Art Projects to Teach Colors to 2 Year Old

A lot can happen between historic period 1 and 2, am I right?! It has got to be i of the most significant years of evolution and modify in a child's life. I don't take research to back that up only just think near it- it'due south crazy how much they learn those first couple of years.

I did a post awhile back on Activity Ideas for 12-18 Calendar month Olds and had a lot of positive feedback come from it. I wanted to build on that a bit further, and put together a handful of activities for an even wider age group of 1-two year olds. Every babe, toddler, and child develops so much at their ain step and in their own way, which makes information technology tough to put an exact age on whatsoever of these activities. For this reason, I felt the wider historic period range could be helpful.

Some of the main areas we can focus on when engaging in learning activities for this age grouping are sensory play, fine motor activities, gross motor activities, and arts/crafts.

Why sensory play?
Sensory play is a toddler's best friend. Yous tin accomplish so much through a sensory activity from simply exposing your picayune ane to a new experience, to edifice vocabulary, to pretend play opportunities. Often times when we hear sensory play we think "messy." It doesn't have to be this way! You lot'll find a couple of ideas here that can exist merely as fun, without likewise much mess. But- making a mess is okay, too. Lay a towel downwardly and cover it.

Why fine motor activities?
"Fine motor skills" are the apply of the pocket-sized muscles in our fingers and hands coordinating with our eyes. Working on these skills, and strengthening these muscles can help with good pencil grip, handwriting, apply of scissors, and several other basic skills that children volition exist expected to principal their starting time year or 2 of uncomplicated school.

Why gross motor activities?
"Gross motor skills" are the skills used to command the larger muscles in our bodies that will eventually be used for walking, running, jumping, etc. Building these muscles are important for obvious reasons but I have also found, equally a former early childhood teacher, that kids acquire, and retrieve things better when they are up and moving, so incorporating gross motor skills into an activity is always an added bonus.

Why craft?
1 give-and-take: creativity. Have you e'er heard of anything negative happening from letting a child exist creative? In the right context that is. ;) When doing arts and crafts, you are exposing children to a new experience, allowing them to create, and usually building fine motor skills, vocabulary, and maybe even providing some sensory play ALL AT THE SAME Time.

I gathered upwardly a bunch of photos I had from activities I had washed with Kade when he was betwixt the ages of 1-ii, and have also collected photos of new activities I've been doing now with Tatum (who is nineteen months).

I hope that these ideas are helpful and inspire you toward easily-on learning experiences that feel like PLAY for your kiddos!

Disclaimer: This postal service includes affiliate links which means I would earn a modest commission if you were to purchase through those links. All opinions are my ain, and I simply link to products that I truly recommend.

"5 Little Ducks" Sensory Play

Balls in a Pool

Materials:
- ball pit balls
- kiddie pool (our plastic i is from Target but I linked a modest, inflatable ane from Amazon that would work just as well!)
- h2o (optional)

We simply so happened to do this exterior in the summer and then our puddle was filled with water, but the activity works only as great indoors without water. Then simple- but fill up the pool with balls (and water if you can be outside) and play! Lots of opportunity to talk about COLORS.

Dish Soap in Water Table

Materials:
- water tabular array
- hose
- dish lather

What toddler doesn't love playing in bubbles?! For this simple, outdoor activity, I bought a bottle of dish soap and squirted it all over the bottom of our water table. Then, I used the hose to fill the table with water and the soap bubbled upwards. Not merely are the bubbles fun to touch, but the dish soap adds a prissy scent to the action, too. A great, easy fashion to fancy upwards your h2o play on a hot, summer mean solar day!

Ice Cube Transfer

Materials:
- big storage container
- two pocket-size storage containers
- large serving spoon or
- measuring cup
- ice
- h2o

This action can exist washed indoors (as pictured higher up) or exterior on a hot day. I used one big tub to concord our ii smaller tubs just as an attempt to contain any spills, only laying out a towel would probably work, too. I put two smaller tubs inside the large tub and filled one with ice cubes (and a little bit of water), and left 1 empty. After modeling the action myself a few times for Tatum, I so gave her a measuring cup (or a large spoon would work) and let her try to scoop up the ice cubes and dump them into the empty tub. Groovy for sensory play while besides working on fine motor skills.

