Playing memory card games and using funny flash cards are fun games suitable for a 2-year-old toddler. In the memory card games, your child has to match cards with the same picture that are placed face down on a table. Playing the game requires that your child uses memory skills through recognizing the individual pictures shown on the cards, and their position on the table. Flash cards show a variety of facial expressions, including smiling, laughing, crying and angry which should bring forward a reaction in your child when shown. Playing with flash cards is a good activity to develop empathy, sympathy skills and perception. Both memory games and flash cards can easily be made at home with the help of cardboard, photographs or newspaper pictures.
Games that mirror every day actions and situations are good activities for children to develop perception and judgment. In pretend games, children show their understanding of the world around them by, among others, talking on an imaginary phone, baking cakes in a sandpit or dressing up as a doctor. These games are activities children can play by themselves. Two-year-old toddlers often use their toys to act out experiences, and pretend to tell them off, feed them dinner or change their nappies. However, your child will be more than happy to include you in the game, but you probably will have to play by her rules.
Reading and sharing books is a good activity to improve cognitive development in a 2-year-old child. At that age, children usually have a vocabulary of approximately 50 words, mostly consisting of names for everyday objects, animals and various foods, and they can link two to four words into a sentence. Choose books with pictures and stories that interest your child and let her read to you. The child then has to use memory and perception skills, as well as make judgments when looking at the pictures and defining the objects shown. Libraries have a variety of picture books available and if you should have problems in deciding what to choose, librarians and other attending parents will be able to give advice.
Children at the age of 2 are not yet used to sharing and cooperating with others, so they will usually play alongside other kids rather than with them. However, learning to socialize and communicate with other kids is part of a child's cognitive development, and you should encourage them to interact with their peers early on. Going regularly to a nearby park or visiting playgroups organized by churches are free activities that give your child an opportunity to meet other children and develop cognitive skills, including perceiving others, judging situations and reasoning.