The 12 Best Activities for a 2-Month-Old: A Development-Focused Guide

Your baby is now 2 months of age, and you must be desperate to play with them, see them open their eyes, and engage them with some activities for a 2-month-old.

While many may argue that it is too early for you to think about this, entertaining a 2-month-old by having a few activities with them is good for their development.

Also, you don’t have to specially schedule the activities for 2-month-olds.

Just use your baby’s time when they’re awake to introduce them to some physical and social activities on this list.

Newborns generally rely on others to initiate some engagement or activities with them, especially when they’re 2 months old.

But as time passes and they enter their 3 to 4-month-old phase, they start communicating, smiling, expressing different feelings through facial expressions, and more.

Here’s our pick for the best activities for 3 to 4 months old that you can save for later.

Although it’s very unlikely that you’ll get any other reaction than curiosity from a 2-month-old baby, still if you get giggles and smiles, your job here is done.

Other expressions may include frowning, babbling, squealing, and crying.

All this would help you better understand your 2-month-old baby, so don’t worry if the little one cries or babbles a lot.

With all that out of the way, let’s explore the best activities for a 2-month-old on this list so that you know what to do with a 2-month-old baby all day, but first, let’s understand what your 2-month-old baby can do.

Understanding What A 2-Month-Old Baby Do

First and most importantly, I would say that parents should first connect with their baby by themselves.

No toys, activities to do with a 2-month-old, or instruments can replace your touch and love for your child.

Trust me, your baby knows when you’re around, so spend some time with them, tickle them gently, talk to them, and see how they react to you.

I used to do this all the time with my daughter, and it was one of the best experiences of my life. I used the following ways to further understand the behavior of my 2-month-old.

Once I had understood, I just knew how to entertain my 2-month-old because, at that moment, I knew what would cheer her up or get her in a playful mood.

Here are the things that I was focusing on while understanding her:

• Looking at their reactions. Noticing when she’s giggling or grunting.
• Observing the sounds around her and seeing which sound sparks a reaction in her.
• I started testing different activities for a 2-month-old, like peek-a-boo or tummy time to see what’s making her happy.
• See if she’s keeping their head steady. Medically, during the 1 to 3-month phase, babies gain the strength needed to hold their heads up, so don’t leave it to your baby; help them with it or hold their head for their safety.
• See what she’s seeing. I started looking into her eyes to notice what interested her the most.

The 12 Activities for 2-Month-Old Baby

Here’s a listicle that answers, “What do to with a 2-month-old?”

Some of the activities for a 2-month-old may require products.

So, I will link them right after explaining the 2-month-old activity, so you can easily buy them.

1.  Talking to your 2-month-old

One of the ways to entertain your 2-month-old baby is to talk to them.

Doing this is super fun and gets even more interesting once the newly born starts making different expressions, sounds, gestures, and more.

Oh, and by talking, I don’t mean you start explaining quantum singularity to them.

Just say things that don’t make sense and use your hands and expressions to interact with them.

Gradually you’ll build a bond with your 2-month-old baby, and sooner or later, they’ll ask you to talk to them through expressions or hand movements.

This activity for a 2-month-old also strengthens your baby’s voice and face recognition skills.

In addition to talking, singing lullabies to entertain a 2-month-old is also a great activity.

We’ll definitely cover that as well today. 

2.  Roaming Around with Your Baby

Keeping your baby in the cot or bed all the time isn’t a good idea.

They need to move (With their parent’s help) to experience what’s around them and get entertained and active for a while.

My wife used to carry our daughter around whenever she walked from room to room or went upstairs or downstairs.

That’s when I realized that even though a 2-month-old baby cannot tell you that they’re enjoying something, as a parent, you can tell that your baby is having a time of his/her life roaming around with mommy or daddy.

You’ll see them explore their surroundings or curiously look at you when you’re carrying them.

You can also take them outside but ensure they are safe wherever you carry them.

Avoid taking them outside if you live in a polluted or cold area, as newborns tend to get sick quickly.  

Instead, you give them a tour of your house – it’ll be an excellent experience for you and the little guy or girl.

