Games for 2 years old: Top Games for 2 Year Olds

Top Games for 2 Year Olds

Top picks of games for 2 year olds you can play at home! Age-appropriate board games and educational learning activities for your toddler.

As a first-time mom, I quickly learned that there’s never one “right” way to play a game.

Whereas other kids loved sitting in the playground swing, my then-toddler would complain any time I tried to sit him on one. It turns out, his perfect game was standing on the ground, pulling a swing, letting it go, and watching it sway back and forth.

Kids can turn any existing game into one that suits them better, from a tumbling tower of Jenga to good ol’ play dough. They may not be able to play the way a game is intended, but they can figure out different ways to entertain themselves just as well.

Still, you may have noticed that your 2-year-old is now suddenly interested in playing educational games, particularly board or group games. Maybe you need new toys and games to keep him occupied, or a quick game he can play with an older sibling. It also doesn’t help that he’s outgrown most of his baby toys.

Many of these games nurture teamwork and turn-taking as they work with others to complete a goal. Others challenge their memory skills, color recognition, and hand-eye coordination (not to mention their fine motor skills). And you can bond over a fun family game night all within your child’s attention span.

As kids get older, they’ll find ways to play with whatever toy is nearby. But having engaging and entertaining games for 2 year olds can make those days that much more fun. I also share a list of the best board games for 3 year olds below if your child is nearing that age.

Take a look at these favorite games for 2 year olds, perfect for your little one:

Best games for 2 year olds

Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

My First Match It

Color Matching Eggs

Hide & Seek Memory & Matching Game

Banana Panda Suuuper Size Memory Game

Acorn Soup

Bean Bag Toss Game

HABA My Very First Games First Orchard

Magnetic Cube

Spike the Fine Motor Hedgehog

Scavenger Hunt Cards

Think Roll & Play Game

Green Toys Stacking Cups

Where’s Bear?

Monkey Around The Wiggle & Giggle Game

TOP BRIGHT Toddler Fishing Game

Panda’s Picnic in the Park Basket

Eric Carle 4-In-A-Box Puzzle Pieces

Bunny Peek a Boo

Off to Bed Bedtime Routines

Games for 3 year olds

The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game

Snail’s Pace Race

Lucky Ducks

Hasbro Don’t Break The Ice

Candy Land

Feed the Woozle: A Peaceable Kingdom Game

Get more tips:

• The Best Activities to Do with 2 Year Olds
• How to Encourage Siblings to Get Along from a Young Age
• Best Building Toys to Nurture Creative Play
• What to Do When Your Toddler Doesn’t Want Daddy
• Is Your 2 Year Old Waking Up at Night for Hours? Here’s What to Do

Free printables: Want printable learning activities? Join my newsletter and get a set of A-Z alphabet letters to play a matching game, sheets to glue by color, and printables to count with dot markers.

Plus, you’ll also get a sample of my handwriting and tracing workbook, Letters and Numbers! Grab the printable pack below—at no cost to you:

The Best Board Games for 2-Year-Olds in 2023

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Here are the best board games and educational games for 2-year-olds that will keep your kids entertained and learning at the same time. They are perfect for family game nights!

My husband and I are board game geeks. There, I admit it. Whenever we could get a group of friends together, our favorite thing to do is play board games all night until the sun came up.

Alas, that was our lives before kids.

When our son turned 2 and was no longer all about construction vehicles and trains, we looked for educational toys for 2-year-olds. To our delight, we found a bunch of educational and learning board games that even toddlers could play!

I know you have your doubts. Imagining your 2-year-old sitting down and playing a board game seems like mission impossible.  But that’s why whoever made these preschool board games are GENIUSES! When you check out the games I have listed below, you will see why.

Playing games with your 2-year-old is so important for early childhood development. It teaches them a variety of skills, such as gross and fine motor, reasoning and logic, memory and cognition, hand-eye coordination, and much more. They also will learn how to follow the rules and social-emotional skills that are critical for when they go to school.

Most importantly, playing games and spending quality time with your 2-year-old will give your family a chance to bond and create wonderful memories for years to come. For fun and educational games to play with your 2-year-old, check out the list below.

Best Games for 2-Year-Olds

Here are our top picks for games for 2-year-olds. Some of these we have been playing since my son was a toddler.

Even though my son is now in elementary school and my daughter is in kindergarten, they still playing games like Candyland and Hi Ho! Cherry-O.

