Activites for a 2 Year Old

Play dough is great for kids of all ages and abilities. (Even grown -ups). At the end, the kids can each take home their creations.

My son's b-day is Aug, but we had an outdoor party and did bubbles, toss the balloon, and paint the concrete with water. Every kid got a paper cup with some water in it and a little paint brush. The water does no harm or makes a mess and the drawings dry up so they can start over. Sidewalk chalk is great too, we just couldn't use it at my Aunt's condo.

Good luck and have fun:)

You can get cars with larger wheels and have the kids roll them in washable paint and roll them on large butcher paper. You have lots of great info! Have fun!

Two-year-olds do not need that much structure. For our twins' 2nd birthday, we just had an Elmo playdate-party at our house - regular toys, plus extra supplies for coloring and such; cupcakes; and easy-as-pie favors - mylar Elmo balloon tied to an Elmo toothbrush (all the Moms told me they appreciated not getting junky or sugary favors). At that age, no big agenda is needed. Put out some age-appropriate balls, ride-on toys, etc. Just let the kids play and have fun...good luck!

Depending on how crafty you are...you could make cars out of cardboard boxes. Paint them on the outside (paint tires too) and paint a "dash board" on the inside. You could even use objects from home to enhance the dash (for buttons to push). Kids love to play in boxes, and would keep them happy & busy. Look on "familyfun.com" - they are loaded with ideas.
Have fun!
M.

Hi S.!
When our friend Ethan turned 2 he had a Cars theme also. Every kid got to "create" their own goody bag. My girlfriend had finger paint on different plates then she let the child run a toy car through the paint and onto the paper bag. It turned out so cute. She had already written the name on the bag and the "tire tracks" made it extra special.
Have a great birthday party!!

I teach 2 to 4 year olds and they love playdoh. I have a big container of cookie cutters $9.99 at like lines n things and they use them and would play for hours especially the boys. Also, find pine cones and get glue with feathers, cotton, even squiggly eyes and let them make people out of them. Get a sheet with a ball and have the kids throw the ball in the air like a parachute(have parents help) kids love this. Make a small obsticle course and make ALL the kids crawl through it you could use big boxes for tunnels. Good luck have fun

What about a game of hot potato. Use a Cars car (as the hot potato) and play the Cars soundtrack, everytime the music stops the person with the car leaves the circle. The last one left gets a prize, play it several times. Also pin the tail on the donkey or you could make your own version like pin the 95 on lightning etc. We had a cars b-day last year. But mine were turning 4. You might be fine with just the art project since they are so young.

Hi S..

You'd be AMAZED how much fun 10 pounds of room temperature cooked spaghetti in a kiddie pool can be. Have fun!

M.

If your son likes Lightning McQueen, then you sould set the movie up so the kids can watch it. And/or you could make that the theme of his party.

You have had many great responses...

Try having a simple singing circle. have each parent hold little one in lap indian style.
do simple clapping songs... itsy bitsy spider, abc song, row row row your boat.... try and locate a parachute from Target. Kids love to crawl under it.

Party favor idea... instead of balloons, purchase balls. You can hang them like balloons from a string on the patio ceiling. Each kid gets their own for a party favor and it's fun to play with after your pudding painting. Usually, you can buy the balls for $1 dollar at the Dollar Tree!!

Fun, easy, cheap

Since your son does not walk yet per his health concerns... what you can do, is put him in an "umbrella stroller", and this way you can wheel him around... and thus, he "can" do certain games. Before my son started walking, we'd put him in our umbrella stroller and my Hubby would wheel him around, with him "pointing" to where he'd want to go, or we'd play "tag" or "chase" with his older sister this way. He had a ton of fun this way, and he could really do things!

Try activities such as: (1) have a pinata & at a height he can reach too (2) play "tag" but rolling him around in his stroller to "catch" the other kids... (3) play pin-the-tail on the Donkey (or pin-the-wheel-on-the-car) and even if sitting in his stroller he can reach (4) play "hide-n-seek" but using simple toys or toy cars that you hide amongst the yard so the kids can find it & you help your son by rolling him around to "find" the toys too. (5) a real fun one which my kids loved at that age, is get a LOT of old newspapers, and crumple it up.... then, put it in a BIG pile or in a huge box, or in the corner of your home/yard somewhere & mound it up, and within this pile "hide" various small(safe) toys... then the kids crawl in and rummage through the "mountain" of newspapers to FIND the toys & they can keep it! All the kids I know really loved this "game" and loved being able to play in the newspaper "mountain".

