10 Things Your under-two-year-old will love to do by him/herself
1. Peel a clementine/tangerine. If you start it, they can peel off the rest. It gives you more time, and they are sooo happy, with a yummy reward for a job well done.
2. Putting the silverware from the dishwasher basket into the drawer. So it won’t be sorted properly. You can always do that later. Â Just take out sharp knives first.
3. Turn off the lights in their room at bedtime. Very empowering.
4. Put their own shoes on the right shelf, in the right drawer, or in the right closet.
5. Â Push the stoller… okay maybe only for fives steps, but still.
6. Get out of the car, once mobile. They like the extra time it takes once you have taken them out of the car seat to climbing out of the car — sometimes it is a lot of extra time.
7. Putting the groceries into the back of the cart. (Bet you already knew this one.)
8. Play with push pins. No; it isn’t too dangerous. Tlhey can put them into the top (or side) of a cardboard box, especially if you do it first and make holes. Great for their dexterity, and keeps them busy and out of trouble for a number of minutes. Â Â Works best when they are in a high chair, so you don’ t have to worry about push pins everywhere. Â They also get that the ends are sharp, and avoid them. This is also a great lesson. Not for every kid, I admit.
9. Sprinkle on cinnamon and sugar. I use this instead of honey and syrup on food. Much less sugar. They love to do it themselves. Â A one year old can sprinkle it on unsweetened apple sauce without any help.
10. I was waiting to post this until I came up with a tenth. But I think it would be more fun if you sent me your suggestions….
LOVE this list! it’s so nice to have a go-to list every once in awhile! thanks for posting. 🙂
at our house play doh, putting clothes in hamper, diaper in garbage, finding shoes and sticker-ing are also winners. 🙂
Thanks for the kind words… I think diaper in the trash should def. be #10. They love that.
Of course I do end up with things like silverware in the trash occasionally as a result…. : )
My kids like helping with laundry – throwing clothes in the washer, switching them into dryer, and piling clean clothes on the couch for folding.
That’s a good one. But my under two year old likes to reset the dials, and push all of the buttons, thereby messing up my laundry. So I try to keep him away from “helpful involvement” in that area.
great list! here are some of the things my 2 year old loves:
folding napkins, picking out the cups (plastic and kept in the bottom drawer), throwing anything away, matching socks (or unmatching them), unlocking the car, closing the automatic sliding door on the minivan, putting out the havdalah candle in the wine (okay, that’s more of a “help” than actually holding the candle for very long)…