Painting Water ice & Salt

Materials:
- pocket-size storage container
- ice
- tempera paint
- salt
- paint brush

We did this activity exterior simply it could be done within every bit well. We have done just plain ice painting without the common salt (which is besides fun) but the salt adds a fun sensory component. Calculation the common salt gives the paint a little fleck more of a grainy texture on the ice and just makes it a little more than interesting. Add a bunch of water ice cubes to a small storage container, squirt some different colored paints on top of the water ice and then sprinkle salt all over the tiptop. Hand your kiddo a paint brush and off they get!

Frozen Pom Poms

Materials:
- pom poms
- ice cube tray
- silicone baby food storage (also froze poms in this for bigger ice cubes)
- storage container
- muffin tin
- shovel

Nosotros Beloved pom poms. They are past far one of our favorite and most used activity/craft item. This activity could be done within or outside (we've done both) and you could freeze the poms a few different ways.

Using ice cube trays, I've put more than i different color/type/size of pom pom in each slot, and I've as well put only one colour in each slot. The outdoor activity pictured was the i where I froze several different types and sizes into each ice cube slot. The ice melted pretty rapidly as information technology was a hot day, and and so information technology became a poms in water sensory activity. The most heady office was getting to dump the bowl of colorful frozen poms out into the tub. ;)

The indoor activity pictured was where I froze ane color at a time. I added a muffin tin and a spoon/shovel for a color sorting component. We laid out a towel for spills and got busy. :)

Likewise check out THIS Mail service where nosotros melted a big chunk of frozen pom poms!

Painting with Colored Ice/Frozen Paint

Materials:
- silicone baby storage tray/ice cube tray
- colored arts and crafts sticks
- food coloring
- water
- tempera paint
- cardstock paper

This is another neat i to do outside, just tin can likewise be done inside. Yous tin can make the paint two different ways. Pictured hither, I had tried both ways. Yous can put water in the tray with a few drops of nutrient coloring, then stir them up a bit with the stick, or you can but put paint right in the tray.

Whichever you choose, put a stick in each spot (they won't stand up straight so yous would have to just detect a fashion to go them to lean against the side) and freeze them for a few hours or over night. Then, once they're frozen, help your kiddo pop them out of the tray (we like to utilize this silicone tray because they are easier to popular out and so your typical plastic ice cube tray) and let them paint! With either option (the colored water or the paint), the colors turn out so vibrant and it is such a fun sensory experience.

Painting with Water

Materials:
- suction bowl for water (less take chances of spill)
- paint brush
- cookie sheet
- colored construction newspaper
- tape

Yes, it'due south literally that simple. Pick a colored piece of construction newspaper and record it to a cookie sheet (then it doesn't slide effectually and also then yous don't get your table wet). Prove your kiddo how to dip the pigment brush into the water and paint with it on the paper!

Likewise pictured is a little dose of reality for you. Tatum concluded up enjoying splashing in the bowl of water more than painting with it and so it turned into a "make a mess and help clean it up" blazon activity. ;)

Painting on Can Foil

Materials:
- cookie sheet
- tin foil
- paint brush
- tempera pigment
- pocket-sized pigment palette

Another super simple art activity that is also a great sensory experience is to paint on tin can foil. The paint brush slides effectually so smoothly and the shiny texture is enticing to look at. I linked something similar to the little paint palettes that we accept which come up in handy a lot for our activities simply you could ever utilize a small paper plate or something for your paint equally well. Just cover a cookie sheet with can foil and paint away- all-time role of this action is the Piece of cake Make clean UP!

Markers in a Box

Materials:
- large box
- markers

Yes, that'south all you need! Don't throw away that big Amazon box quite yet ;) - this could proceed a little 1 busy while you cook a whole meal, folks. Just give them a saucepan of markers, plop them down within a box and you're good to go.

