Below is a list of our favorite books, toys and activities that my twins enjoyed, at age two! I’ve also included some items I thought they would love, but didn’t much care for… Obviously, every child is different, but these are some of our favorites.
We try to purchase toys and activities that will hold up and be able to pass down to future kids (whether they are ours or not). I personally love Montessori toys and activities and love the open ended play that comes with many of these items. My list below has both Montessori and non-Montessori toys. Some items were purchased, and others were gifted.
Daily Schedule
A while back I wrote a post describing what our daily schedule looked like at age 2. Since then, my boys schedule has changed a bit. Here I’ll quickly share a glimpse at those schedule changes. For a more in depth look at their early 2 year old schedule, visit “Toddlers Daily Schedule- 2 Years Old.”
Early 2 Year Old Schedule:
7:30 Wake
7:30-8:30 Breakfast, get dressed, brush teeth
8:30-9:00 play
9:00-9:45 AM outside play
10:00 snack
10:30 play
11:30 lunch
12:00-2:30/3:00 nap
2:30/3:00 snack
3:00 play- outside or inside depending on weather. Baths every 2-3 days
5:00 prepare dinner- boys watch a show, read, color, or play
5:30/6:00 dinner
7:00 pj’s, get ready for bed, brush teeth
7:30 bed, lights out
Almost 3 Year Old Schedule:
7:30 wake and read stories, play upstairs
8:30 prepare breakfast and eat. Once breakfast is over, my boys play while I clean up.
9:30 outside or house chores (depending on how well they are playing). If I’m able to get a couple of things done and they are playing nicely, great. If not, we go for a walk during this time. We usually pack a snack and eat around 10:30.
10:30 snack, keep playing outside
11:45 lunch and clean up
12:30 upstairs to read and relax before nap
1:00-3:00 nap….. lately they have NOT been falling asleep until 2:00 or later, so this will be changing very soon. EEK!
3:30 afternoon snack then either go back outside, or play indoors.
5:15 dinner prep- boys get TV while I cook.
6:00 dinner, clean up
7:00 prep for bed (pj’s, brush teeth, read stories)
7:30 bed
Favorite Books
The books with an asterisk * are books my kids personally loved. The others are books many of you said your kids loved at age 2!
- “Everyone Poops” by Taro Gomi *
- Hello, World! Series * ( we really enjoyed these!!)
- The Bear Book series by Karma Wilson *
- Blippi books *
- Little Blue Truck series by Alice Schertle *
- Brown Bear and Friends by Bill Martin
- David Shannon books
- “Knuffle Bunny” by Mo Willems
- Don’t Let the Pigeon Book series by Mo Willems
- “My First 100 Trucks” by Roger Priddy *
- ” My First Things That Go” by DK *
- “Little Excavator” by Anna Dewdney *
- Llama Llama series by Anna Dewdney *
- “Go Dogs, Go” by Dr. Seuss *
- “Goodnight Train” by June Sobel *
- “Sleep Train” by Jonathan London *
- “Goodnight Moon” by Margaret Wise Brown
- “Road Builders” by B G Hennessy *
- “Dear Zoo” by Rod Campbell
- “If You Give a Dog a Donut” by Laura Numeroff
- “Quick as a Cricket” by Audrey Wood
- “I Hear a Pickle” by Rachel Isadora
Favorite Toys
- Sorting puzzle
- Farm animals
- Water beads
- Beans, sand, rice…anything in sensory tubs
- Bubbles- they got a bubble blowing lawn mower and its one of their favorite toys!
- Play Dough
- Kinetic sand
- Hape Counting Stacking Toy
- Boon bath pipes and gears
- Picasso Tiles
- Wooden Melissa and Doug hammer toys
- Green Toy trucks or any toy trucks/monster trucks
- Wooden puzzle
- Wooden cylinder puzzle sorter– they got into this in their late 2’s, closer to age 3.
- Mini Dyson– my boys loved these. HOWEVER, they had a hard time taking the pieces apart and putting them back together and became super frustrated. Maybe hold off on these until after 3…like the product says. 😉
Favorite Activities
- Outside water table (this was a HUGE hit over summer once they were able to start standing up!) We found ours at Costco.
- “The Nugget“- this was an investment, but so worth it. My kids use it DAILY!
- Eye Spy game
- Wishbone 3 in 1 bike- We bought these for our boys 2nd birthday and they are about to turn 3 and still use them. We are moving from the 3 wheels to 2 wheels on their 3rd birthday.
- Obstacle courses- indoors and out
- Cooking / Baking
- Coloring and painting
- Sports- soccer, basketball
- build forts
- Remote control electronic car- our neighbor gifted the boys a car to ride in and they absolutely LOVED it. We probably wouldn’t purchase this if it were us, but they sure have loved it.
Toys we bought that barely got used at age 2
- Wobble board- they used this once in a while. We kept it and will try again soon.
- wooden latch board– the age does show 3+ so we will try again. 2 was too young for ours and they weren’t interested. The boards are really heavy!
- Melissa and Doug wooden tool box
- Grimms rainbow stacker- I saw so many Montessori moms posting this stacker so we bought it. Our boys aren’t into it. Maybe as they get older! Keeping it for future.
- Melissa and Doug lacing beads- again, this might be better for older kids. Ours just used the strings to swing around in the air…. they wont be coming out again for a while… #reallife.
Other favorites
- Little Partner Kitchen helpers- I wasn’t sure about getting these. I am SO glad I did! My boys use these ALL the time and they have really been amazing to get them helping in the kitchen! We use them for handwashing at the sink as well. We purchased the natural wooden ones.
- stainless steel utensils , stainless steel cups , Stainless steel plates
- Evenflo Pivot Wagon– this has been awesome for twins! I love it. Its bulky when traveling, but other than that no complaints!
- Diono Radian car seats– we transitioned into these at age 2.
- Eco-Baby Cabinet Locks- these are GREAT for baby-proofing!!!!!!!
Don’t forget to save this to your Pinterest board for later!
I hope you find this helpful! What are/were your favorites for your 2 year old?!
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