Two Years Old

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Please remember that every child grows and develops at his own rate and that no two children are exactly alike at a given age.

Motor Development

• By now your child’s walking ability has been mastered and his walking rhythm is more even.
• He is able to visually monitor his walking in order to be able to deal with obstacles in his path by avoiding them.
• He can walk an approximate straight line and enjoys walking on low walls or curbs with one hand held. You may also observe your child walking backwards or on tip toe.
• When walking up or down stairs he places both feet on each step and still needs to hold on.
• Toddler runs fairly well and does so quite easily from standing start. He usually runs from one place to another rather than walking.
• Toddler tries to balance on one foot at times, but is still not successful without holding on.
• You may observe your toddler jumping crudely with a two-foot take off. He may be even brave enough to try this from a low step or curb.
• Toddler continues to experiment with various kinds of large muscle activities involving thrust or acceleration. He likes to push and pull large toys or boxes around the floor. He likes to throw things and does so overhand rather than tossing underhand.
• Your child may now be able to kick a large ball successfully without falling or stepping on the ball.
• Toddler likes to climb and is able to climb up and stand on a chair.

Fine Motor Development

• Toddler can build a tower of six or more blocks and is able to work pop-it beads and string large wooden beads.
• He manipulates more freely with one hand than the other, but still continues to use both hands. Some two year olds may have already developed right or left handedness.
• You will notice that toddler now has an increased smoothness of coordination in fine motor movements (for example, toddler is now able to turn and manipulate puzzle pieces or shapes from a shape sorter to fit into their current spaces or holes).

Language Development

• Your two year old continues to understand more words than he is able to use and has by now discarded the use of jargon and babbling.
• You may notice your two year old has a vocabulary of fifty or more words.
• He begins to put two words together which is a major milestone in language. He may also use a two word sentence made up of a subject and verb.
• Toddler continues to enjoy simple stories and rhymes. He is quite interested in sound and repetition and may request to hear the same story or song over and over again.
• Toddler can name almost everything with which he has day to day contact at home or on walks.
• Toddler may also be able to give first and last name.
• Toddler is beginning to use pronouns, but not always correctly, and often uses his first name in reference to himself.

Social Development

• Your two year old is still dependent on adults for all his major needs. He is more responsive to and demanding of the adult.
• He comes when he is called and likes to be your “little helper,” but on the other hand, he wants his own way in everything and is assuming a more self-sufficient attitude.
• Generally the two year old likes to please others and is hurt quite easily by reprimand or disapproval.
• He doesn’t yet understand the principle of cooperation, but is able to cooperate most of the time.
• Around two years of age, your child will discover that words can make a family member pay attention, offer praise, or do things for him.
• He also likes to control others and orders them around.
• The two year old is still unable to share his possessions. He does not understand what belongs to him and will hold onto it or even hide it from others.
• Toddler frustrates easily and may show some aggressiveness at times in the form of slapping, biting or pushing. He will use such words as “It’s mine,” “I don’t want to,” etc. to replace or accompany temper tantrums.
• Your two year old will be a joy to have around. He is able to accept shared attention and has a genuine interest in the mother-baby relationship. You may observe your toddler imitating you by loving, feeding, holding and putting a doll to bed. He loves to watch and imitate adult activities.
• Toddler expresses love for parents and other favorite people and is eager to share experiences with them. He often tells of events he has experienced recently.

Learning

• Toddler is able to follow simple directions and will put things back in place when asked. He will pick up toys on request but needs encouragement as his attention span is short and he may play with each toy as he puts it away!
• Toddler’s understanding of time is limited. He has no concept of clock or calendar time. However, he is learning to wait for things and understands what “soon” means. He also anticipates routine events (nap after lunch, bath before bed, etc.).
• Toddler is very curious about animals, people, objects, etc. and may be seen actively exploring his environment by building, knocking down, emptying, pulling apart, squeezing and feeling all objects available to him.
• Loves to look at books and TV and is able to identify familiar objects on book pages or TV screen. He also recognizes when a picture is upside down and delights in looking at things from a different point of view.
• Toddler may be beginning to show a sense of humor and loves to play teasing games with adults.
• Toddler is also learning many self-help routines, such as:
  1. Unwrapping candy and packages
  2. Turning on the water faucet
  3. Brushing his own teeth (with supervision)
  4. Washing and drying his own hands with some help
  5. Turning doorknobs and opening doors
  6. Opening the refrigerator door
  7. Helping in dressing and undressing, putting on simple garments
  8. Asking for food or drink when hungry or thirsty
  9. Asking to go to the toilet (if toilet training is in progress)
• As you can see, toddler is beginning independence.

Age Appropriate Toys

• Toddler is using fewer toys, he likes to imitate and this becomes one of his favorite pastimes (beginning to “pretend play”).
• Toddler loves to swing and delights at going up in the air.
• Sand and water play fascinate the two year old.
• Kiddie cars, trains, toy telephone, rocking horse -- any action toy.
• Music -- enjoys dancing and includes running, turning in circles and bouncing up and down.
• Toddler plays happily if near adults and also plays quite well with older children.

Safety

• Although your two year old can probably be trusted alone on stairs with gates, supervision when climbing stairs is strongly advised.
• Imitation play should be JUST THAT -- don’t let your toddler, for example, clean windows with window cleaner on his cloth. Toddler is still exploring and can’t separate all dangerous situations from safe ones.
• Toddler can reach almost anywhere by climbing and can figure out how to move chairs, toys, etc. near what he wants in order to use them as a step. All poisons should be in a locked cabinet!
• Continue to keep your child in a car safety seat at all times on car trips.

Vitamins

• Around two years of age, children tend to get “picky” about what they eat. If your child is not eating a well balanced diet, he may start a chewable daily vitamin supplement. Make sure the child understands that these are not candy and keep vitamins (like all medication) out of his potential reach.

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