Crayons & a Coloring Book

Materials:
- colossal crayons
- coloring book

Here's another quick, like shooting fish in a barrel activity that I like to proceed handy/close to the table nosotros eat at. It'southward a practiced one for kiddos who are waiting for their nutrient, or if you merely need something for them to do contained in their high chair for a few minutes. We found this little coloring volume in the dollar department around the holidays this twelvemonth merely a bigger ane would be even better- more surface area and less of a gamble of crayon getting on the table. ;)

Sometimes Tatum even enjoys just flipping through the pages to wait at the pictures, and sometimes she merely enjoys dumping out the crayons and putting them back in the bag. Anything that'south somewhat "new" to them and out of the ordinary from what they typically get to play with should entertain them for a adept chunk of time.

As well, the thick crayons like the ones I linked are GREAT for little hands and any chance they go to grip a utensil is helpful for their fine motor muscles.

Bubble Wrap Sensory Paint

Materials:
- easel paper
- tempera paint
- bubble wrap

Here is some other action that combines fine art with sensory play. What toddler isn't intrigued by bubble wrap?! I save this stuff whenever I come up across it because there are then many fun ways to reuse it. For this activeness, I was going for a "color mixing" vibe just you could just do any colors of paint. Squirt your paint onto the large piece of paper and and so record down a sheet of bubble wrap over it. Yous could use the wrap with the small bubbles or the large bubbles, and depending on what type of experience you desire for your kiddo or which you call back they'd enjoy more, you lot could either tape information technology with the chimera side up or downwardly.

If yous tape it bubble side downwards, you volition likely become more texture to show up on the newspaper when yous un-tape information technology. If you lot record it bubble side up, you will get more than of that sensory experience because I imagine the bubbling would popular more easily. I allow Kade use his feet to walk along the bubble wrap/squish the paint around, and also his hands/fingers. Aside from the occasional paint oozing out the sides, this activity was fairly "mess-gratuitous" which is always an added bonus.

Bugs in Kinetic Sand

Materials:
- bugs
- also linking these bugs because it's a bang-up little game and lends itself to color sorting, too ;)
- kinetic sand
- baking pan or storage container
- magnifying glass
- "Backyard Bugs" past Jill McDonald

We love any chance we get to comprise some literacy into our activities and this was an easy i to practice that with. "Backyard Bugs" is a cute board book nosotros take that features different common bugs with fun illustrations. Kinetic sand is super popular right at present and tin can be found even at Target- it's the All-time. Information technology'southward not existent messy and has such a dissimilar texture than regular sand. This action allows a lot of pretend play, opportunities for building vocabulary and is a fun sensory feel.

Want more creepy crawly activity ideas? Check out this Issues Activities for Toddlers post!

Colored Beans Sensory Play

Materials:
- dried white kidney beans
- distilled white vinegar
- food coloring
- small storage container or baking pan
- spoons, bowls/sensory play tools

These dried, colorful beans are Then fun to play with. Don't they look inviting? I'm pretty sure these were white kidney beans to beginning with and I dyed them using vinegar and food coloring. Just put well-nigh a loving cup of beans into a ziploc baggie, along with about two tablespoons of vinegar and a generous corporeality of nutrient coloring. Seal the baggie and mix it all up until the food coloring is covering all the beans. Lay them out to dry out on a cookie sheet for a couple hours and then they volition be set up to play! I did iv unlike colors pictured here so I did that process four separate times each with a dissimilar color food coloring. The colors turned out great and this kept Kade super busy!

Scooping Dried Beans

Materials:
- different types of dried beans
- measuring spoons
- small containers/cups
- ice cube tray/muffin tin
- pocket-size storage container or baking pan

No color dying necessary for this action. And so much to explore in terms of textures, sounds, you lot proper name information technology. I used three dissimilar types of dried beans that I found at the store and just poured a little of each in a unlike container. There was no rhyme or reason to this activity other than to only allow Kade have fun mixing, scooping, dumping, pouring, exploring, and playing. Sometimes the best activities are the ones where we permit THEM come up up with the rules. It'due south so fun to see the different ways they decide to play when nosotros only prepare the materials in front of them.

