35 Best Games for 2 Year Olds in 2021 [They Will Love!]

Last Updated on October 2, 2023 by Michele Tripple

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If you are looking to entertain your toddler these games for 2 year olds will help them develop emotionally, socially, mentally and physically. See the best recommendations to help them grow and learn.

Games are a great way to entertain your 2 year old and get them learning while having fun! When your toddler reaches 2 years old, they are a little bit better at understanding concepts than they used to be as well as having the attention span to start introducing puzzles for 2 year olds to them as well as games for 2 year olds.

Games for 2 year olds will help them work on their motor skills, creativity, social skills, and hand-eye coordination all while having a blast! 

Playing games also helps kids learn to regulate their emotions and get along with others.

What kinds of games are there for 2 year olds?

There are more options than you think when it comes to games for 2 year olds. Some options are:

  • Fun games that help them move their body
  • board games for 2 year olds
  • educational games
  • matching games
  • memory games

We will share our favorite games in each of these categories so your 2 year old will never be bored of the same game.

The Best Games for 2 Year Olds

Games that move your kids

I love games that Gert my toddlers moving and grooving. Not only does it help get their energy out, but it helps them to learn to control their energy as well. (And the little giggles and laughs while playing are pretty priceless too!)

Simon Says

Simon Says is a classic that we all grew up playing, so naturally, it is perfect to teach our kids. I love that this game can entertain our kids no matter where we are!

How to Play Simon Says

Simon Says is simple. You are Simon and you get to call out all the different things for your child to do. You would say, “Simon Says touch your nose. Simon Says run in a circle.” Every time Simon tells them to do something they do it, but if Simon doesn’t say it they can’t. For example, if I say skip to the tree they wouldn’t because Simon didn’t say it.

This 2-year-old game is great for teaching listening skills, controlling themselves when they really want to do something and teaching them their body parts.

I Spy

“I spy with my little eye something green.” Another classic is eye spy when one person spots something and says the color of it while everyone else tries to guess it.

I spy helps with word recognition, colors, and taking turns because for a 2-year-old it is tough for them to be patient while waiting their turn to pick an object.

Hot Potato

Are you faster than the hot potato? Our two-year-olds love playing this game. You can use any object as the “hot potato” or pick up a hot potato with music built in!

Then play as a family and see who gets stuck with the hot potato. You are sure to have lots of laughs as you play this game together.

Hot potato teaches kids to throw and catch a ball, as well as taking turns and even how to lose with dignity when they get stuck with the potato.

Hokey-Pokey

If you want a quick game that gets your kids moving then the hokey-pokey is fun interactive and quick! Playing is easy and everyone is a winner, which sometimes you need when introducing games to two-year-olds.

It goes like this:

You put your right foot in (change up the body parts as you play)

You put your right foot out.

You put your right foot in and you shake it all about!

You do the hokey pokey and you turn yourself around… That’s what it’s all about!

Then you continue you on with more body parts including your whole body!

The hokey pokey helps teach kids left and right as well as their body parts in a fun and interactive way!

Scavenger Hunt

It’s never too early to introduce your kids to scavenger hunts. Take them on

Scavenger hunts teach them to search and look and be creative. It teaches them to put words with objects and gets them outside exploring.

Hide and Seek

Hide and see is a personal favorite game for 2-year-olds. There is something about the look in their eye when they find you or the giggles you hear as you get close to them.

Puzzles

Puzzles for 2 year olds are great for fine motor skills as well as cognitive learning. It teaches them patience and helps them accomplish simple tasks. Be sure you get the right puzzles for your toddlers to help them be successful as they begin to do puzzles.

Play Dress Up

Playing dress-up is the perfect thing to introduce your child to when they turn two! It teaches them creativity, helps them boost their imagination skills, increase their vocabulary and plays with peers as they create a fantasy world together.

Our favorite dress-up picks for boys and girls include:

Restaurant

Playing restaurant, store and kitchen is a great way to introduce your child to social skills. Not only that, but their imagination will go crazy as they pretend to have their own restaurant, garden shop, donut shop, and store. Simple props and a play kitchen is a great gift to give their kids when they are young because it will grow with them for years.

Our favorite kitchen and play food is below.

Puppets

Puppets are not typical games for two-year-olds, but it helps them learn and grow. Again they express creativity as they learn to impersonate different characters, think outside the box, and grow their social skills. These hand puppets are the perfect size for little hands.

Board Games For 2-Year-Olds

Board games for 2-year-olds are exciting and fun! It is the first time we get to push our cart down the aisle or hit add to cart with some of the cutest games!

Boards games are a great way to interact with your two-year-old as a whole family. So often we play games with the little ones before bed, before playing games with the older ones.

Finding appropriate board games for 2 years can be hard. You have to check to see if the pieces are too small and if they will be able to play it without getting hurt.

Of course with any game for two-year-olds you should always supervise because they tend to want to put things in their mouth when you aren’t looking.

There are so many fun educational games, memory games, matching games and cooperative learning games for 2-year-olds that help with developing fine motor skills as well as social skills.

We have hand-picked the very best board games for 2-year-olds that your kids will love playing!

