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- Older Toddlers (2 Year Old)
Older Toddlers (2 Year Old)
All Toys
- Beginning of cooperative, social play
- Increasing interest in pretend play
- Love of physical, active play
- Child prefers action toys, toys that produce movement or sounds by child’s own efforts
- More realism preferred:
- Begins to pay attention to qualities of objects
- Prefers toys with working parts
- Toys should be lightweight enough for easy lifting, carrying
- Bright colors preferred
- Toys should meet safety regulations for age:
- Sturdy, unbreakable; not likely to break into small pieces and strong enough for child to stand on or in
- Non-toxic materials
- No sharp or points or edges
- Too large to be lodged in windpipe, ears, nostrils
- No detachable small parts
- No parts that could pinch or entrap fingers, toes, hair
- Not put together with easily exposed straight pins, sharp wires, nails
- No electrical parts, unless supervised by adult
Active Play
- Push and Pull Toys
- Pull toys with strings
- Doll carriages
- Wagons
- Small light wheelbarrow
- Interest in push toys that look like adult equipment- lawnmower, vacuum, shopping cart
- Ride-On Toys
- Interest in realistic-looking ride ons- tractors, motorcycles
- Ride ons with storage trays or bins
- Ride ons propelled by bouncing up and down
- When children begin to pedal (around 1 1/2 - 3) small tricycle
- Outdoor or Gym Equipment
- All gym equipment needs adult supervision
- Tunnels
- Climbing structures and slides
- Stationary rather than moving outdoor equipment
- wings with curved, soft seats and restraining straps
- Sports Equipment
- Sleds sized to child (shorter length than child’s height)
- Spinning seat
- Pool toys (tubes, mats) with adult supervision
- Balls of all sizes, but especially large balls (All balls given to this age group should be at least 1 and 3/4 (44 millimeters) in diameter; however, if any object appears to fit easily in the child’s mouth, keep it away from the child
Manipulative Play
- Construction Toys
- Solid wooden unit blocks
- Large, hollow building blocks (cardboard, wood, plastic)
- Large, plastic bricks (2 to 4 inches or 50 to 100 millimeters) to be pressed together
- Plastic interlocking rings; large plastic nuts and bolts
- Puzzles
- Fit-in puzzle:
- 2 to 2 1/2 years, 4-5 pieces
- 2 1/2 years - 3, 6-12 pieces
- Puzzles with knobs easier (knobs should be firmly attached)
- Pattern Making Toys
- Peg boards with large pegs
- Color cubes
- Magnetic boards with shapes, animals, people
- Color forms (from around 2 and a 1/2)
- Manipulative Toys
- Fit together toys of 5 to 10 pieces
- Nesting toys with multiple pieces, including barrel toys that require screwing motion
- Number/counting boards with large pegs
- Shape sorters with common shapes
- Pounding/hammering toys
- Smelling jars
- Color/picture dominoes
- Simple lotto matching games based on color, pictures
- Dressing, Lacing, Stinging Toys
- Large colored beads. (All beads given to this age group should be at least 1 and 3/4 inches (44 millimeters) in diameter, however if any object appears to fit easily in the child’s mouth, keep it away from the child.)
- Lacing card or wooden shoe for lacing
- Dressing books and dolls
- Frames, cubes for lacing, buttoning, snapping, hooking
- Sand and Water Play Toys
- Bathtub activity centers
- Nesting tub toys
- Tub toys with removable figures, accessories
- Linking tub toys
- Small boats (no metal parts)
- Small and large sandbox tools (with blunt edges)
- Water/sand mills
- Sprinklers
Make Believe Play
- Dolls
- Soft-bodied and rubber baby dolls
- More realistic dolls with hair and moving eyes
- Dolls to fit in child’s arms; also small, realistic dolls
- Talking dolls operated by pulling string
- Large peg dolls
- Doll accessories - simple and sturdy
- Care taking accessories - bottle, blanket
- Simple removable garments (hook and loop, large snap fasteners)
- Stuffed Toys
- Soft, pliable animals
- Mother and baby combinations
- Preference for realistic animals, replicas of familiar characters
- Toys with music box inside
- Puppets
- Soft hand puppets (hand-and-arm puppets too large)
- Lightweight, sized to fit child’s hand
- Puppets doubling as stuffed toys
- Puppets doubling as stuffed toys
- Puppets representing familiar characters
- Role-Play Materials
- Dress-ups and costumes
- Equipment should be realistic-looking
- Child-sized equipment - stove, cooking board, refrigerator
- All housekeeping equipment - cleaning sets, pots and pans, bath and laundry
- Toys that can be pushed - vacuum, lawnmower, shopping cart
- Full-length mirror
- Play Scenes (Including Small Figures)
- Familiar, realistic-looking scenes - farm, garage, airport
- Scenes with multiple pieces but not highly detailed
- Preference for moving parts, parts that make noise
- Interior of scenes easily accessible
- Vehicle sets with figures
- Transportation Toys
- Small, realistic cars (not metal)
- Vehicles with moving parts
- Large trucks (metal too heavy) - moving parts, parts operated by large lever (with knob on end)
- Cars, trucks with removable figures, accessories
- Small trains with simple coupling mechanism - no tracks
- Projectile Toys - not suited to age group
Creative Play - Arts, crafts, music
- Musical Instruments
- All rhythm instruments - bells, rattles, cymbals, drums, triangle, rhythm stick, sand blocks, xylophones.
- Horns and whistles (around 2 and a 1/2).
- Art and Craft Materials
- Large crayons
- Non-toxic paints (finger and tempera) and short handled brushes with blunt ends
- Clay
- Sturdy markers
- Blunt-end scissors
- Chalkboard, large chalk
- Colored construction paper
- Audio-Visual Equipment (Adult Operated)
- Operated by adult; tapes, records, CDs.
- Hand-cranked music box if cranked music box if crank is large and easy to turn.
Learning Play
- Games
- Lotto matching games based on color pictures
- Dominoes, especially giant dominoes
- Board games based on chance - only a few large pieces or pairs
- Specific Skill Development Toys
- Simple teaching toys for:
- Matching/sorting, shapes, colors, letters/sounds, numbers, concepts.
- All electrically powered toys need adult supervision.
- Simple teaching toys for:
- Books
- Sturdy books with heavy paper, cardboard pages
- Short simple stories with repetition and familiar subjects
- Simple pictures with clear color, few details
- Pop-up books
- Hidden picture books
- Dressing books