You ameliorate believe all these beans ended up in that pan all mixed together past the terminate. Which is FINE! That's how he wanted to play and nosotros rolled with it. :)

If you like this idea, cheque out this Farm-Themed Invitation to Play with stale beans and an intro to sequencing!

Pom Pom Sensory Bin

Materials:
- pom poms
- sparkly pom poms
- modest storage container
- spoons
- minor containers to fill

Super quick and easy for this 1- dumped all of our poms into a small bin, set out some spoons and bowls and that'southward it! Tatum loves these poms equally much as Kade did and sometimes when you're in a pinch for some quick entertainment, simple is best. Later on I ended upwardly setting out a muffin tin for some sorting opportunities also (which was generally for large brother but little ones learn so much by watching their older siblings)!

Don't miss this post most Melting Frozen Pom Poms!

Poms in Water

Materials:
- pom poms
- small storage container
- water
- measuring cups/shovels etc.

Simply add water to the last action and you have this activity! Nosotros used measuring cups that are good for scooping for this activity but spoons or shovels would be fun too. Wet poms are great considering they become super squishy. The best office is when information technology's time to clean upwardly, just drain the water, take a handful of poms at a time and squeeze them out as best you tin can, then lay them out on a towel to dry and they come back to life for you to keep to use as regular poms, or to use in water all again. :) This activity is one of our faves!

Dried Pasta Sensory Play

Materials:
- rigatoni pasta
- small storage container
- straws
- spoons
- pocket-sized bowls/cups/containers

More pretend play happening here- kids were pretending to make "soup." ;) Along with pretend play, yous become sensory play and also fine motor if y'all use rigatoni. Tatum like to stick these noodles on her little fingers and if you happen to have a spoon with a hole in the centre, these fit perfectly through the hole. We used some spoons we have from our Melissa & Doug kitchen utensil set up and they worked perfectly for this. I love using those for sensory play!

I dyed the pasta a few years agone and we pull these out effectually Valentine'southward 24-hour interval merely you definitely do not need to do that. I dyed them the same style I dyed the dried beans, and the same fashion I dye rice (virtually a cup of the pasta with nigh 2 tablespoons of vinegar, and a generous corporeality of nutrient coloring all mixed together in a large ziploc until the dye is covering all the pasta- lay out to dry for a few hours earlier playing).

You lot can use unlike types of dried pasta too- rotini would be fun if you want a corkscrew vibe, or you could utilize elbow macaroni, bow tie, or honestly whatever you lot accept on hand!

Dried Pasta Threading

Materials:
- this toy

This was a Christmas gift this year and has been peachy for both of my kiddos (nineteen months and 3.5). So many skills covered from fine motor to color sorting to counting. We also sometimes build with the little pieces, brand patterns with them or run across how loftier we can stack them. Dearest a skillful, open-concluded toy like this one!

Hair Ties on a Straw

Materials:
- small hair ties
- cup with a harbinger

There are a few different means yous could alter this activeness. I used the little toy loving cup that came with this Melissa & Doug blender (which my kids love, btw), only you could employ whatsoever regular-sized tumbler. You could also stick a plastic straw in some play doh to get it to stand up rather than using a cup. Tatum loves this ane and it's a bully style to work on fine motor skills!

Popsicle Stick Driblet

Materials:
- empty puffs container
- scissors
- craft sticks

I always attempt to save containers like this just in case I come beyond an activeness thought like this ane. This specific container worked well considering the chapeau was sparse and flimsy enough that I could fold information technology in one-half to make the slit the size I wanted. I peeled the wrapper off the container to avoid any defoliation ;) and grabbed a handful of arts and crafts sticks. We go on this one out quite a bit and Tatum ever goes dorsum to it. Another great fine motor activity!

Balls on TP Rolls

Materials:
- TP rolls
- pocket-size plastic balls

Like I said, I'm ever saving things that other people would likely consider to be "garbage." Toilet paper rolls are 1 of those things. This was a super unproblematic activity that took v seconds to fix. I used balls from one of our ball popper toys (we have two for some reason?) which worked corking only any small-ish balls would be fine! This works on hand-heart coordination, balance, and fine motor skills. Nosotros also talked a lot about the colour of each ball every bit she stacked them on the TP coil.

