Activities for 2-3 Year Olds
Looking for some fun, meaningful, hands-on, easy to set-up activities for your 2-3 year old(s)? This post is a great place to start! I titled the post for 2-3 year olds but you know your kiddos best and what they are/aren’t ready for. All activities should be done with adult supervision!
In this post you’ll find activities to help little ones practice shapes, number identification, counting, letters, fine motor skills, gross motor skills, pre-writing, creativity, imaginary play, social skills, problem-solving, and more. Materials needed to prep and complete each activity are included as well as how to set them up, what kiddos will be doing, and what they will be learning.
I hope that you find inspiration in this post and are encouraged to try a new activity with your little ones! If you do try any activities from this post, or a variation of them, be sure to tag me on Instagram (@ohheyletsplay) so I can see- it makes my day!
Disclaimer: This post includes affiliate links which means I would earn a small commission if you were to purchase through those links. All opinions are my own, and I only link to products that I truly recommend.
Baby Dots of Glue
Materials:
- colored paper
- scissors
- small bowl
- white paper
- tape
- sharpie
- liquid glue
Prep:
Use a black sharpie or marker to make little dots on a white piece of paper. Cut little squares out of different colored paper and put in a bowl (if able, you could have your little one help cut the paper up). Tape the white piece of paper to a table (so that it doesn’t move around while kiddos are working), and set out the bowl of colored squares, and the Elmer’s glue.
What will they do?
Use the Elmer’s glue to practice putting “baby dots” of glue covering each black dot on the white paper. Then pick a colored square to stick onto each glue dot.
What are they learning?
- that when it comes to liquid glue, “a dot is A LOT” (that they don’t need to squeeze the whole bottle out each time they are gluing something)- trust me, as a former preschool/kindergarten teacher, this is a VERY important skill for them to learn ;)
- fine motor skills
- hand-eye coordination
- self-control ;)
Do-a-Dot Trace
Materials:
- white paper
- marker
- do-a-dot markers
Prep:
Write your child’s name, letters, numbers, shapes, or whatever skill it is you are wanting to work on with them, on a piece of white paper. Set out do-a-dot markers and tape the paper to the table so it doesn’t move around while your little one is working.
What will they do?
Use do-a-dot markers to dot on top of the letters in their name (or whatever skill you chose to work on).
What are they learning?
- exposure to letters (or shapes, numbers, etc.)
- fine motor skills
- hand-eye coordination
Q-Tip Painting/Pre-Writing
Materials:
- q-tips
- white paper
- pen/pencil/marker
- washable paint
Prep:
Grab a piece of white paper and write out what skill you want your toddler to practice. You could choose to just do straight or different types of lines (curved, zig zag, etc.), have them practice drawing shapes, letters, their name, or numbers. Put a small amount of paint on a paper plate or in some type of small cup or container, and set out a q-tip. You could also give the option for different colored paints and in that case you would want to provide more q-tips.
What will they do?
Dip the q-tip in paint and use it to trace over the letters, shapes, etc.
What will they learn?
- fine motor skills
- hand-eye coordination
- letter recognition/formation
- pre-writing skills
Painting with Construction Trucks
Materials:
- white paper roll
- brown paint
- construction trucks
Prep:
Roll out a long piece of white paper and put blobs of brown paint all over it. Set out some construction trucks.
What will they do?
Drive the construction trucks through the brown paint to make “muddy” tracks.
What will they learn?
- imaginative play
- hand-eye coordination
- fine motor skills
- gross motor skills (large muscle control)
Wash the Trucks
Materials:
- small tub
- dish soap
- construction trucks covered in paint (see previous activity)
- sponge
- washcloth/hand towel
Prep:
Fill a small tub with water and dish soap (be sure to turn the water on high when filling the tub so that the dish soap bubbles up). Toss in some dirty trucks (see previous painting with trucks activity) and a sponge, and set out a small towel or wash cloth for drying.
What will they do?
Use the sponge and soapy water to wash the paint off the trucks, then dry them off.
What will they learn?
- imaginative play
- fine motor and gross motor skills
- life skills (washing/cleaning)
- making real life connections
- problem-solving skills
Dried Beans & Construction Trucks
Materials:
- small bin
- dried black beans
- construction trucks
Prep:
Pour bag of dried black beans into a small bin and place construction trucks on top.
What will they do?
Drive construction trucks around in the black beans and pretend play by filling, dumping, scooping, and bulldozing.
What will they learn?