Some of these board games are recommended for ages 3 and up, but my kids had no problem playing them when they turned 2. Observe your child closely when playing to gauge whether or not they are ready. Worst case scenario, you put the game away and bring it back out in a few months and try again.

1. Roll and Play Game

We have had the Roll and Play game since my son was 18 months old, and it remains a family favorite today (he is now 5!). The Roll and Play game is hands down the best game you should have for your 2-year-old.

The rules are simple: You roll the big plush cube, select a card with the matching color, and follow the instructions on the card. There are 48 cards with 6 different categories and each one is a fun activity, such as “roar like a lion” or “find something green.”

The Roll and Play game teaches children emotions, counting, body parts, color, animal sounds, and actions.  It’s the perfect game for a fidgety 2-year-old who has tons of energy because the activities will get everyone up and moving.

My children always have a blast playing this, and they can play it over and over again. It’s no surprise that the Roll and Play have won several awards, including an Oppenheim Platinum Award and the Play Advances Language Award.

Number of players: 2 players

Helps with: Creativity, active play, gross motor skills

Published by: Think Fun

2. First Orchard Game

First Orchard is a fun game for introducing your 2-year-old to the concept of teamwork. By working together, you will need to pick the fruits from the trees before the hungry raven reaches the end of the path.

We love the game because you either win together or lose together. It’s very simple, so your 2-year-old will have no problem understanding the rules. The pieces are large and durable, so your toddler can easily handle them.

Overall, First Orchard is the perfect game for learning color matching, where fruits come from and the different types of fruits, and social skills such as taking turns.

Number of players: 1-4 players

Helps with: Color recognition, memory skills, problem-solving

Published by: HABA

3. The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game

2-year-olds love to use tongs. I don’t know why. Both of my kids loved using tongs to pick up small items instead of using their hands when they were toddlers.

And that’s what makes The Sneaky Snacky Squirrel Game so fun! You spin the spinner, pick up the matching colored acorn with the Squirrel Squeezer, and carefully place it into your log. This game provides an excellent opportunity to improve hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills while learning colors and counting.

The game is easy to set up and put away and comes with high-quality components. As one of the Amazon reviewers said, “If you’re on the fence, GET this game for your kiddos, you won’t be sorry!!”

Number of players: 4 players

Helps with: Color learning, matching skills, strategic thinking, turn-taking, eye-hand coordination, fine motor skills

Published by: Educational Insights

4. Button, Button, Belly Button

Kids love belly buttons. They love reading books about belly buttons and they are constantly lifting up their shirts to touch their own belly buttons. So why not play a cute game that will give your kids a chance to show off their belly buttons?

Button, Button, Belly Button is a simple game that will help your toddlers identify colors and develop important spatial recognition skills. Your kids will take turns moving the wooden button mover and then matching the card to the respective bear or button on the board.

And when your child has both the same color button and bear cards, he or she can lift up their hands in the air like the bears on the game board and show everyone his or her belly button!

Number of players: 2 players

Helps with: Color recognition, matching skills, spatial recognition, vocabulary building, turn-taking

Published by: Peaceable Kingdom

5. 

Here Fishy Fishy! Magnetic Fishing Game

If your 2-year-old can’t sit still and needs something to do with his hands, Here, Fishy, Fishy! is the game for him!

After rolling the die, your kid will need to hook the fish with the corresponding color. If successful, then your kid gets a piece of the puzzle for his board. Once he collects all five pieces and completes the puzzle, he wins!

Each round doesn’t take too long so you can finish a game before your kid runs off to do who-knows-what.

If your toddler is not yet ready to follow the rules, you can simply take turns fishing.

Number of players: 1-4 players

Helps with: Hand-eye coordination, matching skills, concentration, color recognition, turn-taking, teamwork

Published by: HABA

6. Seek-a-Boo Game

The first time I seen the Seek-a-Boo Game played was at my child’s Montessori classroom. All the children were laughing and running around, trying to find the right cards.

Depending on your child’s learning and developmental stage, you can use the cards as an introduction to animals, colors, foods, etc., and work your way up to the matching game. You can play with just one child or a group of children, so it’s the perfect game to bust out on playdates.

The only downside is that the cards do bend easily (plus you are playing with 2-year-olds who don’t fully comprehend the meaning of “gentle”), so you may want to laminate the cards for long-term use.

