Developmental Milestone: 2 Years
It’s time for developmental screening!
At 2 years, your child is due for general developmental screening, as recommended for all children by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Ask the doctor about your child’s developmental screening.
What Most Children Do by this Age:
Social/Emotional:
Copies others, especially adults and older children
Gets excited when with other children
Shows more and more independence
Shows defiant behavior (doing what he has been told not to)
Plays mainly beside other children, but is beginning to include other children, such as in chase games
Language/Communication:
Points to things or pictures when they are named
Knows names of familiar people and body parts
Says sentences with 2 to 4 words
Follows simple instructions
Repeats words overheard in conversation
Points to things in a book
Cognitive (learning, thinking, problem-solving):
Finds things even when hidden under two or three covers
Begins to sort shapes and colors
Completes sentences and rhymes in familiar books
Plays simple make-believe games
Builds towers of 4 or more blocks
Might use one hand more than the other
Follows two-step instructions such as “Pick up your shoes and put them in the closet.”
Names items in a picture book, such as a cat, bird, or dog
Movement/Physical Development:
Stands on tiptoe
Kicks a ball
Begins to run
Climbs onto and down from furniture without help
Walks up and down stairs, holding on
Throws a ball overhand
Makes or copies straight lines and circles
What You Can Do for Your 2-Year-Old:
Encourage your child to help with simple chores at home, like sweeping and making dinner. Praise your child for being a good helper.
At this age, children still play next to (not with) each other and don’t share well. For play dates, give the children lots of toys to play with. Watch the children closely and step in if they fight or argue.
Give your child attention and praise when they follow instructions. Limit attention for defiant behavior. Spend a lot more time praising good behaviors than punishing bad ones.
Teach your child to identify and say body parts, animals, and other common things.
Do not correct your child when they say words incorrectly. Rather, say it correctly. For example, “That is a ball.”
Encourage your child to say a word instead of pointing. If your child can’t say the whole word (“milk”), give them the first sound (“m”) to help. Over time, you can prompt your child to say the whole sentence — “I want milk.”
Hide your child’s toys around the room and let them find them.
Help your child do puzzles with shapes, colors, or farm animals. Name each piece when your child puts it in place.
Encourage your child to play with blocks. Take turns building towers and knocking them down.
Do art projects with your child using crayons, paint, and paper. Describe what your child makes and hang it on the wall or refrigerator.
Ask your child to help you open doors and drawers and turn pages in a book or magazine.
Once your child walks well, ask them to carry small things for you.
Kick a ball back and forth with your child. When your child is good at that, encourage them to run and kick.
Take your child to the park to run and climb on equipment or walk on nature trails. Watch your child closely.