- imaginative play
- social skills
- fine motor and gross motor skills
- language development
Magnetic Shapes in Rainbow Rice
Materials:
- shape magnets
- small bin
- colored rice (how-to)
- white paper
- colored markers
Prep:
Dye white rice (details on how to do this can be found in this blog post). Pour colored rice into a clear plastic bin. Trace each shape magnet onto a large, white piece of paper (you can choose to use coordinating colored markers to trace each shape, or not, depending on how challenging you want the activity to be). I wrote the names of each shape as well but this part isn’t necessary. Place the magnetic shapes inside the bin with the colored rice and pin/tape the large, white paper up to the fridge or another magnetic surface.
What will they do?
Sift through the colored rice to find the magnetic shapes, identify them, and find the matching shapes on the white piece of paper.
What will they learn?
- names of shapes
- shape recognition
- colors
- exposure to letters/shape words (if you choose to write out the names)
- problem-solving skills
- fine motor skills
- language development
- hand-eye coordination
- spacial awareness
Puzzles in Rice
Materials:
- storage bin
- puzzle
- colored rice (how-to)
Prep:
Dye white rice (details on how to do this can be found in this blog post). Pour colored rice into a clear plastic bin. Place puzzle pieces in the bin with the rice (I also threw in some magnetic numbers just for fun since we were working on numbers and counting). Place the rest of the puzzle on the floor next to the bin.
What will they do?
Sift through the rice to find the puzzle pieces that complete the puzzle. We also read some numbers/counting books that went along with our puzzle.
What will they learn?
- number identification
- counting/one-to-one correspondence
- problem-solving skills
- fine motor skills
- language development
- hand-eye coordination
- spacial awareness
Pigs in Mud Sensory Play
Materials:
- small bin
- large plastic storage bin
- pigs
- dish soap
- shaving cream
- brown paint
- small plastic bowl/container
- sponge
- washcloth/hand towel
Prep:
Fill a small tub with water, dish soap, and a sponge (be sure to turn the water on high when filling the tub so that the dish soap bubbles up). Fill another small, plastic container with shaving cream and mix in a decent amount of brown paint. Place the tub of soapy water and the small container of shaving cream/brown paint both inside the large storage bin with some little pigs. Keep a small washcloth or hand towel close by for drying the wet, clean pigs.
What will they do?
Pretend play that the pigs are getting messy in mud and then rinse/wash them clean and dry them off. Play again!
What will they learn?
- imaginative play
- social skills
- language development
- life skills
- making real life connections
- fine motor and gross motor skills
Dish Soap in Water Table
Materials:
- water table (ours is discontinued but this one seems similar)
- dish soap
- hose
Prep:
Dump a bottle of dish soap (yep a whole bottle- buy the cheap stuff!) into your water table and then use a hose to fill it so that it bubbles up like crazy.
What will they do?
Play in the bubbly water! Scoop, dump, pour, repeat.
What will they learn?
- fine motor and gross motor skills (scooping, dumping, and pouring)
- language development
- sensory exploration
Frozen Pom Poms
Materials:
- ice cube tray
- pom poms
- clear plastic storage bin
- muffin tin
- scoops/shovels
Prep:
The night before, or in the morning, fill an ice cube tray with pom poms and water (in each section), and then place in the freezer for the next day or later that afternoon. Once poms are frozen, pop the ice cubes out into a storage bin, and set out some scoops, shovels, and a muffin tin for sorting.
What will they do?
Scoop and dump frozen pom poms and sort them into different sections of a muffin tin, or transfer the colorful cubes into a separate bowl or container. You can also add a small bowl of warm water with pipettes/eye droppers, or plastic squeeze bottles/spray bottles filled with warm water to try and “rescue” the pom poms (or defrost the ice cubes).
What will they learn?
- fine motor and gross motor skills
- sorting
- color identification
- language development
- pretend play
- social skills
- sensory exploration
Pouch Lid Sensory Play
Materials:
- pouch lids
- plastic bin
- ice cube tray
- scoops
Prep:
Pour a bunch of recycled pouch lids into a bin and set out an ice cube tray and some scoops.
What will they do?
Scoop, pour, dump, transfer, and sort pouch lids.
What will they learn?
- fine motor skills
- gross motor skills
- hand-eye coordination
- sorting
- colors
- counting
Seasonal Play Doh Tray
Materials:
- sectioned tray
- gems
- play doh
- mini star erasers (can’t find a link to any mini star erasers but I’ve also used these and just picked out the colors I wanted)
- plastic straws
Prep:
Place seasonal colored play doh in a ball in the center of a sectioned tray. Place seasonal items each in a different section surrounding the play doh in the center.
What will they do?
Get creative! Play doh trays are the best because they simply invite children to play, discover, explore, create, imagine, and learn. Completely open-ended. Sit back and watch what they decide to do with the materials you set out for them. :)
What will they learn?
