At age two, your child may become more assertive, but her defiance really results from her desire for independence and her continuing need for help. Your child may be testing her limits.
Along with independence comes expanded language skills. Your child can now speak in short sentences and has become more purposeful, telling you what she needs or wants. Your child is also beginning to understand abstract concepts. She can ask for more milk, and inquire about whether she can go to bed later. However, she still doesn’t understand the concept of time (e.g. in two days, next week, in a month). Your child can form images in her mind, and may be able to organize her toys by size, or color, or shape.
- Ride-on toys (especially ones that “hold cargo”)
- Balls – soft ones for throwing; set up hoops using wastepaper baskets; a few will on occasion catch a ball; draw two lines and play a simplified game of soccer
- Art supplies that allow for creativity. Introduce tempera paints with various size paint brushes
- Percussive instruments – tambourines, rhythm sticks, drums; march to the beat of different music genres
- Dress-up clothes
- Child-size household equipment – vacuum cleaners, workbench, small table and chairs
- Construction toys
- Puzzles and manipulatives