3.  Gentle Cuddling

I used to cuddle my daughter a lot. In fact, this was at the top of my “What to do with a 2-month-old baby all day” list for quite some time.

But see, I’ve combined the word cuddle with gentle, and here’s why.

Babies have very fragile skin and bones, and I’m sure you’re aware of it, so you don’t want to cuddle them like you would to 6 or 7 years old.

Instead, take the gentle route. Gently move the tip of your finger around their neck, and you’ll see them react to it.

The gentle cuddles combined with you talking to them would definitely grab the attention of your 2-month-old baby.

For mothers especially, when breastfeeding your 2-month-old baby or rocking them to sleep, cuddle them gently to make them smile and strengthen the bond between you and your baby.

4.  Toys for a 2-Month-Old baby

Here’s an activity to do with a 2-month-old that involves toys.

But the toys you need to use for your 2-month-old baby activities are totally different from what you would get for toddlers or 1 year old.

2-month-old baby activities don’t involve running or using walkers or push cars.

Walkers are meant for toddlers, and here’s our pick for the best walkers for your toddlers.

For push cars, they’re recommended for 8+ months old. Here’s our list of the best push cars for toddlers and babies. 

Anyways, toys for a 2-month-old baby would include bright-colored shapes that are super soft to hold and completely harmless.

But an activity center for a 2-month-old would be even better as it would comprise all the components I just told you about.

Here’s the activity center for your two-month-old baby.

From tummy time to enjoy a comfortable nap to playing hide or looking at the bright colors for visual development – the Play Gym by Lovevery comes with all the activities for your 2-month-old.

Combine this activity center with the Sensory Strand Add-On, and you’ll get a thoughtfully designed and tested child development sensory toy made from 90% organic cotton and 10% non-toxic polyester silk.

So why buy colored toys specifically?

Well, they’re great for grabbing the attention of your 2-month-old activity, and they can entertain you two-month-old for quite a while – till then, you can do home chores.

Just make sure you never leave your 2-month-old baby unattended.

5.  Good Old Tummy Time

Laying your babies upside is a great way to offer them a different view of their surroundings.

I recommend you have your baby enjoy tummy time with your help.

Please don’t leave them entirely alone while having tummy time, as they’re not yet ready to have this activity for a 2-month-old on their own.

Now, what tummy time does is that it develops observation skills with an inverted view and boosts strength building for multiple muscles.

It positively impacts the ribs, neck, shoulders, and upper body muscles.

After a few months of infrequent tummy time, you’ll see your baby roll over and lay straight alone.

How did they do it? Well, while having the tummy time activity for a 2-month-old, your baby learned how to roll over, and that’s how they could do it.

Tummy time also helps babies prepare to crawl and sit up.

It is all part of their early-age training, where they learn and develop skills that help them in the long run. It is best to have tummy time when the baby is in the mood to play and be active.

Apart from these activities for your 2-month-old or newborn baby, there are other activities that you can focus on as well.

Although some activities for a 2-month-old baby may not be entertaining or may not bring the outcomes you expect, it’s important to note that these activities have their share in helping your child develop the necessary skills.

6.  The Magical Touch

There is no better touch in the world than a parent’s touch, and that’s why I can see this activity to do with a 2-month-old “the magical touch.”

Simply touch your baby on the cheeks, gently move your fingers around their neck, massage their head gently, and see their reaction for yourself.

All of this touching helps your baby become familiar with your touch and makes them feel relaxed and calm because it’s a soothing experience to get gently touched by a loved one, right?

So, as a parent myself, I would definitely recommend the magical touch activity to entertain your 2-month-old in an enchanted way.

7.  Read to Them

Next, we’ve got reading as an activity for a 2-month-old baby.

Now, what’s the difference? You’re talking to and reading to them – so you’re saying something both ways, right? So how are these two activities different.

Well, the pace and tone of the voice differ in both situations.

While talking to your baby, you’re just making sounds or trying to incite a beautiful conversation.

While reading to them, you’re actually telling them stories.

Now although they’ll not understand a word coming out of your mouth because their communication skills are still very weak, they’ll definitely know that you’re talking to them.