- fine motor skills
- imaginative play
- language development
- social skills
- creativity
Materials:
- mini erasers
- plastic leaves vase filler
- play doh
- plastic spiders
Materials:
- heart-shaped cookie cutters
- play doh
- mini erasers (the ones pictured were from Target but these are cute, too)
- heart gems
- tiny heart containers (I think these were from the Dollar Tree!)
Materials:
- play doh
- spring cookie cutters
- mini erasers
- plastic eggs
- buttons
Rainbow Button Sort
Materials:
- play doh
- rainbow buttons
Prep:
Set out different colored play doh depending on what color buttons you have (we used the colors of the rainbow to go with our rainbow colored buttons). Put buttons out in a small container.
What will they do:
Sort various sizes and shapes of buttons by their color. Buttons can be stood up in the play doh, or be pressed in laying flat.
What will they learn:
- color identification
- sorting by color
- problem solving
- shapes and sizes
- fine motor skills
Play Doh Shape Mats
Materials:
- free printable shape mats
- laminator and laminating sheets OR
- plastic sheet covers
- play doh
- play doh tools (roller/scissors) - optional
- dry erase marker - optional
Prep:
Print and laminate (or slide into plastic sheet covers) the play doh shape mats. Set them out with your play doh. For younger kiddos, help get the process started by rolling play doh into “snakes” that can be used to form shapes. I also provided a play doh rolling pin and some play doh scissors.
What will they do?
Use the play doh to make/build the shapes on the different mats. The mats also include the different shape words at the bottom that can be traced with dry erase marker for kiddos who are ready to do so.
What will they learn?
- 2-d shapes
- attributes of shapes
- shape recognition
- fine motor skills
- pre-writing skills (if applicable)
Letters with Play Doh Snakes
Materials:
- magnetic letters
- play doh
- metal cookie sheet
Prep:
Place magnetic letters (we used only uppercase letters that have straight lines as these are typically the first ones kiddos will learn to write) in a small container and set out with play doh on a metal cookie sheet.
What will they do?
Pick a letter and place it on the tray. Start by rolling play doh into snakes, and then use the snakes to form each chosen letter.
What will they learn?
- fine motor skills
- letter recognition
- letter formation
- early literacy skills
- critical thinking/problem-solving skills
Pre-Writing with Diggers
Materials:
- Noisy Diggers (or any construction truck book)
- Small dry erase board (or paper)
- Dry erase marker (or pencil, crayon, marker, etc)
Prep:
Use either a piece of paper and markers, or a small white board with dry erase markers to draw diggers on the left, a road (with a dotted line in the middle) going straight across, and piles of dirt on the right hand side (the other side of the road. Set out the book “Noisy Diggers,” along with the appropriate writing utensil.
What will they do?
Read “Noisy Diggers” for context, and then use a writing utensil to practice drawing straight lines from left to right. Explain that they are helping the diggers get across the road to the piles of dirt- their utensil represents the digger driving to the dirt.
What will they learn?
- pre-writing skills
- left to right progression
- early literacy skills
- tracing
- fine motor skills
- language development
Hidden Letters in Colored Rice
Materials:
- cookie sheet
- colored rice (how-to)
- colored paper
- sharpie
- marker
- small piece of paper or note card
- pen
- paintbrush
Prep:
Write letters (uppercase or lowercase) on a colored piece of paper in random order, and tape the paper down to a cookie sheet. Pour colored rice over the top of the paper- just enough to cover it! Write the letters in ABC order on a small piece of paper and set out a marker to use for crossing off, and a paintbrush to use for finding letters.
What will they do?
Use the paintbrush to move the rice around on the tray looking for letters. Once a letter is found, identify it, say the sound (optional), and use the marker to find and cross the letter off on the small piece of paper. You could also choose to work on numbers, shapes, or sight words for older kiddos.
What will they learn?
- fine motor skills
- pre-writing skills
- letter identification
- letter sounds
Wooden Pegs Fine Motor Toy
Materials:
- wooden peg shape sorting toy
Prep:
No prep needed for this activity other than to set the toy out!
What will they do?
Take the puzzle pieces off the pegs, and then try to solve the puzzle to fit them back on.
What will they learn?
- fine motor skills
- counting
- problem-solving skills
- spatial awareness
- hand-eye coordination
Straws and Pipe Cleaners
Materials:
- plastic straws
- pipe cleaners
Prep:
Set out plastic straws and pipe cleaners that are similar in color.
What will they do?
Slide the pipe cleaners into the matching colored straws.
