2 – 3 years
- Your toddler will probably reach lots of milestones between the ages of 2 and 3!
- They will still require a lot of sleep – usually around 12 -13 hours within a 24 hour period!
- “Tantrums” are really common around this age as toddlers learn how to understand and express feelings.
- Your toddler will be learning to talk about things that happen in the day, for example “Mummy go work”.
- They may start to understand different concepts such as “big” and “small”, and they may be able to identify different body parts and what they are for.
- Your toddler will likely start to enjoy more imaginative play such as dressing up, or having tea parties, or playing with small world and role play toys.
- Your toddler may enjoy helping you with tasks around the house like cleaning, or putting washing in the machine. This is great for helping them boost their physical skills, as well as giving them an interest in chores as they get older!
- They may enjoy playing together with other children at this stage.
- Your toddler’s physical and self help skills will show big changes – they are likely to throw and kick with ease, they may be able to jump on the spot, make marks with a variety of tools, and turn the pages of a book.
3 years +
- Your pre-schooler will be learning about and be able to try and express more emotions, thoughts and feelings. They are beginning to show an awareness and care for other living things, and the people around them.
- Your child may be learning about “taking turns” and “sharing”, though this skill won’t be fully developed until your child is a little older.
- Your pre-schooler is likely to be using sentences of around 3-5 words, possibly more, and can generally identify their body parts and what they’re used for. By around 4 years, your child will usually be speaking in longer sentences and will probably enjoy jokes and tricks with their special people and peers – for example; “Mummy thought I was hiding!”
- You will probably hear lots of “Why” and “Where” and “How” questions at this stage – this is because your child is experiencing a period of huge brain development which means they are taking on lots of new knowledge!
- Your child will be gaining more memory skills - they will be starting to understand and enjoy family events such as birthdays, and Christmas.
- Your pre-schooler will generally be toilet trained by 4 years of age and will generally be able to use the toilet independently, but may still need help with wiping and undoing buttons on jeans.
- They may be able to identify some simple colours and shapes, and make some recognisable marks with creative materials, such as people, shapes, or letters and numbers.
We have a range of programmes available for families with children aged 1 -3 years – more information can be found here:
