good idea to let your toddler practice pouring themself a glass of water or milk from a small pitcher at mealtimes. Make sure to keep a sponge or cloth on hand nearby, so your child can wipe up any spills. Practice makes progress!
• Scooping & Transferring
This is another foundational practical life skill for toddlers. First, partially fill a small bowl with dried rice, oats, or other grains. Next to it, place another small bowl, leaving it empty. Then, show your child how to use a spoon to scoop the grains from the first bowl and carefully transfer them to the second bowl.
Note that some toddlers aren’t ready for sit-down activities like this yet. That’s totally okay! If your child isn’t interested — they won’t do the activity, or they dump out the materials — hold off for now. You can always try again later when your child is a little older.
• Preparing a Snack
There are tons of easy ways to help your child learn to prepare a simple snack. Your toddler can practice spreading jam, nut butter, hummus, or mashed avocado on their toast or crackers. They can cut fruits and veggies with a child-safe knife. With help, they can learn to peel a mandarin orange, banana, or hard boiled egg. And they can pour themself a drink from a small pitcher, too.
• Washing the Table
Many toddlers love this job. Simply fill a small spray bottle with soapy water for your little one, give them a clean cloth or sponge, and let them get started spraying and scrubbing. It often helps to start the job yourself and then allow your child to join in — or take over — if they show interest.
When your child has mastered this task, you can add a few additional steps to finish the job: Spray the table with water and then use a cloth to dry the table. Of course, if your family uses a different method to wash the table, feel free to do that instead.
• Sweeping or Mopping
This is another everyday skill your toddler can work on at home. You can invite your child to help sweep or mop up when there’s a spill to take care of. And if your child really enjoys cleaning, you can also set up specific activities to help them practice these skills.
Naturally, a child-sized broom and mop are helpful to have on hand to make clean-up easier for your little one.
Sensory
• Playdough
Playdough is a phenomenal sensory activity. You can easily make your own DIY playdough at home or find high-quality handmade playdough for your little one online. When it’s time to play, your child can explore freely, using their hands to squish and roll the dough. Or you can offer your child additional materials to work with, like playdough tools, fresh herbs, stones, popsicle sticks, and more.
For an even richer sensory experience, try adding different colors and scents to your playdough using child-safe food coloring, spices, or essential oils.
• Discovery Basket
This is a quick and easy activity you can prepare using materials you already have at home. Simply gather 5-7 interesting objects from around the house: Whisk, fabric swatch, shell, wooden spoon, scrubbing brush, ribbon, and so on. Then, place the items in a basket or other container and encourage your child to investigate.
Toddlers love to touch and explore all kinds of objects, making this an simple but exciting opportunity for sensory discovery. (If you get stuck, you can find more discovery basket ideas here.)
• Color Sorting
Some toddlers enjoy basic color sorting activities. Here’s one option: Set out a segmented tray, egg carton, muffin tin, or a few small bowls. Then, give your child several different colored objects to sort: Pom poms, buttons, recycled caps, feathers, etc. Ideally, these objects should be otherwise identical (same shape, size, and so on). Also make sure the number of sorting colors matches the number of sorting spaces.
In general, start with just a few colors if your child is new to sorting and slowly add more as your child gains confidence. You’ll also want to start with colors that aren’t too similar to prevent confusion — think red and blue, not red and pink.
• Sound Cylinders
This activity is designed to help your child learn to distinguish different sounds from one another and learn to match identical sounds. You can see what traditional sound cylinders look like here, but I would recommend making an inexpensive DIY version at home.
You’ll need 4 sets of identical containers (recycled spice jars, baby food jars, drinkable yogurt containers, etc.) Clear = easier; opaque = more challenging. Fill the first set with something quiet (like sand or rice), the second set with something slightly louder (like beads or pasta), the third set with something even louder (like coins), and the fourth set with the loudest material (like rocks).
For each pair, place a red sticker on one cylinder and a blue sticker on the other. Also label the bottom of each matching set with a numbered sticker to help your child check their work. Then, show your child how to shake each sound cylinder, listen closely to the sound, and use trial and error to find a match.
• Smelling Bottles
Invite your child to refine their sense of smell with this activity. DIY smelling bottles are prepared pretty much the same way as sound cylinders, except — logically — you’ll be using scented materials instead.