What will they learn?
- color identification
- color matching
- fine motor skills
- hand-eye coordination
Pom Poms on Craft Sticks
Materials:
- craft sticks
- dot stickers
- pom poms
Prep:
Place dot stickers on craft sticks (I had to use packaging tape to secure them because I was using the removable kind and they weren’t staying put). Set out the correct number of coordinating colored pom poms for matching.
What will they do?
Place the matching colored pom poms on top of each colored dot along each craft stick.
What will they learn?
- color identification
- color matching
- patterns
- fine motor skills
- hand-eye coordination
Patterns with Lacing Beads
Materials:
- Melissa & Doug lacing beads
- paper
- markers
Prep:
Use markers to draw a few rows of patterns using colors that match the lacing beads. Set out the lacing beads.
What will they do?
Use the lacing beads to thread along the string and match the different draw out patterns. This activity could also be done using pony beads and pipe cleaners.
What will they learn?
- color identification
- color matching
- patterns
- fine motor skills
- following directions
Lego Tower Match
Materials:
- free printable lego tower cards
- legos
Prep:
Print out the lego tower cards and laminate them (optional). Set out legos with matching colors. If you have legos that don’t match the colors in the printable, you could easily draw your own on index cards using the colors you need!
What will they do?
Use the legos to build towers that match the towers on the cards.
What will they learn?
- color identification
- color matching
- following directions
- fine motor skills
- hand-eye coordination
- problem-solving skills
Learning with Spoons
Materials:
- clear plastic spoons
- white plastic spoons
- black sharpie
Prep:
Choose a skill to focus on (shapes, letters in a name, letters, numbers, or numbers with number amounts). Use a black sharpie to write the skill both on the white spoons, and on the clear spoons.
What will they do?
Place the clear spoons on top of the white spoons with the matching skill written on it (ex: clear spoon with a triangle on top of the white spoon with a triangle).
What will they learn?
- whatever skill you choose (in this case- number sense, counting, number identification)
- fine motor skills
- matching
- hand-eye coordination
Raindrop Count and Cover
Materials:
- free raindrop counting printable
- something to cover numbers with- we used pouch lids but you could also use colored bingo chips, pom poms, mini erasers, or do-a-dot markers if you don’t laminate them
Prep:
Print and cut apart the raindrop counting cards. Laminate them if you want them to be reusable. Set out something to cover numbers with.
What will they do?
Count the number of raindrops under each umbrella and use a small object to identify and cover the correct number on each card.
What will they learn?
- counting/number sense
- one-to-one correspondence (saying/identifying/pointing to one item per number)
- number identification
Felt Squares on Crazy Straws
Materials:
- crazy straws
- colored felt
- scissors
Prep:
Cut felt squares, then fold them in half and cut a small slit in the middle. Set out felt squares with crazy straws (in matching colors if possible).
What will they do?
Match the colored felt squares to the colored crazy straws (if applicable), and thread the squares onto the straws. If you wanted to focus on counting, you could place each crazy straw by a post-it note with a number written on it and have them thread the correct number of felt squares on each straw.
What will they learn?
- color matching
- color identification
- number sense/counting
- fine motor skills
- hand-eye coordination
Play Doh Shape Puzzle
Materials:
- play doh
- small shape cookie cutters
Prep:
Roll play doh out flat and then use cookie cutters to cut out shapes.
What will they do?
Place the cut-out shapes back into the empty spaces like a puzzle.
What will they learn?
- problem-solving skills
- spatial awareness
- hand-eye coordination
- fine motor skills
- shape recognition
DIY Magnetic Puzzle
Materials:
- magnets
- paper
- sharpie
- metal cookie sheet
- plastic sheet cover or laminator
Prep:
Trace magnet shapes onto a piece of paper, and slide into a plastic sheet cover or laminate. Tape sheet down to a metal cookie sheet and set out matching magnets.
What will they do?
Match the magnets to the correct spot on the cookie tray.
What will they learn?
- problem-solving skills
- spatial awareness
- fine motor skills
- hand-eye coordination
- matching
Colored Block Puzzle
Materials:
- large white paper
- colored wooden blocks
- colored markers
Prep:
Use colored markers to trace around different shaped blocks on a large piece of paper.
What will they do?
Match the blocks to the correct spots on the piece of paper. To extend or enrich the activity, you could write letters (uppercase/lowercase) on the shapes on the paper, and use masking tape to write the coordinating letters on the blocks that match. This way, not only are they matching the shapes, but they are also working on letter identification.
What will they learn?
