**2 year olds are easily distracted so have only one "group" activity at a time.

**2 year olds can have fabulous fun at a party if you know how to intermittently focus their attention.

If you have a group of 2 (and 3) year olds to entertain at a Mom's club, pre-school, party or just to keep your sanity at home, here is an activity they really enjoy.

If you make the opening of it exciting they will all be watching and it will be easier to organize them and have them listen to what you would like them to do next.
Now that you have their attention they will be very anxious to start crawling thru.
They do not need to be in a formal line. They MUST however go in the same direction and the very zealous ones must be reminded to wait till the child in front of them has gotten far enough ahead or "ouch" and trouble!
In a group situation this works best if one adult is heading the IN part of tunnel and another is heading the OUT.
If you set their focus, they could be occupied for 10 minutes straight and behaving nicely and having a blast!

Note: Sometimes 1 1/2 and newly 2 year olds will enjoy being in the tunnel so much they will decide to camp out, sit or lay down and relax in the center of the tunnel. Keep an eye out for a traffic jam with these younger ones.

Some younger ones also try to stand up while still inside the tunnel or prematurely stand at the exit of the tunnel and get VERY frustrated. Once again, keep an eye out for this so everyone stays happy.

**When entertaining a large age range of children (like 2 thru 8 year olds), it is wise to keep the games fun for everyone. Although 7 & 8 year olds have a desire for competition, younger children have little tolerance for it (if they are not the winner).

** A tossing game is a great choice because ALL kids can throw. If you want to give out prizes, keep track of skill by noting who got the most in. Give prizes out to the "WINNERS" that got the most in, first, then have the rest of the children receive a special trinket/prize for participating and trying something new. If you operate games this way you will get more participation, less tantrums, and everyone will be proud of themselves.

Say, "Today the rules are... anything goes as long as you go UNDER the limbo stick.
Follow the person in front of you. As long as they are going in the right direction, you will be, too. Each time I see the birthday kid (or leader), the stick will get lower. As long as you go UNDER, it doesn't matter how!
The only way you will be out is if you go over, thru or hit the stick on purpose."

Then keep making the stick lower and lower until the kids have to crawl likes snakes under the stick!
You will be pleased with the participation, and how long the group remains interested in the activity when it is silly and not competitive.

**It is easy to get the children in a line if you point out the lines already in the yard or room. (Line up here... where the grass and driveway meet....against this wall....along the edges of the shrubs...) Once you have them in a line, you can easily have them stay where they are, and turn and face the direction you want them to face.