First, gather 3 sets of small bottles or jars, along with a few cotton balls and scented extracts of your choice (e.g., vanilla, lemon, peppermint). When you’re done, you should have 3 sets of matching smelling bottles.
For each pair, place a red sticker on one bottle and a blue sticker on the other. Remember to also label the bottom of each pair with matching numbered stickers so your child can easily check their work. Finally, show your little one how to mindfully smell each bottle and use trial and error to find its match.
• Hot & Cold Sensory Bottles
Exploring temperature is another fun way to refine your child’s senses. For this activity, simply fill one bottle with ice water and another bottle with hot water. The hot water should, of course, still be comfortable for your child to handle. After safely securing the bottles, encourage your little one to touch, shake, and explore the hot and cold sensory bottles while you supervise.
How does each sensory bottle feel? How do they compare? What does your child notice?
Art
• Coloring
Coloring is one of the simplest art activities you can set up for your toddler. It’s also one of the best. All you need is some plain white paper and a few crayons or colored pencils. Oil pastels and paint sticks are fun options, too.
Tip: Try limiting the number of art materials you set out at once to improve your child’s focus.
• Watercolor Painting
Watercolor painting is less messy than regular painting and just as fun. Look for a vibrant set of non-toxic watercolor paints for your child. Then, set them up with a piece of paper, a small cup of water, and a sponge for easy clean-up, and you’re good to go!
• Collaging
This is an easy and versatile art activity for little ones. Ideally, you’ll want to set up a simple collaging tray with a small jar of liquid glue, a paintbrush, and materials to collage (paper scraps, feathers, foam shapes, etc.) Then, give your child a piece of paper and show them how to “paint” with the glue and stick the materials to the paper.
• Scissor Practice
Learning to cut with scissors takes practice. If your child has never used scissors before, you may want to start by teaching them how to cut playdough to help them get a hang of the basics.
For practice cutting paper, you can prepare a few narrow strips of cardstock and encourage your child to cut the strips over a small bowl or tray. (Paint strips are a great free alternative to cardstock, but you’ll still need to cut them into thin strips to help your child be successful.)
• Sculpting with Clay
Yes, your toddler can absolutely benefit from working with clay. Clay provides an interesting sensory experience, fine motor practice, and opportunities for creative exploration. To limit mess, use an easy-to-clean tray or cutting board and give your child a small amount of clay, about the size of their fist, to start.
At first, focus on exploring the clay without tools or other materials: Touch, squish, and roll the clay into balls or snakes. Later, you can introduce simple tools for rolling and sculpting, offer popsicle sticks or twigs for poking, or set out interesting materials for your child to arrange in the clay (dried herbs, flowers, stones, shells, etc.)
• Dot Stickers
Here’s an easy art activity you can do in a pinch: Set out a piece of paper and a few strips of dot stickers. For most toddlers, 10-15 stickers is a good amount to start with. Then, encourage your child to peel and stick the stickers, arranging them however they want.
I love using these stickers with toddlers because they’re easier for young children to peel on their own and they tend not to rip. This is a fun way to help your child build fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and spatial reasoning.
Language & Literacy
• Read Stories
Reading with your little one is one of the best things you can do for their language development. So try to make story time a part of your everyday routine – fit it in whenever you can; there are no rules! To help encourage reading throughout the day, store a few high-quality picture books on a low shelf or book basket where your child can easily access them.
Look for short books with engaging illustrations and relatively few words per page. Rhymes and onomatopoeia make for fun reads, too. (Hint: Toddlers love books about other children – just like them – going about their everyday lives.)
• Sing Songs
Singing is another fun and easy language activity for little ones. And you can do it anywhere! Try classic nursery songs like “Twinkle, Twinkle” and “Old MacDonald Had a Farm,” newer faves like “Baby Shark,” or even your favorite Top 40 song. It doesn’t matter whether you’re tone-deaf or a trained singer – singing with your toddler will help strengthen their language skills either way.
• Pre-Writing
Let’s be clear: Your two-year-old absolutely does not need to know how to write yet. Don’t worry! But for some children, sitting down with a crayon and Daddy’s birthday card, for example, can be a meaningful way to develop pre-writing skills. To encourage this type of play, give your child open-ended opportunities to work with different types of writing materials.