Number of players: 2+ players

Helps with: Memory skills, vocabulary-building, turn-taking, large motor skills

Published by: Mindware

7. Ladybug’s Garden Memory Game

If your 2-year-old likes memory games but has not learned to be careful with the cards, then this Ladybug’s Garden Memory Game will save you a lot of frustration.

Instead of cards, you use wooden caps shaped like ladybugs to hide the illustrations below. Your child needs to flip over the ladybugs to reveal what pictures are underneath and find the matching pair before the others do.

I remember playing this game with my son when he was two years old at a friend’s house. After explaining to him how to play, my friend and I were shocked at how great his memory was! Before we knew it, he found all the matching pairs and beat us all at the game. Never underestimate your children!

Number of players: 2 players

Helps with: Memory skills, friendly competition, turn-taking, fine motor skills

Published by: Fat Brain Toys

8.

 Feed the Woozle Game

This hilarious game involves feeding the hungry Woozle with funny and gross treats like chocolate-covered flies, fuzzy donuts, feathery tacos, frog-leg ice cream, broccoli lollipops, etc. Can you imagine your kids rolling on the floor laughing over these silly snacks?

Despite its goofy nature, Feed the Woozle is an educational game that grows with your kid. For your 2-year-old, you may want to start with just feeding the Woozle. As your kid gets the hang of the game, you can begin incorporating movements (hula dance, walk backward, etc.) while balancing the snacks on a spoon.

Not only goes the game teaches your kids to work together, but it also encourages motor skills, dexterity, and body awareness.

Number of players: 2-5 players

Helps with: Dexterity, balance, counting, and language skills

Published by: Peaceable Kingdom

9. 

Hi Ho! Cherry-O Board Game

My husband had been begging me to get Hi Ho! Cherry-O for our kids as soon as he realized they could play board games.  He has such great memories of playing this game when he was young, and you know what? I am glad that he did.

Hi Ho! Cherry-O is very similar to The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game described above. You spin the spinner, and players take turns picking cherries, blueberries, apples, and oranges from their trees to fill their baskets. You learn how to count, add, subtract, and match colors.

However, instead of using tongs, you use your fingers to pick up the fruits. That could be why the game is for children ages 3+. The fruits are tiny, so parental guidance is necessary to make sure your 2-year-old doesn’t put them in her mouth.

My daughter, however, loved using her pincer grasp when she was 2 so this game was perfect for her. The pincer grasp is an essential fine motor development to master for your child to be able to hold a pencil or button a shirt later.

Number of players: 2-4 players

Helps with: Basic math skills (counting, addition, subtraction), turn-taking

Published by: HASBRO

10.  Monkey Around – The Wiggle & Giggle Game

If your 2-year-old is anything like mine, he is spending most of the day doing silly things anyhow. That’s why he is going to love Monkey Around, where he will be hopping, balancing, and monkeying around!

Your kids will love carrying out the actions required on the “solo cards.” However, what you will adore are the “Everybody” cards. These cards challenge you to complete the action with a partner, such as “pretend to feed your partner the banana.” It’s an excellent opportunity to teach your 2-year-old how to work together with someone else to finish a task.

Monkey Around is a quick game that promotes hand-eye coordination, gross motor skills, social-emotional skills, and language skills. Plus, it comes with a cute beanbag banana!

Number of players: 2+ players

Helps with: Social skills, gross motor skills, hand-eye coordination, vocabulary-building, imitation

Published by: Peaceable Kingdom

11.  Lucky Ducks

I try to stay away from battery-powered games, but this one is a fun one. When you press the orange button, ducks will start “swimming” in circles. The bottom side of each duck has a colored shape. The winner is the first player to pick up three ducks with matching shapes.

My 2-year-old loved Lucky Ducks, even though matching the shapes was a little hard for her. She just enjoyed picking the ducks up while they were swimming in the circular pond. Then after she took off all the ducks, she would put them all back, and press the button again to start over. It wasn’t until she was almost three that she started playing the game according to the rules.

I do have to warn you – this game is loud. The ducks will keep quacking until you turn it off, so if you want a quiet house, this might not be the game for you. That said, the kids love the quacking!

Number of players: 2-4 players

Helps with: Shape and color recognition, memory, matching skills

Published by: Pressman

12.  Snug as a Bug in a Rug

Eww, stinkbugs! Similar to the other Peaceable Kingdom games, Snug as a Bug in a Rug is a collaborative game that teaches your kids how to work together to achieve the same goal.

