By your child’s second birthday, they will be curious and adventurous as they test out all the new skills they’ve learned in the first two years of their life. As they continue to grow, they will learn more about communicating, socializing, and moving their little bodies to play and explore.
To ensure your child is developing their skills well, you should know what milestones they should achieve in this next year of their life. Here’s a quick look at the milestones your child should reach between ages two and three.
By 30 Months
Six months after your child’s second birthday, they will learn even more skills in communication, movement, and socialization. Some of the milestones they should reach by two and a half years (or 30 months) are:
- Plays next to other children and sometimes plays with them
- Shows you what they can do by saying, “Look at me!”
- Follow simple routines when told, like helping to pick up toys when you say, “It’s clean-up time.”
- Knows and uses about 50 words
- Can say simple sentences with two or more words, like “Play dolly”
- Names things in a book when you point and ask what it is
- Starts using pronouns like “I,” “me,” or “we”
- Plays pretend with objects, like feeding play food to a baby doll
- Can solve simple problems, like standing on a small stool to reach something
- Is learning colors and can identify (by pointing) one or two colors when you ask
- Uses hands to twist things, like turning door knobs
- Can take some clothes off, like socks, or an open jacket
- Jumps off the ground with both feet
- Turns book pages when you read to them
By 36 Months
By three years old, your child will have increased their vocabulary markedly. They will be more communicative and social, able to follow simple directions, and will ask tons of questions to learn more about the world around them. Some milestones for this age include:
- Able to spend time away from you without too much fuss, like at daycare
- Plays with other children
- Can have simple conversations
- Asks lots of “who,” “what,” “where,” and “why” questions
- Can say what action is happening in a picture book when you ask
- Knows their first name
- Talks well enough for others to understand most of the time
- Can draw a circle
- Builds towers with blocks
- Avoids touching hot objects like a stove when you warn them
- Can follow longer instructions, like “Put down the ball and come here”
- Can thread large beads or macaroni on a string
- Can put on some clothes by themselves, like a jacket or pants
- Uses a fork to eat their food
How We Treat These Missed Milestones
By about three years old, your child should be very communicative and playful. If your child has not quite reached some of the milestones listed above, pediatric therapy can help them learn and practice these skills. For example:
- A child between two and three years old who can’t draw a circle, thread large beads, or use a fork can benefit from occupational therapy to improve their fine motor skills.
- A child in this age group who doesn’t know around 50 words, or whom others don’t understand very well, can receive speech and language therapy and occupational therapy to improve their ability to communicate and socialize with others.
- A child in this age group who struggles to feed themselves or is a “picky eater” can do feeding therapy to gain these important skills, which they’ll need once they start school or daycare.
- And a child in this age group who isn’t physically active, can’t jump with both feet in the air, or has poor balance or flexibility can benefit from physical and/or occupational therapy to improve their strength, muscle control, and other motor skills.
At our clinic, we can help with all of these situations and more. If your child needs pediatric therapy, we can help get them on the road to success. Call us at (318) 746-1199 today for a free phone screening!