The Very Best Board Games for 2-Year-Olds: Our Top Picks!

Count Your Chickens!

Count Your Chickens! Is a perfect board game to help your child learn to count! In this super cute board game, the goal is to get the baby chicks back to the coop so each player takes a turn spinning the wheel to see where they should move on the board. As they move, they collect the baby chicks and count them as well. This game teaches them how to take turns as well as count! 

Why we love it!

  • cooperative learning
  • taking turns
  • social development

Friends And Neighbors

The next game on our list of board games for 2 year olds is a game called Friends And Neighbors. I love this game because it teaches your child all about emotions and what to do in different scenarios. This game gets your child to think about a good solution and learn problem-solving skills! 

Why we love It!

  • teaches emotions
  • teaches problem solving skills

Feed the Woozle

Feed the Woozle is a great game for two-year-olds! In this game, your child gets to feed the Woozle all the snacks before time runs out! The great thing about this game is there are three levels of play so as your child learns and develops more it opens up more learning levels of fun for them!

Why we love it!

  • Helps fine and gross motor skills
  • Helps develop counting
  • Builds social development

Candy Land

I’m sure we’ve all played Candy Land a time or two in our lives. This game is a classic! This is another great counting game to start getting your 2-year-old used to hearing numbers and how to count! 

Why we love it!

  • Introducing them to counting
  • Color recognition
  • no reading required!

First Orchard

In the First Orchard board game, you work as a team to pick off the fruit from the different trees before the raven reaches the end of the path. This is a great game to teach social skills and to start introducing them to game rules! 

Why we love it!

  • Cooperative
  • Teaches social skills
  • Introduced them to following rules
  • Durable
  • Teaches teamwork

Here Fishy Fishy!

Here Fishy Fishy! Is such a cute game for 2-year-olds. It’s super simple so your little one will understand how to do it. All you do is roll the die and your little one uses the fishing rod to fish for a sea animal that is the color that was rolled! 

Why we love it!

  • Rules are simple and easy to understand
  • Teaches kids to take turns when playing with others
  • Can play by themselves
  • Uses fine motor skills
  • Helps improve concentration

Chutes and Ladders

Chutes and Ladders is the perfect beginner game for your two-year-old. It might take them a while before they understand how to play but it’s a great place to start teaching rules and concepts of games. They’ll have a blast spinning the wheel and moving their little players up and down the board! 

Why we love it!

  • Teaches them to follow directions
  • No reading required
  • Teaches number recognition and counting

Pick me up piggy

Pick me up piggy is probably the most creative game on our list of board games for 2-year-olds. This game is super fun for your 2-year-old because you tell a creative story about each character as you put them in a different place to try and see if your little one can remember where that character is later in the game! 

Why we love this!

  • Helps with imagination development
  • Improves memory

Dotty Dinosaurs Game

Next up on our list of fun board games for 2-year-olds is the Dotty Dinosaurs Game. If your toddler is into dinosaurs, this is going to be a huge hit.

This game is awesome because it teaches shapes and colors. You can play this game in two different ways. You can focus on just shapes and the colors can go anywhere or you can match the colors to the correct colored dinosaur as well to learn both colors and shapes at the same time! It’s a perfect learning game that they are going to love! 

Why we love it!

  • quick and easy to play
  • education game for 2-year-olds as they learn shapes and colors
  • durable pieces

Snug as a Bug in a Rug Game

The Snug as a Bug in a Rug Game is a cute game to teach your little one all about colors, numbers, shapes, matching, and counting and they’ll even start to learn the difference between big and little. This is also a great way to start teaching them the importance of taking turns! 

Why we love it!

  • Teaches cooperation with others
  • Great matching game for 2-year-olds
  • Helps develop a simple strategy
  • Introduction to size differences

Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood

Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood is a cute game based off of the popular kid’s TV show, Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood. It’s such a cute game that teaches them to say thank you as they collect things for their backpacks throughout the neighborhood. This game will teach lots of great social skills as well as counting and even coordination!

Why we love it! 

  • Teaches manners
  • Social skills
  • Counting
  • Coordination

Snail’s Pace Race

Snail’s Pace Race is a game that the players place six cute little snail game pieces on their matching colored leaf and move them along the path until they reach the last spot in their color. 

They learn how to roll dice as they roll the dice to see how many spaces their snail can move. This is perfect for your 2-year-old because it’s not competitive but is just a good way to start teaching them rules and how to take turns playing a game! 

Why we love it!

  • Teaches rules
  • Following directions
  • Rolling the dice
  • Counting

More Educational Games for 2-year-olds Worth Mentioning!

We also love these educational games for 2-year-olds that are totally worth mentioning!

We hope this list of the very best games for 2-year-olds will help you find the perfect games for your kids to play and enjoy learning through play! Share your favorite games in the comments!

Check out these other great 2-year-old products

3 thoughts on “35 Best Games for 2 Year Olds in 2021 [They Will Love!]”

  1. Our littlest will be two in June and it is a STRUGGLE keeping her entertained. I love all of the ideas on here and they definitely will help me keep the little one out of trouble!

    Reply

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