Here are a few ideas…
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- Paper & crayons (or chubby pencils/colored pencils)
- Mini slate & chunky chalk
- Buddha board
- Recyled birthday cards & crayons
- Sand tray (for tracing lines and shapes, not writing letters)
• I Spy
This is a simple letter sound game for toddlers. Here’s how you play: First, gather 3 familiar objects (e.g., apple, comb, feather) and place them on a mat or tray. Each object should start with a different letter sound. Next, say, “I spy something that starts with a [letter sound],” and encourage your child to find the correct object.
Keep it short and sweet and follow your child’s lead. Games should be fun, not stressful! If you’d like to learn more, here are some tips to help you introduce this Montessori language game to your little one.
• Explore Language Objects
This activity might require a bit more prep, but it’s another great way to introduce letter sounds to your toddler. To get started, you’ll want to gather several language objects (miniature items beginning with different letter sounds). For letter B, for example, you could use a button, bow, and block.
Once you have your language objects ready – and your child is showing interest – sit together and name each object: “This is a button. This is a bow. This is a block.” Then, have your child apply what they’ve learned: “Where is the block?”
You can create a set of language objects for each letter using household and/or thrifted objects, or look for a pre-made set if you prefer. As your child grows, there are even more language object activities you can try. But for now? Keep it simple!
• What’s Missing?
This is a fun language game that can help boost your little one’s memory, too. To play, simply set out a tray (or mat) with 3-5 familiar objects on it. Next, point to each object and name it: “There’s a banana, a car, and a spoon.” Then, tell your child that you’re going to hide one of the objects while they cover their eyes. Finally, remove one of the objects and ask your child, “What’s missing?”
If your little one is interested, play another round or two – you can even let your child be the “hider” while you guess what’s missing.
Fine Motor
• Opening & Closing
To help your little one strengthen their fine motor skills, try creating an “open and close” basket. Simply gather a few household objects that open and close: Think a drawstring bag, coin pouch, recycled jar, ring box, and so on. Then place them in a basket for your child to explore. As per usual, let your child’s abilities guide your selection of materials. You want to strike a balance between challenging and doable.
To shake things up, you can even hide little toddler-safe treasures inside each container. This can be a fun way to spark your little one’s curiosity and keep them engaged.
• Puzzles
Puzzles (and similar toys, like knobbed cylinders and shape sorters) are phenomenal learning materials. They help children build all kinds of skills, from fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination to spatial reasoning and problem-solving skills. To start, look for simple knobbed puzzles with 3-10 pieces for your two-year-old.
(Or if you’re the do-it-yourself type, you can try making your own DIY puzzle at home!)
• Pegboard Toy
Working with a pegboard toy is another great fine motor activity for toddlers. By carefully placing pegs into the holes of a pegboard, little ones can practice fine motor skills – like using a pincer grasp – and strengthen the small muscles in their fingers, hands, and wrists.
You can even make your own DIY pegboard toy at home using a shoebox and some golf tees for a fun and inexpensive option.
• Locks & Keys
Most toddlers are fascinated by keys. If your child is too, you can set up a simple and engaging fine motor activity using an ordinary lock and key. Simply place the lock and corresponding key on a tray for your child to explore. (To keep your little one safe, it’s a good idea to tie a piece of yarn to the key.) You can see this easy fine motor activity in action here!
• Posting Activities
Basically, “posting” involves dropping an object into a container through an opening. This is a common type of play for babies and toddlers, and it has tons of developmental benefits. Fortunately, there are plenty of simple posting activities you can do at home. Here are a few ideas…
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- Playing Card Posting: Cut a slit into the lid of an empty oatmeal container and encourage your child to drop playing cards through the slit.
- Coin Box: Encourage your child to drop coins or poker chips into a piggy bank or box with a slotted lid.
- Ping Pong Ball Drop: Flip a cardboard box upside down and cut out a hole slightly bigger than a ping pong ball; encourage your child to drop the ball(s) through the hole.
- Straw Posting: Cut several small holes into the lid of an empty container and encourage your child to drop halved straws through the holes.