All the best, I'm sure he will have great fun!
Susan

Blowing bubbles is always fun..you blow and the little ones pop them. You can get blowers that make multiple or huge bubbles. When my oldest son was 2 he loved to put the small matchbox cars on a track and have them race down it. You could set up a track and give each child a small car to race down the track (others could retrieve your son's car).
Singing games might work too if everyone is in a circle sitting..sing "Hookie Pookie...and you clap with all your might, that's what its all about" with arms up swinging them from side to side then put arms and then clapping , head foot into circle. (Children love to clap and sing and the change in words will not bother them). Sing "Itsy bitsy Spider" and the "great big Daddy Spider" while in the circle. That is probably their attention span. Then change to pudding finger paint, bubbles or the cars. Then use cupcakes perhaps with a small cake in the middle with the candles (I always made cupcakes with the cake in the middle and serving the children was much easier).

Have fun and keep it simple.

One additional thing you could do - not time consuming though, is tape a large piece of butcher paper to the wall and write Happy Birthday Spencer on it - then allow his friends and him to color on it. We did that for our daughter's second birthday. They loved it.

if he can crawl, have a "piston cup" race. get a bunch of matchbox or tonka trucks and cars and have the kids race them from one end of the room to the other. make the rule that they have to stay on their knees or they can't race. this way, your son can participate and all the other kids are at his level. my son is also a lightning mcqeen fanatic, and boy i will be grateful when the sequel comes out so i can have a little variety in our movie watching! :) also, you can get butcher paper and draw each of the kids laying down, and then let them color themselves as they want. this also requires no standing and has them at your sons level. have fun.

You have chalk , face painting, bubbles

Cupcake decorating is always fun...we did this at age 3, age 2 might be too young though.

if he's into cars, how about buying a race track & setting that up? the kids can pick their cars & race them w/the little remont controls (they can be sitting while they do it)...and then they get a little prize at the end? you can get cheap prizes at the 99cent store or Big Lots. Then, your boy can keep the race track set at a b-day gift ( but, if he's not into sharing, i wouldn't tell him that until AFTER the party! lol )

Here's a fun, clean activity if you have a large enough area of cement - a couple of buckets of water and enough paintbrushes for each kid and let them "paint" the sidewalk with water. You could also just lay a huge piece of cardboard down and leave out crayons, markers, chalk and playdough and let them create! In my experience the less planned activities the better, young children just want to play! Another good idea is just to have sand available (in a kiddie pool for the sitters, a sand table for the standers) and lots of shovels, cars, animals and cups. Enjoy!

Bubbles.

I have been to parties w/ bubble machines going.

Does your son crawl? Would a fort be a good idea? Usually structured play w/ a 2 yr old isn't a big hit. I'd have balls to play w/. Think about what you son likes, and have a few stations.

A sand box.
Bubbles
art/chalk

Kids will figure it out

You could set up a bubble station with bubbles and different wands. Kids love to blow and catch bubbles. An adult can help. 2 year olds really can't do a lot of "organized" activites. Just set out some toys in the yard and they will have fun playing with them. Keep the party fairly short and you'll be fine.

Hi S.,

How about a jumpy? Even kids who don't walk can crawl around and bounce on it. We've had one for my son's birthday every year since he was one--he loves it, and so do kids of all ages. The jumpy has eliminated the need for a bunch of games--usually I've just had one or two short activities in addition, but those pale in comparison to the active fun of a jumpy.

:-) D.
P.S. My husband didn't walk at 2 years old, either, due to health reasons. His parents were told that he probably wouldn't ever walk without help. Well, many surgeries later--he learned to walk and does it without help. You'd never know he'd ever struggled if you saw him now. Take heart! Miracles happen. :-)

Bury a bunch of cars in the sandbox and have a bunch of sand toys available. The kids can play in the sand and dig up the cars. Also have bubble toys and some water play activities. Maybe fill up a baby pool or a large plastic container with water and have a bunch of cars and dinosaurs and pouring toys for the kids to play with. With 2 year olds, just give them unstructured play stuff. It will be fun!

A ball pool doesn't require walking and is fun for this age. Matchbox car races are fun. Draw start and finish line and have them push the car to the other side at the same time like a race. Or have the parent on the side pushing it back.

I saw someone suggested bubbles. That's a great idea. I had that at my son's second birthday and it was a big hit. You can also have cookie decorating. Have the cookie dough made an dready and cut into form, let the kids have a blast decorating, cook it, and then they can eat them at the party or take them home afterwards.

for my sons 3rd b-day we created a fishing game. You need 2-3 poles. that you can make with a dowl and string. and attached a laundery clip to the end of the string. then you set up some kind of cover that someone is sitting behind the kids cast there line over the blanket and someone on the other side clips a treat or candy or small gift to the string. The kids loved it bc everyone could do it and everyone got a prize

Fill a big tub with beans, sand or rice and hide little treasures in it. I fyou don't mind the kids getting wet, fill another with water. Sidewalk chalk is great too.