Baby Dino is 2 years old today, I say it every year, but I just can’t believe it. I am so proud of my sweet little girl and there are some things I would like her to know on her 2nd birthday:

🧡Your favorite color is pink
🧡You can sing every song you watch from YouTube
🧡You are smart, so smart that you can take care of yourself when Mommy and Daddy are working.
🧡You sleep with your big bunny and small rabbit
🧡Daddy is still your favorite person
🧡You love to cuddle
🧡You like to laugh out loud
🧡You love reading and you read tones of books already
🧡Your favorite time is night time because Daddy and Mommy will play with you and study together with you
🧡You love eating fruits, all kind of fruits.
🧡You are a fast learner. Read the post below to find out more.

2 years ago, you came this world and changed my life forever, you made me a mother, the very best role I have ever had in my life.

Happy birthday, my baby girl. You always amazed me with the facts you come out with, you seem to remember every scene of everything you ever saw, and can usually quote a lot of it back, word for word.

May you enjoy the small party we have prepared for you and may you look at life with so much kindness, joy and love!

10 important things to teach your 2-year-old. 

Do you have a 2-year-old at home too? At this age, children are like little sponges, picking up every bit of information about the world around them. The majority of things that your two-year-old learns will be through play and normal social interaction.  

There are plenty of everyday skills and task that you may not be aware that you can start teaching your toddler. Toys and gadgets maybe be teaching them things like cause-and-effect, problem solving, and new language. They will also be developing key skills like hand-eye coordination and independence. Follow @babydino.babytrex on Instagram to watch their daily activities, product and toy reviews. Sometimes I realized that maybe I wasn’t teaching Baby Dino enough. Between meal times, clean up, and just trying to prevent any bodily injuries, actual learning fell to the back burner. 

Both structured and unstructured play are important to develop these necessary skills. Most of what Baby Dino learns, I won’t even realize that I am teaching her! Here are some homework I did , for the children in the two-year-old and range up to 3, not exclusively once they turn two, hope this sharing helps you with your two-year-old. Always remember that every child develops at their own pace so don’t worry too much if your child doesn’t know all of these concepts yet. This isn’t a list of what they should know as this point, but rather a guide to help you understand what they may be capable of learning at this age.

1. Pretend play 

Using their imagination opens up a world of fun and play for your toddler. This skill typically comes naturally as they copy and imitate what they see in the real world. They will use a combination of imagination and reality to copy the things they see daily. 

What I do:
Get Baby Dino cooking in a play kitchen with pots and pans, vegetables and fruits. Playing dentist with a dentist kit, sweeping, mopping and vacuuming the floor with a play vacuum.  

2. Drawing and coloring 

This is a great fine motor activity that 2-year-olds should be practicing. At this point, they should have moved past scribbling and be able to make some intentional marks on the paper, including a straight line down, straight line across, and maybe even attempt a circle. Of course, these may not be perfect, but they should get the concept of making intentional marks. 

What I do:
Using a recycle paper, I draw things she sees daily, such as flowers, butterflies or write her names so she can get familiar with the alphabet. Her dad bought her a lot of magical coloring books with a water pen, very sustainable as it is reusable after the water dry up. 

3. Numbers and counting 

Your 2-year-old may be able to count to 10 (with some errors at times) from memory and maybe even higher with more practice. They can also work on recognizing and identifying those numbers and counting objects. 

What I do:
Practice counting with many different, everyday objects: count each step while we are walking up the stairs and count the number of grapes on her snack plate. I got her a froggy scale toy which helps Baby Dino does her mathematics in a fun way. Follow @babydino.babytrex on Instagram to see the cute froggy scale now. 

4. Music, dance and rhythm 

Children love rhythm and music so get them singing, dancing, and exploring their bodies with music. Put on music for them to dance to, sing along to their favorite songs, or make their own music with xylophone.  

What I do:
This is the easiest one, I play Super JoJo on YouTube, get her to sing and dance along. Baby Dino has a lot of musical toys too, such as singing books, story book rhyme and piano. She got the piano as her two-year-old present from her aunt.  

5. Sense of time 

This is something that may not come until closer to 3 and of course your two-year-old will not be able to tell time. However, you can still teach them a basic sense of how much time is remaining or what is the time for their schedule. 

What I do: 

I say “5 more minutes left to shower until dinner time”, Baby Dino still won’t have a true sense of how long these increments of time are, but I try to make her aware that 1 minute is quick, compared to 10 minutes or 20 minutes. I bought her a clock (educational toy) too, each time when we are doing some activities like bathing or going to bed, I will tell her the time, and show her the clock on the wall so that she knows how to read the clock. Follow @babydino.babytrex on Instagram to see the super simple clock toy. 

6. Safety 

Of course, safety is a crucial lesson to teach your child. This is the age where they will probably have no fear or understanding of dangerous situations.  

The following practices need to be taught and don’t just come naturally to Baby Dino. What I do: 

• Not running out into a parking lot 
• Stranger danger 
• Holding hands when in public or outside 
• Staying close to mom or dad 
• Do not climb up the stairs by herself 

7.   Manners and respect for others 

Understanding how to properly treat others is a valuable trait to instil in your child. This goes for respecting both adults and other children. It’s important to teach your children how to use polite words and actions to show manners. 

What I do (and so far, this is the most challenging one): 

• Saying excuse, me when needing someone to move or get their attention 
• Patiently waiting for us to complete our task before doing her a favor 
• Saying please and thank you shows consideration and appreciation 
• Apologizing when she does something wrong 
• Sharing her toys or items that belong to her 
• No pushing, hitting, biting to hurt others in any way 

8.   Understand “no” 

Toddlers are very ego-centric (only care about themselves). It’s totally normal for them to only think about how things will affect them. This almost always leads to inappropriate behaviors as they learn what behaviors get them what they want. 

What I do: 

Don’t always give in to every cry, and teach her that sometimes she can’t get everything that she wants. Teach Baby Dino how to act appropriately to avoid tantrums in public. Try putting rules in place when I am out so she knows what is expected of her. Always have a way to redirect or distract them when you see a tantrum starting (using something else they are interested in). Lastly, just avoid situations that could set her off. 

9.   Having a responsibility chart 

Your child probably already has some routine in place throughout their day. However, you want to ensure that they are consistently doing what is asked of them so that they could even do it on their own if needed. The more structure that your child has in their day, the more they will start to understand time and a daily schedule. 

What I do: 

Create a simple day-to-day routine that I can create a specific pattern for her:  

• Bedtime: Brush teeth, go potty, wash hands, put pajamas on, read a story, go to sleep 
• Morning: Go potty, wash hands, brush teeth, get dressed, eat breakfast 
• Before naptime 
• Pre-dinner wind-down time 
• Cleaning time 

10.   Technology 

Technology or screen time should be limited for toddlers to 1 hour a day, however, this is the hardest task for most of the Malaysian parents. Baby Dino does not spend time on any devices yet.  

What I do: 

Play with Baby Dino without having any electronic devices. This is not easy for me, neither my husband, but we did it. Most of the time, we put our electronic devices aside, and engage her with her toys, flash cards, books and outdoor activities such as gardening. These activities has becoming her hobbies and routine therefore she does not need any screen time. 

 ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

That’s all from me, have fun teaching your tow-year-old and enjoy watching them blossom this year. They will be growing and developing before your eyes so don’t blink! Watch Babydino.babytrex’s Instagram Stories to get more great activity ideas to do with your two-year-old.