This wonderful game can be as easy or as difficult as your little one wants it to be. Level 1 of this game is simple enough for a 2-year-old. You roll the die at the beginning of the game to decide which one attribute will all players use to match the bugs. Then by working together, you need to get all the bugs under the rug before the stink bugs arrive and stink up the place!

The quality of the game is top-notch, and the bugs are so cute. My kids like sliding the bugs under the rug, and I love watching my kids playing together (without fighting for once!).

Number of players: 2-4 players

Helps with: Emotional development, problem-solving, decision making, positive self-esteem

Published by: Peaceable Kingdom

13.  Candyland

Good old Candyland. What kid hasn’t played Candyland while growing up? One of our good friends gave my son this when he turned 2, and he has been playing it ever since.

Candyland is designed for non-readers so that even 2-year-olds can play it. You pick a card and move your gingerbread character pawn to the nearest stepping-stone that matches the color on the card.

Little kids can learn how to follow directions, take turns, and match colors while playing Candyland. My only caution is that if you have an energetic 2-year-old, he may not be able to sit still long enough to finish the game.

Number of players: 2-4 players

Helps with: Color recognition, turn-taking

Published by: Hasbro

14. Zoo on the Loose

Kids love the concept of Zoo on the Loose – animals have escaped from the zoo, and they have to get the animals back in their places when the zookeeper shows up!

Zoo on the Loose is a wonderful game to teach your kids about different animals and their habitats.  You start the game by exploring the mat, and that alone will help your kids learn about other animals at the zoo, how to spot and count butterflies and zookeepers.

Then your child gets to help the animals go on an adventure around your house. The directions on the cards will teach your child positional vocabulary, like “under” a chair or “in” the blue circle. Your kids will have a blast putting the animals in different places around the house!

Number of players: 1 or more players

Helps with: Memory, vocabulary, turn-taking, gross motor skills, following directions

Published by: Mindware

15. Where’s Bear?

Where’s Bear? is a straightforward game consisting of cardboard nesting boxes with illustrations of different rooms in the bear’s house. One person closes his eyes while the other hides the bear in one of the “rooms.” Then the person opens his eyes and tries and finds the bear.

You can give the person hints by telling him what’s in the room.  Where’s Bear? is great for building vocabulary about things around the house. You can also talk about what the bear could be doing in each room, like sleeping on the bed or sitting on the couch.

And if your 2-year-old likes stacking blocks or boxes, then this is the perfect game for your kid! The boxes are sturdy and well-made, almost as if the game maker expects toddlers to knock down all boxes to find the bear. 

Number of players: 2 players

Helps with: Social skill development, cognitive benefits, social-emotional skills

Published by: Peaceable Kingdom

16. Let’s Feed The Very Hungry Caterpillar Game

The one book we read every single night when my kids were babies and toddlers was The Very Hungry Caterpillar. This game is the perfect complement to the story!

You pick a card that tells you how many spaces you can move your caterpillar. When you land on a piece of fruit, then you collect a butterfly puzzle piece.  The first person to collect all five butterfly pieces and reach the center of the board wins the game.

The butterfly puzzle pieces are interchangeable, so your butterfly is unique every time. Your kids can learn to count, their colors, and strategic thinking while playing. What a great way to bring the class children’s book to life!

Number of players: 2-4 players

Helps with: Color recognition, counting, decision-making skills, following directions, turn-taking

Published by: Briarpatch

17. Acorn Soup

Do your little ones crowd around you in the kitchen while you try to cook? Mine loves to “help” out in the kitchen and learn what goes into their food.

Acorn Soup allows your 2-year-old to help the squirrel make his delicious soup. Pick a card, identify the ingredients, and count how many of each ingredient the soup needs.

Acorn Soup will get your kid’s imagination going as he stirs and pretends to make the soup.  You can use the cards and wooden ingredients to teach your kids new vocabulary. If you have a plush squirrel, you can have your kid pretend to feed it.

Number of players: 2 players

Helps with: Fine motor skills, balancing and hand-eye coordination, cognitive skills such as counting and number recognition, matching and sorting, pretend play, creative thinking, imagination, naming and matching vocabulary building

Published by: Peaceable Kingdom

18. Panda’s Picnic in The Park

Panda’s Picnic in the Park is a simple game where you and your toddler build your own pretend picnic. The idea is that you both take turns reaching into the basket to grab a different food item. You have to look at what shape and color the food item is and match it up to the correct plate. When all of your plates are full, your picnic is ready.

