Developmental Milestones at 2 years of age

Developmental Milestones at  2 years of age

What to expect from my a 2 years old child ?

Children develop rapidly at this age. If you have any concerns about your child’s development tell your doctor. A “wait and see” attitude will not work. You can also contact your Pediatrician to refer you to a developmental Pediatrician if your child is not achieving certain milestones or shows concerns in their development. Early Intervention Program have  better outcomes .

How  would your child express at this age ?

At 2-2 1⁄2, children have about 50 or more words they use to express their ideas. These words are people’s names, objects, action words and words that describe actions or things. Parents should keep in mind these types of words when talking to their children. Encourage them to add new words in conversations. Enjoy your child’s efforts to use language, even when they make mistakes.

What are the motor skills the child is expected to have acquired  ?

Between two and three years of age, your child shall become a very skilled jumper. He/ she shall begin by jumping in place on both feet. Next, jumping forward, then backwards, and then sideways. In addition, your child would learn to jump two inches high. Two-year-olds love to jump, but the child is yet to learn what he / she may and may not jump from. In a two-year-old child, balance is improving. Between two and two and a half years of age, they learn to walk on tiptoes, stand on one foot for a second, and take two or three steps on a balance beam.

Using stairs: The child no longer need to hold onto your hand or a rail. They may walk up the stairs by themselves. They do, however, continue to place both feet on each step as they go up the stairs. They get better at going down the stairs, but  they still need to hold onto the rail. Between two and a half and three years of age, they walk upstairs alternating their feet placing only one foot on each step. Since alternating their feet is new , they may usually hold onto the rail.

Play. The two-year-old is an excellent climber. Between two and three years of age, their ball skills continue to improve. They learn to throw a ball five to seven feetunderhand, to catch a ball with straight arms in front of my body, and to kick a ball a few feet.

Your child would have expertise in some fine movement skills too by this age.

Putting in, building up, and putting together: In addition to putting circles and squares into a shape sorter, the two-year old can put a triangle into it. By two and a half years of age, your child can imitate a simple train made out of blocks and build a tower using eight blocks.

Writing. As a two-year-old your child may have a much better understanding of what he or she should and should not write on. With practice they may learn to hold a crayon or pencil with my thumb and fingers, and by three years of age, I can copy a circle. They may or may not show a hand preference by this age.

As the fine motor skills become more refined, your child can do very simple craft activities. He or she may enjoy projects that involve paint, scissors, and glue. At first, the child does best with finger paints, but soon they learn to paint with a brush. When they come across a first pair of scissors, they can barely hold them with both hands. By the time they are two and a half years old, they will hold a pair of scissors in one hand and snip a piece of paper in the other. As the child near three, they will snip on a line using scissors, but remember all craft activities require your constant supervision.

Electronic media and its influence on attention and achievement:

A main concern of parents these days is how media technology affects their child’s learning and development. The impact depends on the content. One thing researchers have found is that toddlers do not learn easily from electronic media because they need direct experience and interaction with real people to develop cognitively.

NOW do you know these facts ?

If you have concerns about your child’s ability to communicate, have his or her hearing tested even if this was done in the newborn period because the MOST obvious sign of possible hearing loss is a delay in speech.

Activity time with your child :

Make reading with yourchild part of the dailyroutine. Books and readingencourage development in acouple of ways especially language and learning, but also book-handling skills in young children give you an idea about fine motorskills.

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