Assurance in a Box Color Sort

Materials:
- cardboard box
- ball pit balls
- colored markers (these are my all-fourth dimension favorite markers)
- box cutter

Another reason to save a paper-thin box! Use a box cutter (not a steak knife like I did- can't believe I still take all my fingers) to make holes in the top of a box, and then outline them each with a different colored marker. Put some brawl pit balls in a handbasket and start sorting! Kade somewhen used this box to sort many of his toys, non just the balls. He would sort his trucks/cars based on their colour, his Daniel Tiger figures based on their wear, his play nutrient, etc.

Poms in an Egg Carton Color Sort

Materials:
- egg carton
- small pom poms
- markers
- something to poke holes (pen or pencil would work fine)

Some other reason to save some garbage. ;) Empty egg cartons can come up in handy for many activities and here'southward 1 of them! Gather up some small pom poms and utilize markers to color code the bottom of the egg carton based on the colored poms you have. Poke holes in the bottom of the egg carton using a pen or a pencil or whatsoever you have handy. Sort the colored poms into the correct hole, open it up, dump them out and echo! Works on the obvious colour sorting, and also fine motor skills.

Poms on Squigz

Materials:
- squigz (another highly recommended open-ended toy)
- pom poms

If yous haven't heard of these things you have to check them out. We Dear them in our house! They are so much fun to stick together and build with, to stick on windows, tables, you proper noun it. Highly recommend. Haven't washed this yet merely accept also heard they are a great restaurant toy! For this specific activeness, I stuck some of them to our window and had Tatum balance pom poms on them. You could also have them start trying to match colors. This activeness works on hand-center coordination, balance, fine motor skills, and tin can besides piece of work on colour identification/matching.

Also pictured- stuck the squigz to the demote for our kitchen table and played standing up.

Sensory Gluey Wall

Materials:
- contact newspaper
- easel paper
- whatever you lot can detect! merely hither'southward some of the things we used:
- feathers
- tissue newspaper
- piping cleaners (regular ones piece of work dandy but I'g linking the giant, extra furry ones considering they are different and so fun!)
- cream stickers
- foam shapes -we have these -they are a bath toy simply would exist peachy for this, too!

We did this around Valentine's Day so information technology was a festive "decorate the centre" situation but it doesn't have to be that at all. Yous don't need to draw anything on the paper and could just make information technology a patently onetime sticky wall. Assemble up whatever you lot tin notice that has whatever sort of texture to it that you think would stick to the contact paper and let your little one have at it. I linked the materials that we used but get creative!

Cheerios Play Book

Materials:
- "The Cheerios Play Book"
- Cheerios

We LOVE this book! Such an like shooting fish in a barrel mode to turn snack time into a hands-on learning activity. Just like the cover of the book says, you lot simply fill up in the missing cheerios- seriously so bright. Great fine motor activity!

Mini Board Books

Materials:
- mini board books: we have these mother goose books and these eric carl books

I talked well-nigh these in my activities for 12-xviii month olds post and I'm bringing them back for this post likewise. They are merely then perfect for little hands and the carrying case is fun for them too. Both kids have loved opening and endmost, taking books out and putting dorsum in, and of course looking at/reading all the little books! At that place are several different versions of these but I linked the two that we have.

Click hither for more than favorite lath volume recommendations!

Puzzles in Rice

Materials:
- dried sensory material (rice, beans, dried pasta, etc.)
- pocket-sized storage container
- puzzle (pictured)
- "Numbers" (pictured)
- "Count a Block" (pictured)

Puzzles in rice (or any dried sensory material) is some other go-to for us. We used this mudpuppy number puzzle here just you could utilize whatsoever puzzle yous have! We particularly love the Melissa & Doug chunky puzzles. We were focused on numbers for this specific activity and so I incorporated ii board books books we accept and bask that are focused on numbers and counting. Hide the puzzle pieces in the sensory bin and have your kiddo dig through to find the pieces and complete the puzzle. :)

I made this rainbow rice by putting a cup or 2 of rice in a ziploc bag with 2-three tablespoons of distilled white vinegar and adding a generous amount of food coloring. I and then seal the bag close and mix up the rice until the dye covers the rice, and lay it out to dry out on a cookie sheet for a few hours earlier playing. I echo these steps each time for each unlike color and then mix them all together (the all-time part)!

