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Your two year old should know a lot more than they did at their first birthday. There are some important milestone that they should be hitting, but mostly, as long as they are learning new things often, you shouldn’t be majorly concerned. However, there are some warning signs you need to look out for that may indicate a problem. There is also a free printable checklist at the end of the blog post.

Two Year Old Development

You should expect your two year old to advance physically and mentally on a regular basis. Although they can have periods of regression, this should only be minor and around the times when they are teething, going through a growth spurt, or are experiencing some changes in their environment- such as moving to a new house.

Social and Emotional Development

What Social and Emotional Development You Should Expect

• Copy others (especially older children and adults)
• Play excitedly around or with other children
• Become more independent
• Show more defiance and free thinking
• Throw tantrums
• Become more aware that they are separate individuals from others

How to Encourage Their Social and Emotional Development

Teach them to share and play with others and also encourage them to explore on their own as long as they stay close to you. This is a great time to continue teaching them right from wrong and explain to them why we do the things we do, especially after they are done throwing a tantrum. Even as a two year old, your child is able to understand many social cues and emotions. Body language is the most universally understood language we have and kids can understand it just as well, if not better than some adults.

Language and Communication

What Language and Communication Development You Should Expect

• Point to objects when named
• Know body parts
• Know the names of familiar people
• Say 2 to 4 word sentences
• Repeat words overhead in conversation
• Use plural words (dogs, cows, etc.)
• Use basic pronouns (me, my, you, we, etc.)
• Point to pictures in books
• Know and say 50 words by their second birthday, even if they aren’t completely clear, and 200 or more words by their third birthday.

How to Encourage Their Language and Communication Development

Your two year old will understand much more than they can say, so try to understand them as much as you can and continue to engage with them. Tell them about what they can expect and warn them before activities are over. Make sure that you are following a routine, so they will know what to expect daily and they will begin to do their routine on their own as they are physically and mentally able to.

Cognitive (Learning, Problem-Solving, and Thinking)

What Cognitive Development You Should Expect

• Sort shapes and colors
• Complete sentences and rhymes in familiar books
• Play simple make believe games
• Find things when hidden, especially when hidden under two or three objects
• Build towers of 4 or more blocks, preferably 8 or more
• Use one hand more than the other
• Follow two step instructions
• Name images in picture books
• Turn pages in a book
• Scribble
• Group items by type, size or color
• Remember and talk about things that happened in the past, especially while using the phrases “the other day” or “a long time ago”
• Complete small puzzles (3-4 pieces)
• Recite nursery rhymes with you
• Dump out the contents of a container

How to Encourage Their Cognitive Development

Provide them with sensory boards, crayons, and other craft projects. You should also let them read on their own in addition to you reading to them. It isn’t too early for your two year old to begin counting with them and teaching them sequences. They will also enjoy other age appropriate activities that advance their motor skills activities. Have a crafting weekend and let your child see you and your partner sharing supplies and lead by example in other areas as well.

Understand that their tantrums during their terrible twos are a result of them no being able to adequately express themselves in the way they want to, so they are only able to show their frustration. Try distracting them with other objects or maybe by talking to them about what is frustrating them. Don’t punish them for their tantrum, but instead, move them away from whatever is frustrating them.

Movement and Physical Development

What Movement and Physical Development You Should Expect

Your child’s movement and physical development is examined in two parts: gross motor skills and fine motor skills. The gross motor skills are those that require the larger muscles in the body. The fine motor skills are those that require the smaller muscles in the body.

Your child needs to develop both of these skills so they can be better prepared for various tasks and jobs in life. For example, gross motor skills are used more often by athletes, while fine motor skills are used more by craftsmen.

Gross Motor Skills

• Walk
• Run
• Jump
• Stands on tiptoe
• Kick a ball
• Balance on one foot
• Can carry a large toy or several toys while walking
• Can feed themselves, although not neatly
• Climbs onto and down from furniture and playground equipment without help
• Walks up and down the stairs unassisted
• Throws a ball overhand

How To Encourage Their Gross Motor Skills

You can help develop these muscles and skills by allowing your child to play with bubbles, balls, toys, balloons, and outside as well as at the playground. There are also plenty of activities you can do with your two year old with items you have at home to help advance their gross motor skills. This is also a great time for you to introduce them to a tricycle; this is the one I got for my son.

Fine Motor Skills

• Makes or copies straight lines and circles
• Brush their teeth
• Brush their hair
• Turn on faucet and wash hands
• Zipping zippers
• Practicing with snaps
• Holding crayons and utensils with a fist

How To Encourage Their Gross Motor Skills

Get them to continue practicing these things and give them new things to try as well. It may be a good idea to get them an activity board like this one. Homemade play-dough, putty, and paint sets may be a good idea to try as well.

Nutrition

Toddlers should generally eat about ¼ to ½ of what a normal adult would eat, although during growth spurts, children can eat more than this or more frequently.

Your child may become a more picky eater as they begin to discover their own likes and dislikes. Don’t cater to their diets, your child won’t starve if you don’t give them exactly what they want every night. Feed them what you normally feed them and they will eventually eat it, this is just a short term phase.

Children have an easier time trying new foods and eating foods they don’t like if they see their parents eating them. Although it is easy to hide veggies in different foods, it is also good to let them see the veggies in their whole form on their plates, so that they accept eating them as they are.

Sleep

Your two year old will need about 11 hours of sleep a night and about 2 hours during the day. If you haven’t already converted them into a toddler bed, it is a good time to start transitioning him. Some people prefer to keep their child in a crib despite the fact that their child can freely walk.

I converted my son’s crib into a toddler bed as soon as he began walking. I keep his room door closed so he can’t wander around the house at night and I put a couple toys in his room that are safe for him to play with on his own. He does perfectly fine like this.

Should he wake up in the middle of the night and cry for me, I will go check on him and put him back to bed, but sometimes, he just has a late night burst of energy.

When Should I Call the Doctor?

They shouldn’t just be babbling, they should be attempting to say words. Also, be weary if they regress at all, or if you have to repeat yourself many times. Don’t just assume that they are ignoring you, they could have an ear infection or a speech delay, so consult your pediatrician.

If your two year old isn’t hitting most of the above milestones, you should definitely consult your child’s pediatrician. However, you really must call the doctor if your child:

• Makes limited eye contact
• Doesn’t express emotions, especially in response to others and exciting surroundings
• Doesn’t engage in pretend play
• Doesn’t run, or always walks on their tippy toes
• Doesn’t speak, or only makes vowel sounds but no consonants or words

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