The 12 Most Popular Montessori Activities for 2 Year Olds in 2024

by Amy Brown May 6, 2024

Giving your 2 year old an environment that supports building their ability to focus can be as simple as providing a clutter-free play area inside the home and outdoors.

Place a rug or mat to offer a space where an activity can be explored by your two year old. With repeated consistency your child will build a natural passion for wonder, curiosity, exploration, independence, and discovery.

Benefits of Montessori Activities

Two year old's can not only enjoy these Montessori activities, but they are also great for calming down busy kids.

Your child learns to take responsibility in the home
Repetition of the skill helps gain mastery which is great for building concentration
Your child feels like they are contributing to the family
These activities involve sequences and concentration grows as the activity builds
These require a lot of movement which is great for refining fine motor and gross motor skills
Learning news skills means building independence and a feeling of self-reliance
Collaboration creates a connection

Practical Life Activities for Two-Year Old's

Your 2 year old is able to do a lot of things in the home. By this age they are familiar where certain items are stored in the house and try to assist with tasks and chores.

Involving them in these household tasks like putting away silverware to sweeping or to wiping up spills shows them how capable they are.

Giving them practical life tasks may help them feel empowered and more confident as well as less likely to exhibit power-seeking behaviors such as grabbing or throwing.

Here are some things your 2 year old can help with around the house while learning practical life activities.

#1 Cleaning

Time Required: Short
Sensory Skills: Yes
Fine Motor Skills: No
Math Skills: No
Language Development: No
Independence Level: Low to Medium (may require supervision)

Children can help and may enjoy washing and cleaning. If weather permits, the child can wash their bike, trike/balance bike or large toys like dump trucks.

Provide a sponge and some soapy water, then later perhaps another bucket of fresh water for rinsing. The child may also wash vegetables in a colander or in the sink for meal time. Or perhaps wash toys like model animals in the bath, sink or in a bucket of soapy water.

#2 Pegging Work

Time Required: Short
Sensory Skills: Yes
Fine Motor Skills: Yes
Math Skills: No
Language Development: No
Independence Level: Medium

Many children like to do pegging work. You can put some easy-to-use pegs in a small bucket and the child can put the pegs on the edge of a bucket. Children can also use pegs on a child size clothes hanger or peg their art work on a hanging art line.

#3 Color Sorting

Time Required: Short
Sensory Skills: Yes
Fine Motor Skills: Yes
Math Skills: No
Language Development: No
Independence Level: Low to Medium

Use colored cards, colored bowls or colored felt and have your child find objects around your home that match that color. You can also present this in a basket or tray for your child to use or you can go on a color scavenger hunt and find the items to color match with the child.

#4 Folding

Time Required: Short
Sensory Skills: Yes
Fine Motor Skills: Yes
Math Skills: No
Language Development: No
Independence Level: High

We can start to teach folding with easy items like napkins, placemats, small towels, cleaning clothes, pillow cases and move up to folding clothes when old enough. Teach your child to bring the edges together and smooth the folds. Show the child to do this carefully and precisely.

#5 Matching Pairs

Time Required: Short-Medium
Sensory Skills: Yes
Fine Motor Skills: Yes
Math Skills: No
Language Development: No
Independence Level: Low to Medium

Put out pairs for your child to match. For example matching socks from the wash or matching shoes in the closet.

#6 Sorting

Time Required: Short
Sensory Skills: Yes
Fine Motor Skills: Yes
Math Skills: No
Language Development: No
Independence Level: Medium

There are many items around the house children can help sort. They can sort by color or by type of object. This can be hair scrunchies, different types of pasta, art supplies like craft sticks, cloth, buttons or other safe items. The child can sort them into different bowls or containers.

#7 Hand Washing

Time Required: Short
Sensory Skills: Yes
Fine Motor Skills: Yes
Math Skills: No
Language Development: No
Independence Level: Low to Medium

Show your two year old how to use the sink and faucet. Make sure soap is available for them to use when needed. Teach them how to wet their hands but not waste water while lathering.

Handles should be easy to turn for a small child. Make sure they understand how to rinse soap off and dry their hands when done washing.

Outdoor Nature Activities for Two-Year-Old's

Nature offers two year old's different sensory input than what they are exposed to inside the home, so it’s important to develop a routine of doing outside activities.

Outdoor activities can range from soaking up nature such as backyard gardening to just playing outside. Throwing a ball back and forth in the yard allows the practice of gross motor skills and hand-eye coordination for your child.

Some outdoor nature activities to do with a two-year old outdoors are:

#8 Seasonal Activities

Time Required: Short to Medium
Sensory Skills: Yes
Fine Motor Skills: Yes
Math Skills: No
Language Development: No
Independence Level: High (requires supervision)

Depending on the season, you could take a basket to the local park or a nearby outdoor area to collect leaves, rocks, acorns, shells, sticks, stones, and pine cones.

#9 Treasure Hunts

Time Required: Short to Medium
Sensory Skills: Yes
Fine Motor Skills: Yes
Math Skills: No
Language Development: No
Independence Level: High (requires supervision)

Make a list of pictures and work with your child to find all the items on your list. These items could be in your garden, at the park, or any outdoor area you have access to.

#10 Make Outdoor Art

Time Required: Short to Medium
Sensory Skills: Yes
Fine Motor Skills: Yes
Math Skills: No
Language Development: No
Independence Level:Medium (may require supervision)

You can use mud, water, soil, leaves, flowers, seeds, grass and whatever other fun items you can find. Then lay them into patterns, make them into shapes, or work together to make faces or objects.

#11 Cause and Effect

Time Required: Short to Medium
Sensory Skills: Yes
Fine Motor Skills: Yes
Math Skills: No
Language Development: Yes
Independence Level: Low

Find an area of water, like a stream or lake or even a puddle. Show your child what happens when you drop sticks into it. It can be fun to watch what items sink or float.

#12 Outdoor Meals

Time Required: Medium
Sensory Skills: Yes
Fine Motor Skills: Yes
Math Skills: No
Language Development: Yes
Independence Level: Medium (may require supervision)

Inviting your child to take part in preparing a lunch that you will take outside is a great planning exercise. Thinking about what you will need and the sequence of events as a way to challenge your child and include them in contributing to the activity.

If you’re new to Montessori, you don’t need to be an expert for your child to benefit from it. By learning a bit about the basics of Montessori, you can get started raising a confident, curious, and independent toddler today.