Number of players: 2 players

Helps with Practice colors and shapes, turn-takings, gross and fine-motor skills, language skills

Published by: Peaceable Kingdom

19. Smelly Wellies

No products found.

Smelly Wellies is a great matching game for preschoolers. It is a fun and simple matching game, where players turn over welly cards to find matching patterned wellies for their monsters. The cards are durable pieces that are sure to survive even the most active little one!

Number of Players: 2-4 players

Helps with: matching and memory skills, observational skills, personal and social skills.

Published By: Orchard Toys

20. Duck Duck Dance

Duck Duck Dance is an adorable game that will get your 2-year-old up and moving! Simply roll the dice, do the dance move, and flip over the audience member to enjoy the show. Once all the audience members are watching the show, the game is complete!

Toddlers will love wiggling, spinning, and grooving with this fun dancing game. I recommend putting some dance music on to make this game even more active!

Number of Players: 2-4 players

Helps with: gross motor skills, sequencing, counting, imitating, and vocabulary

Published By: Peaceable Kingdom

21.

Toddler Scavenger Hunt Cards

Toddler Scavenger Hunt Cards is not what you might think of when you are searching for a board game for your 2-year-old, but it’s a cooperative game that you should not miss!

With 20 double-sided study cards to choose from, your toddler will have so much fun running around the house, looking for items like a button or a hat. The cards also contain learning concepts such as colors, sizes, and shapes.

This scavenger hunt game is great to get kids moving as they search for household objects. And if your toddler has older siblings, they can jump in on the fun too!

Number of Players: 2+ players

Helps with: observational skills, cooperative play, vocabulary, visual perception, emotional connections

Published By: Mollybee Kids

Final Thoughts on the Best Games for 2-Year-Olds

If you are looking to buy a board game for a 2-year-old, we hope that this post helped you figure out which board games would be the best for your child.

All of the board games listed are great options for toddlers, and I hope you enjoy them as much we did.

Happy playing!

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Games for children under 2 years old | Mamovediya

Every mother, being pregnant, imagines her baby, thinks about how she will play with him, what fairy tales to read, how many important and interesting things they will do together, spending every day with maximum benefit. But, with the advent of a newborn and the worries associated with it, all plans for creative and language development are often forgotten.

We want to support all young mothers and suggest which games for children under two years of age will help in a fun way to teach simple concepts such as shape, color, to understand the cause and effect relationship in their actions, to use logic and imagination.

So what are these games for children under 2 years of age? What kind of entertainment to come up with using improvised items and the space of the apartment?

Rip-Rip Game

Spread a sheet, oilcloth or tablecloth on the floor, take different molds: jars, mixture containers, molds from play sets, and fine grains or sand . Show your child how to pour sand from one container to another, sprinkle several at once. Also, you can teach your baby how to pour sand like you are feeding birds, or sprinkle salt on dinner, or pick it up in a fist and pour it from hand to hand.

This game can be transferred to the bathroom, and the game can be continued using water. Often, play molds have small holes at the bottom through which water will flow – children love to catch such jets!

Game “Pair is not a Pair”

Take colorful socks (yours, child, husband), put them in pairs and show the kid the correct order. Then mix up the pairs of socks, connecting yellow with blue, blue with black, black with white, white with yellow, for example, and invite the baby to put the correct pair of socks back together. So the baby uses logical thinking and remembers colors well.

Doo-doo-doo game

Take any container (can, mix box, mold) and start blowing “doo-doo-doo” into it . Each new item will make a different sound, due to differences in the material, size and shape of the pot. You can simply twist a sheet of paper or a magazine and also blow into it. Every child will like this voice game very much, it will help him not to be shy of his voice, and develop his self-confidence.

Hiding a toy

This is a very simple but entertaining game. You need to choose some toy and hide it in the closet, under the covers, bury it in a pile of other toys. So the child will develop search skills and logical thinking.

Mold in the house game

Take the molds and trace their bottom on a piece of paper. Then put them aside and invite the baby to pick up a “house” for each mold. This will help train the child the ratio of shapes and sizes, spatial thinking.