Like this thought? Check out this similar Magnetic Shapes In Rainbow Rice activeness!

Play Doh: Tools & Textures

Materials:
- play doh
- play doh tools

I know, I know, it'southward not rocket scientific discipline merely I'm just throwing all our become-to activities/ideas in ane identify. We bust out the play doh a LOT in our house and both my kids dearest it. At that place are tons of fun means to play with play doh but for now, in this mail, we're keeping information technology totally simple. We take a large ziploc full of fun play doh "tools" and we love making different textures/patterns to feel and explore.

Click here for FREE PRINTABLE Play Doh Shape Mats!

Pouch Lids in a Salad Spinner

Materials:
- salad spinner
- pouch lids

Salad spinners make a dandy toy for toddlers- even without putting anything in them. Kade used to honey playing with our salad spinner when he was this age and just idea it was and so fun to button on it and watch information technology spin. I have a decent sized collection of pouch lids saved up to employ for different activities and they were perfect for this. You could throw pom poms in there, or colorful plastic balls, or probably even feathers. I thought the caps would make more noise when spinning only it ended upwardly beingness more about watching the colors spin around. Tatum was super into information technology and loved watching them come up to a cease.

Pouch Lid Color Sort

Materials:
- 3 department sorting tray (I think I found our blue one in a Targe dollar department once merely these are the aforementioned idea!)

To extend the final activity, I added this trivial sorting tray (don't think it's technically called that and is likely used for serving food but this is what nosotros use it for) and assisted in some colour sorting!

Magnatile Color Sort

Materials:
- magnatiles (we have magnatile make but I linked these because they are half the toll and I've heard they are just every bit skilful!)

Another highly, highly, HIGHLY recommended open-ended toy for literally every age (I fifty-fifty relish playing with them). We absolutely dearest these and they tin can exist used for so many dissimilar learning activities, too! To keep things dainty and simple at this age, I set up out 2 of the bigger squares in ii different colors, and then gave Tatum a stack of the smaller squares in those 2 colors. We worked together to stack the minor squares onto the bigger square that matched their color.

Gross Motor Shape Jump

Materials:
- sidewalk chalk
- "Friendshape"

We did this activity outdoors with sidewalk chalk, but yous could cut shapes out of construction newspaper (or only draw them) and do information technology indoors, also! You could also just do it with colors (colored circles if using sidewalk chalk and just different colored paper if indoors). The idea was that I would call out a shape, and Kade would have to find information technology and spring on it. When kiddos are up and moving around, their brains are more active and they're more probable to retain what they're learning! We had checked out the volume, "Friendshape" from the library that calendar week so we read that 1 earlier doing this action.

Squigz on a Window

Materials:
- squigz
- window

More squigz! I told you we love these things. My hubby actually discovered this… y'all tin can throw the squigz at a window and get them to stick. I didn't believe him at get-go considering it is definitely non easy merely if you lot continue at information technology, he's correct, they definitely volition stick. Kade at iii.5 can even throw them and get them to stick. While we all throw them at the window, Tatum, at 19 months has the job of pulling them off. She also enjoys just sticking them to the window herself and pulling them off again. This is bang-up for edifice fine motor skills considering you sometimes take to pull pretty hard to get them to come up off. Plus, they are working on the mitt-eye coordination to become them to stick upwardly at that place in the first identify.

I promise yous found some fun ideas and are leaving feeling inspired and excited to endeavour some of them with your littles! Please feel free to annotate with your favorites, or if y'all accept any questions on whatever activity that I shared. Also please experience free to share, share, share with anyone else yous know who has little ones that may enjoy these activities. Sharing an additional pinterest paradigm down hither, as well, in case yous want to pin and come up back later. ;) Thank you for visiting and I promise to come across you back once more shortly!

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Source: https://ohheyletsplay.com/home/activities-for-1-2-year-old-toddlers

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