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Child Development: Age 2+

Here are some of the developmental goals you can expect your child to reach during the 2 – 3 years stage. Remember that all kids learn at a different pace, so don’t worry if yours hasn’t hit all of the developmental milestones yet.

 

By the time your child turns 3 years old:

Social

• Imitates adults and playmates
• Spontaneously shows affection for familiar playmates
• Can take turns in games
• Understands concept of "mine" and "his/hers"

Emotional

• Expresses affection openly
• Expresses a wide range of emotions
• By 3, separates easily from parents
• Objects to major changes in routine

Cognitive

• Makes mechanical toys work
• Matches an object in his/her hand or room to a picture in a book
• Plays make-believe with toys, dolls, animals, and people
• Sorts objects by shape and colour
• Completes puzzles with three or four pieces
• Understands concept of "two"

Language

• Follows a two- or three-part command
• Recognizes and identifies almost all common objects and pictures
• Understands most sentences
• Understands placement in space ("on," "in," "under")
• Uses 4- to 5-word sentences
• Can say name, age, and sex
• Uses pronouns (I, you, me, we, they) and some plurals (cars, dogs, cats)
• Strangers can understand most of his/her words

Movement

• Climbs well
• Walks up and down stairs, alternating feet (one foot per stair step)
• Runs easily
• Pedals tricycle
• Bends over easily without falling

Hand and Finger Skills

• Makes up-and-down, side-to-side, and circular lines with pencil or crayon
• Turns book pages one at a time
• Builds a tower of more than six blocks
• Holds a pencil in writing position
• Screws and unscrews jar lids, nuts, and bolts
• Turns rotating handles

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