Playing with colors

Take two shapes, let them be ordinary sandbox buckets of different colors , and pick up different items (blocks from the designer, mosaic, balls, hair ties) of these two colors. Encourage your child to arrange items in containers according to color. If the baby put the object in the wrong bucket – do not shout or scold the baby, do not complain that he is inattentive . Offer to compare with other objects, show toys of a similar color, explain that this “ball” will be better in a bucket with the same color, where it will feel good in a circle of similar ones.

When asking your child to give or bring something to you, always state the color of the object you need.

Shapes

Use paper or felt to create simple shapes: circle, square, triangle . Show the child in turn each shape, name it, and “prick” on a pencil, sorting them (if it’s difficult to prick, make small cuts on the forms). Invite the child to determine which pencil to prick each next figure.

Sculpting

Salt dough, plasticine, modeling paste – choose the material that suits you and sculpt. First you need to knead it well in the handles, and then choose the game options. It can be various0011 stamps and molds with which the child will extrude images, watching how a more or less expressive pattern is obtained from his pressure.

Also, you can roll a lot of small balls and invite the child to crush them with his finger – children like such pranks, and we understand that this helps them develop fine motor skills.

Sports

Encourage all kinds of physical activity. To do this, you can get by with improvised means: let the baby try crawl under the chair , build a so-called slide out of pillows and invite to slide down from it in all sorts of ways.

Teach your child to jump! Designate a conditional river with a string or other object and offer to jump over it . At first, he may need your help, but then the child will be so involved in this game that he will allow his mother to be distracted and drink a cup of coffee.

Starting speech

Child remembers new words better with a strong emotional upsurge . In order to stimulate him, you can offer the child a game. Take 2-3 transparent bottles, gouache paint and shreds of fabric of the color corresponding to the paints. Fill the bottles 2/3 full with water, fill the lids from the inside with paint (it should be thick), and close the bottles. Then, cover the bottle with the appropriate paint with a cloth, invite the child to show the hocus pocus : let him shake the bottle and remove the cloth – the water has dyed the color of the cloth! Real magic! Be sure to comment on the entire process of creating a focus.

New word

If you want to teach your child to pronounce a particular word, play a game. For example, you want your child to learn to say the word “cat”. Take a cat toy, and all day, living with your child, find him all over the house. For example, open refrigerator in the morning and say joyfully: behold, the cat meets us! Then, put the wash, open the washing machine , and there is a cat again! So you can “find” the cat in the closet, under the pillow, in the laundry basket and elsewhere. You need to repeat a word to memorize up to 50 times a day.

To memorize animals, you can play a game while reading a fairy tale. Choose your favorite story, such as Chukovsky’s “Telephone”, select the characters who are involved in the story, and when the time for the “elephant” comes up, pause and show the child the elephant figurine. So repeat with each character, showing the toy and making a verbal pause – focus on the animal.

Aquarium

Help your child learn to say “boule” and “water” by building an aquarium. To do this, you need a transparent container, fill it with water, and take all the necessary materials: sand, seashells, algae grass, pebbles, bath bombs are also suitable. Create your own aquarium with your child, launch plastic fish, accompanying the game with the words “bull” and “water”.

Play with your children, arouse their interest and help them discover the world around them!

Developing games with children: recommendations for 1.5–2 years old

One and a half year old babies are cheerful mischievous people, they are very curious and interested in everything. And, of course, the main way of knowing the world at this age is the game! What to play with the child? How to organize the process so that it is interesting and informative? Our life hacks will help you solve these problems.

Many children who have reached the age of one and a half try to build short sentences, answer simple questions from their parents, point to objects and pictures. Much attention at this age is paid to the development of attention, memory, fine motor skills of hands and speech apparatus. The baby’s vocabulary is constantly updated with new words and concepts, so the mother’s task at this stage is to talk with the child as often as possible, comment and explain all her actions.

It is difficult for babies to sit still, they are not able to concentrate for more than 10-15 minutes. The ideal option is to alternate calm games with physical activity. We offer you the TOP 10 most exciting and educational games for your baby!

1. Shadow lotto

The game consists of several colored basic cards with images of animals, vehicles, plants, etc., depending on the subject. And several of the same black and white cards. Mom takes one “shadow”, names the object that is depicted, and asks the baby to find the picture that matches her. This game develops visual perception and attentiveness, and also enriches the baby’s vocabulary with new concepts.