You can read anything – stories, lullabies, or anything – it’s the words that matter.

Even if they can’t understand you right now, the activity will build important conversational skills.

8.  Family Time

Whether it is the baby’s paternal or maternal family, everyone feels delighted to be around a newborn baby, right?

And just when everyone’s present, you can bring your baby with you and let them see and meet their family.

In this way, they’ll start recognizing faces, develop social skills, and try to communicate, and you’ll also see them looking at their family members.

A family get-together at home or an outing is the perfect place to do a family time activity with your 2-month-old.

9.  The Little Massage

Massage is great for newborns and does wonders even when they are a couple of years old.

What’s best about this developmental activity for a 2-month-old is that it provides a distinct health benefit to the infant.

Here’s how a little massage activity for a 2-month-old helps your little one grow:

• A massage activity for a 2-month-old helps the baby feel relaxed
• Releases tension of daily stimuli
• Decreases irritability which causes excessive crying
• Decrease passive stiffness
• Reduces gas and intestinal difficulties

Among the activities for a 2-month-old baby, massage comes in the top 10, but remember that your baby has super gentle skin and bones.

Therefore, I would advise that you gently rub your baby’s body with a baby oil made from natural/organic formula.

Here’s a great product that I would recommend you to use when you’re giving a massage to your 2-month-old.

But this is just my recommendation – I would say you do your own research and get the oil that suits your baby’s skin.

Because some parents have reported that Weleda isn’t suitable for sensitive skin and can cause a mild rash.

Lastly, it t would be an understatement to say that babies like massages because they love them, and you’ll see this firsthand when you massage your baby.

10.  Attractive Lighting & Sounds

Bright colors and lights attract newborns like nothing else.

If you are a new parent, you will notice how they will look in the direction of objects or a light source.

Well, babies like to stare a lot, which is fine.

Still, there’s something interesting about lights and gentle sounds that grabs their attention.

So, one of the focus-boosting activities for a 2-month-old would be to get some hanging toys, hang them above your baby’s cot, make sure the toys are bringing and colorful and just let them focus on the toy hanging above.

This is one of the simplest developmental activities for a 2-month-old on this list.

Once you do it, share your experience in the comment section below.

11.  Lullabies

Science has proven that certain tunes and melodies help in brain development and helps infants to easily fall asleep.

This activity also strengthens the bond that parents and babies share, but don’t overdo it.

Just keep a minimal approach, mix this thing to do with a 2-month-old with other activities for a 2-month-old on this list, and keep your 2-month-old entertained with multiple activities to do all day.

12.  Simple Games

Starting early with your newborn is a good idea.

When it comes to hand-eye coordination, improving object identification skills, enhancing communication skills, and more, there are many simple games that you’ll find super enjoyable to play as an activity with your 2-month-old.

Milestones You Can Expect to See When Your Baby Is 2 Months Old

• Coordination: Very few 2-month-old babies tend to keep their heads steady, but then they start to look around.
• Vision: According to research, 2-month-old babies can see things up to 12 inches away. 
• Sleep: Newborn babies tend to sleep 14 to 17 hours a day, but these hours are not usually at night, so sleep deprivation is expected during this phase. 
• Communication: My daughter used to giggle, make sounds, and respond to interactions with coos and grunts so, it’s crying is not the only form of communication when your baby’s 2 or 3-month-old.
• Listening: A 2-month-old is learning to focus their attention, so you’ll see them turning their heads towards you when you’re talking to them. 
• Sucking: Sucking on fingers, toys, or pacified is common.

The End

That’s all for now!

I hope the activities for the 2-month-old mentioned on this list helped you.

The other information I’ve incorporated in this guide is to help you completely understand what happens when your baby is 2 months old. 

In this way, you’ll be able to better choose the things to do with your 2-month-old, ensure safety while you have the activities, and have a great time with your little one.

But if you think I’ve missed a few activities or you would like to share your experience of having a particular activity with your infant, be sure to mention it in the comment section below.

BabiesRead community and I would love to hear about your experience.