• Using Tools
Working with real tools – in a safe, supervised way – provides little ones with a fun and meaningful opportunity to strengthen their fine motor skills. This may mean tightening nuts and bolts, hammering pegs into clay, or using a child-friendly screw board. If you or a loved one can safely involve your child in a real project, even better!
Math
• Counting Games
Learning to count by rote (“1, 2, 3, 4, 5…”) can wait. But counting games are a great option for little ones. So, try counting while you play movement games: Can you clap 10 times, jump up and down 5 times, and touch your toes 3 times? Sing counting songs, like “5 Little Monkeys,” and act out the actions. Or build a tower together and count how many blocks you used. How can you incorporate simple counting games into your everyday life?
• Baking
Baking is an awesome, hands-on way to practice real-world math skills, like measuring and counting. Look for simple, toddler-friendly recipes and involve your little one in the process. “We need 2 cups of flour. Let’s scoop together. Now can you pour the flour into the bowl? One … two. You did it!”
• One to One Correspondence
If you haven’t heard this term before, one-to-one correspondence is the understanding that each number has one – and only one – matching quantity. You use this skill when you count objects, one by one. While you likely take this knowledge for granted, one-to-one correspondence is one of the most important foundational math skills for children to learn.
Here’s an easy way to practice this skill at home: Set out an empty egg carton and a basket filled with a dozen small objects (stones, wooden eggs, pom poms, etc.) You can also use an ice cube tray or other segmented container, if you wish. Then encourage your child to place 1 object in each slot. If your child enjoys this activity, don’t be afraid to switch it up by using different objects or trays for more fun.
• Matching
Matching is another important math skill for little ones. Luckily, there are tons of fun Montessori-inspired matching activities you can do at home! Your little one can pair socks while you fold the laundry, use a DIY puzzle to match objects to their outlines, try an object-to-object matching activity, and more.
• Sorting
Once your toddler is comfy with matching activities, you can give simple sorting activities a try, too. Here are some Montessori sorting activities to help you get started. To avoid confusing your child, begin with just two categories – red and blue, big and small, circle and square – and make sure the objects your child is sorting are otherwise identical.
• Block Play
Blocks are amazing (and versatile!) learning materials for little ones. By playing with blocks, children develop spatial reasoning and problem-solving skills, strengthen their hand-eye coordination and motor skills, learn about geometry and other early math skills through hands-on exploration, and much more.
There’s no need to force any specific type of block play – simply follow your child’s lead. (Don’t have blocks at home? Classic wooden blocks, natural tree blocks, and magnet blocks are all great options.)
Science
• Plant Care
Caring for plants is fun and helps children learn more about the physical characteristics and needs of plants. Try letting your toddler plant a seed, water the household plants, dust leaves, pull weeds, or take on other age-appropriate plant care tasks.
• Observing Living Things
Most children are fascinated by animals. So, take time to let your child observe an animal that lives in your area, ideally in its natural environment. Birds, squirrels, ants, worms, and butterflies are just a few options. If you have pets, your child may enjoy watching them go about their day, as well. You can discuss what you see, ask questions, draw pictures, or simply sit quietly and observe.
• Sink or Float
This is a classic, low-prep science activity for toddlers. First, gather a few items from around the house – some that sink in water and some that float. Then, fill a bowl with water and encourage your child to place each item in the water, one at a time, to see whether it sinks or floats. (You can see this experiment in action here.)
• Exploring a Pumpkin
This is a phenomenal science activity for fall. Learn more about the parts of a pumpkin through hands-on investigation. Your little one can pick out their very own pumpkin, wash it with soapy water, scoop and squish the guts, investigate the seeds, and more. Other types of produce are “ripe” for exploration, too!
• Fizzy Science Experiment
Mixing baking soda and vinegar together creates an exciting chemical reaction that little ones love. You can also create a lemon “volcano” or even make bath time more fun with a bath bomb, if your child enjoys this simple science experiment.
• Nature Scavenger Hunt
For this activity, simply head outdoors with your toddler (and an egg carton) to collect some natural treasures. Look for twigs, stones, pinecones, dandelions, or anything else that catches your little one’s eye. When you’re done, consider saving a few treasures for your toddler to explore later on at home.
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