2. Lacing

The simplest option is a wooden board (in the form of some kind of toy, fruit or vegetable) with two or three small holes through which you need to stretch a tight rope. More complex lacing already has more holes. For the first time, be sure to show the baby how cleverly the rope crawls through the holes, and then let him try on his own. It’s okay if he doesn’t succeed the first time. And if you succeed, then be sure to praise! “Lacing” well develops fine motor skills, logical thinking, and also teaches the child to easily tie shoelaces.

3. Mosaic with stencils

Mosaic is good not only for the development of motor skills, but also for color perception, attention and perseverance. You need to start such games under the supervision of an adult and choose a game with large details. First, the baby learns to stick and pull out mosaic elements, closer to 2 years stencils in the form of geometric shapes are added. The stencil is placed on the mosaic field and filled with elements of the same color or multi-colored. Such games help in remembering the color and shape of the object.

4. Water games

Swimming and splashing are children’s favorite pastimes! And no wonder, because playing with water is useful not only for the development of tactile sensations and fine motor skills. Water calms, gives positive emotions. It is best to organize water procedures in the bathroom, so you do not have to clean the water throughout the apartment.

You can invite your child to become a fisherman for a while and catch a “fish”: small toys need to be fished out of the water with a ladle or a sieve.

Take items from different materials: metal, wood, plastic, rubber, cloth, paper, washcloth. Lowering various objects in turn, the child observes what happens to the objects, whether they sink or not.

Babies love books with reusable flashing pictures in which the pictures change color in warm water. Such “tricks” children can do endlessly and every time they are surprised by multi-colored pictures.

5. Theater on clothespins

An extraordinary show for kids! Before the game, mom needs to do a little preparatory work – cut out the heroes of a fairy tale well known to the baby (for example, “Turnip” or “Gingerbread Man”), put two chairs and pull a rope between them. The theater is ready, the performance begins! The adult begins to tell a fairy tale and invites the child to take turns attaching the heroes to the rope with the help of clothespins. Such a game develops creative imagination, speech, attention, memory, thinking, hand motility, and also instills a love for theater and folklore.

6. Role-playing games

Approximately from the age of 1.5, babies begin to copy the behavior of adults, they become interested in role-playing games. They love to dress the bear for a walk, bathe and spoon-feed the doll. Invite your child to take their favorite toys on a hike. “It’s cold outside. What will the bear wear? That’s right, a hat. What about boots? If you don’t put them on, what will happen to the bear’s paws? That’s right, they’ll freeze.” Name and pronounce each object and action. Such games develop speech well and broaden the horizons of the child.

7. Surprise box

Show your child the box, shake it and say: “Oh, it looks like there is something in the box! Let’s see together!” Let your child open the lid and take out one item at a time. Pay attention to the color, shape, details of the toy. Then ask the child to fold everything back and take out a figurine, for example, red. This game develops fine motor skills of fingers, ingenuity and memory.

8. Train

Invite your little one to travel with soft toys on the train. Don’t have a toy train? It can be easily made from cardboard. Take a few cardboard boxes and fasten them together so that you get a locomotive with wagons. Now let the kid decide which of the toys will become a machinist and take a place in the first box. The rest of the toys will be passengers and will go in “cars”. “The train has gone, choo-choo!” Mom says, and the baby repeats after her. You can come up with different stops (“Chair”, “Bed”, “Sofa”, etc.), at which passengers will change. Such a fun game develops imagination, expands vocabulary and cheers up both mother and child!

9. Ball games

Children love to play ball! Sit on the floor with the baby, opposite each other at a short distance, and roll the ball. You can try throwing the ball or making it bounce on the floor. Try to build a tunnel out of chairs, the child’s task is to roll the ball and not miss. Another game option is bowling. Instead of skittles, plastic bottles or disposable cups are suitable. The kid must shoot down as many “targets” as possible. Such a perky game develops coordination of movements, manual dexterity and attentiveness.

Particular attention should be paid to reading, it is important for the development of the child. Kids love colorful illustrations, books with three-dimensional pictures and retractable elements. And so that your fidget listens to the tale to the end, offer him a delicious drink – Similac Gold 3 milk formula. After all, proper nutrition is very important for the development of a child. Similac Gold 3 has a balanced composition, contains all the microelements and vitamins necessary for a growing child’s body. The mixture contains Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids necessary for brain development, lutein – for eye health. Also, the drink is enriched with pro- and prebiotics, which contribute to the formation of beneficial intestinal microflora.