- colors and shapes
- matching
- spatial awareness
- hand-eye coordination
- problem-solving skills
- fine motor skills
Clothespins on Colored Craft Sticks
Materials:
- colored craft sticks
- wooden clothespins OR colored clothespins
- markers
Prep:
If you don’t have colored clothespins to set out, use markers to color the wooden clothespins you have and set them out with your colored craft sticks.
What will they do?
Squeeze and clip the clothespins to the matching colored craft sticks.
What will they learn?
- color identification
- color matching
- fine motor skills
Cheerio Stacking
Materials:
- 6 cup muffin tin
- play doh
- toothpicks
- cheerios
Prep:
Place a handful of cheerios in two of the muffin cups, then place a ball of play doh in each of the other cups. Stick toothpicks in the play doh.
What will they do?
Thread the cheerios onto the toothpick.
What will they learn?
- fine motor skills
- hand-eye coordination
Dot Sticker Color Match
Materials:
- dot stickers
- piece of paper
- do-a-dot markers
Prep:
Use do-a-dot markers to make different colored dots all over a piece of white paper. Set out matching colored dot stickers.
What will they do?
Peel the dot stickers and place them on the matching colored dots.
What will they learn?
- color identification
- color matching
- fine motor skills
- spatial awareness
- hand-eye coordination
Craft Stick Color Match
Materials:
- large piece of white paper
- colored craft sticks
- markers
Prep:
Use markers to trace craft sticks in different colors all over the large piece of paper.
What will they do?
Match the craft sticks to their correct colored spot on the piece of paper like a puzzle.
What will they learn?
- color identification
- color matching
- spatial awareness
- hand-eye coordination
- problem-solving skills
- fine motor skills
Rainbow Craft Stick Box
Materials:
- shoe box
- white paper
- double sided tape
- box cutter
- markers
- colored craft sticks
Prep:
Cover an old shoe box with white paper and double sided tape. Use markers to color rainbow sections on the top of the box, and then use a box cutter to cut slits in it to fit craft sticks.
What will they do?
Match the colored craft sticks into the correct colored section of the box and push them into the slits.
What will they learn?
- color identification
- color matching
- fine motor skills
- hand-eye coordination
Color Mixing with Magnatiles
Materials:
- magnatiles
Prep:
Set out magnatiles near a window.
What will they do?
Use different colored magnatiles to hold up to the window and create new colors (ex: blue and red magnatiles make the color purple). You could extend this activity by putting the same two colors of paint on a piece of paper, in a ziploc bag and taping it shut for kiddos to mix up and watch the colors mix.
What will they learn?
- color identification
- color mixing
Color Sorting with Magnatiles
Materials:
- magnatiles
- large paper
- colored markers
- color sorting bugs
Prep:
Have kiddos help build a colored “home” out of magnatiles for each colored bug. Draw out a path in each color on a large piece of paper and set the bugs all to the left, with the “homes” on the right.
What will they do?
Take each colored bug and help it travel along the path (from left to right) in order to get to its coordinating colored home.
What will they learn?
- left to right progression
- pre-writing skills
- color sorting
- color identification
Throwing Squigz
Materials:
- squigz
Prep:
No prep! Set out the squigz and be near a big window.
What will they do?
Toss the squigz at the window and try to get them to stick, or just stick them up to the window and have fun popping them all off!
What will they learn?
- gross motor skills (throwing/working at a vertical surface)
- fine motor skills (pulling them off)
- hand-eye coordination
Shape Jump Gross Motor Game
Materials:
- sidewalk chalk
Prep:
Use sidewalk chalk to draw big shapes on the driveway or sidewalk. You could also choose to write numbers, letters, names, sight words, etc.
What will they do?
Jump to each shape as it’s called out.
What will they learn?
- shapes (or whatever skills you choose)
- gross motor skills
- hand-eye coordination
- following directions
Sidewalk Chalk Letter Spray
Materials:
- sidewalk chalk
- squeeze bottle OR
- squirt bottle
- water
Prep:
Use sidewalk chalk to write out letters (or numbers, shapes, etc.) on the driveway or sidewalk, and fill a squirt bottle with water.
What will they do?
Spray a letter to make it disappear as it’s called out.
What will they learn?
- letter recognition (or whatever skill you choose)
- fine motor skills
- hand-eye coordination
I hope you found something inspiring and helpful in this post! Be sure to PIN any activities you may want to try, and if you do try them, make sure you tag us on social media so we can see!
If you liked this post, check out some of our themed activity posts for toddlers and preschoolers:
Zoo Theme
Ocean Theme
Dinosaur Theme
Watermelon Theme
Ice Cream Theme
Camping Theme
Bug Theme
Frog Theme
Apple Theme
