2-Year-Old Birthday Day Out Ideas

A Petting Zoo

Kids love animals so a petting zoo is a great place to take a 2-year-old for their birthday day out. They can get to see many different animals that they would normally not get to see while being up close. They will also be able to interact with them by stroking some and feeding others. Types of common animals that you could expect to see would be:

• Horses
• Ponies
• Donkeys
• Goats
• Sheep
• Cows
• Tortoises small and big
• Pigs
• Rabbits
• Guinea pigs
• Ducks
• Chickens
• Geese

To help prepare your 2-year-old before you go to a petting zoo, talk to them about the different animals that they could possibly expect to see. You can discuss the types of sounds that each animal makes and how they move around. Tell your little one about the special types of food that they eat. Explain to them that they should not feed them human food and why like sharing their cookies or crackers with the different animals. Discuss any animals that you think they should be a little more cautious with and the reasons why.

Some fun things to do during your visit to the petting zoo are:

• While your toddler is cuddling a baby rabbit, a lamb, or a goat, ask them questions. Questions about how the different animals feel in their hands, smell, the noises they make, and about the different colors of their coats.
• 2-year-olds love to mimic different animals. You can play animal games with them by walking like an ape, hop like a bunny and mimic some of the animal noises.

Keeping your little one engage in answering the different questions and mimicking the different animals teaches them about the different animals while having a lot of fun.

There are many great petting zoos to choose from that are situated all over the United States. Look for the best one that is the closest for you by doing some research on the animals they have and the different activities or shows that they may offer.

Here are some to help:

• Great American Petting Zoo in Oregon and Texas.
• Los Angeles Zoo
• KidZooU which is part of the Philadelphia Zoo
• Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo
• Indianapolis Zoo
• San Diego Zoo
• Houston Zoo
• Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo, Indiana
• Memphis Zoo
• Phoenix Zoo
• Miami Metro Zoo
• Brookfield Zoo, Illinois
• St. Louis Zoo
• Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium
• San Antonio Zoo & Aquarium
• Bronx Zoo, New York City
• Dallas Zoo
• The Maryland Zoo, Baltimore
• Toledo Zoo
• Zoo Atlanta
• Sedgwick County Zoo, Wichita, Kansas
• Smithsonian National Zoological Park Zoo, Washington, D.C.
• The Oklahoma City Zoo, Oklahoma City

A visit to the Aquarium

Children are fascinated by water and the different creatures that live in them. A visit to the aquarium would be a great outing for a 2-year-old. But you might have to plan to visit other attractions as well because after about two hours or so they will have had enough of looking at the marine life. They will then want to do something else.

To help you make your visit more interesting for them, here are some fun things to do during your visit:

• Visit the touch tank so that they can feel the water and some different fishes. But remember to tell them not to grab the marine life but to feel only. Ask questions about how they feel and the different colors and shapes.
• Play some fun games with them, like making fish faces, moving like a fish, or getting them to spot or find a certain colored fish.

Some examples of great aquariums to visit are:

• Adventure Aquarium, Camden, New Jersey
• Georgia Aquarium, Atlanta, GA
• Monterey Bay Aquarium, Monterey, CA
• Shedd Aquarium, Chicago, IL
• National Aquarium, Baltimore, MD
• Audubon Aquarium of the Americas, New Orleans, LA
• Aquarium of the Pacific, Longbeach, CA
• Ripley’s Aquarium of Myrtle Beach, Myrtle Beach, SC
• Florida Aquarium, Tampa, FL
• Newport Aquarium, Cincinnati, OH
• Steinhart Aquarium, San Francisco, CA
• Dallas World Aquarium, Dallas, TX

Theme or Amusement Parks

Another great place to spend your 2-year-olds birthday is at a theme or amusement park. It is a place where they can have some fun while burning lots of their energy going from one attraction to the next. You can plan a wonderful day out to one of the many theme parks for toddlers and preschoolers which are scattered throughout the United States. It is possible that there is one that is not too far from where you live.

You will notice that some of the parks are only for the little ones while others have sections within the larger theme parks that have been created to cater just for the under 5 years old. Do a little research and look at the different theme parks available in your area.

Here are some of the Best

• Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom Park, Orlando, FL
• Story Land, Glen, NH
• Sesame Place, Langhorne, PA
• Legoland California, Carlsbad, CA or Legoland Florida, Winter Haven, FL
• Cedar Point Sandusky, Ohio
• Thomas Land in South Carver, Massachusetts
• Enchanted Forest, Salem, OR
• Fairytale Town, Sacramento, CA
• Dutch Wonderland, Lancaster, PA
• Nickelodeon Universe in Bloomington, Minnesota
• Holiday World, Santa Claus, IN
• Hershey Park, Hershey, PA

Water Park

Kids love to play in the water especially if it is a really warm summers’ day. They love to get their feet wet and splash around in the water but are too young for the thrill of rides, wave pools, and steep water slides. Many water parks have dedicated areas for toddlers and some are even indoors which help for bad weather and sunburn.

Here are some to choose from:

• Kalahari Waterparks – Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Ohio
• Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon – Orlando, Florida
• Jungle Jim’s – Rehoboth Beach, Delaware
• Castaway Bay – Cedar Point, Ohio
• Buccaneer Beach in Lake George, New York
• Schlitterbahn Water Park & Resort, New Braunfels, TX
• Sahara Sam’s Oasis – West Berlin, New Jersey
• Knott’s Soak City – Buena Park, California
• Splish Splash – Calverton, Long Island
• Quassy Amusement Park and Water Park – Middlebury, Connecticut
• Rapids Water Park – West Palm Beach, Florida
• Great Wolf Lodge – Pocono Mountains, Pennsylvania

A Day out in the Park

A day out in the park might seem a boring way to spend your 2-year-olds birthday. But with proper planning, you can make it a day filled with lots of fun and activities. The most important thing is to spend quality time with your toddler, to really focus on them and the types of things that they enjoy doing.

With spending a day out in the park you can invite some friends and family to join for a wonderful day with a delicious picnic for everyone and if they would like to bring along some Inexpensive gifts for nieces and nephews, they can. At the park, you can arrange different activities for your little one to enjoy. Some ideas are:

• Kicking and throwing a ball around
• Blowing and catching bubbles
• Having a ride-on toy for them to enjoy
• Flying a kite
• Explore the park with them, the trees, leaves, different plants and insects 
• Collect different stones, leaves or twigs
• Play games, like “I spy” or “how many do you see?”
• Organize a mini treasure hunt with small toys

A day in the park is a wonderful and relaxing place for grandparents to come along to and they might even bring along some grandparent-grandchild activity set which will help keep your little one busy.