Did You Know at 2 Years Old I Can ...

Language Development

• Enjoy simple stories, rhymes, and songs
• Use phrases and three- to five-word sentences
• Have a growing vocabulary
• Hum or try to sing
• Enjoy looking at books
• Repeat words
• Say the names of toys

Read to me each day, using books with large pictures and few words. Point to the words when you read to me, which helps me understand how the reading process works. Encourage me to identify letters and their sounds, especially the letters in my name. Offer me writing materials so I can scribble, draw, or pretend to write. I am still learning to control my hands and arms, and I may do better with larger pieces of paper. I also like to stand up to draw, so an easel or big piece of paper taped to the wall might help.

Try to add to the number of words I know. When I ask for something in my own way, say the correct words out loud, but don’t make me repeat you. You can also add new information to what I am saying. For example, say, “Yes, that is a car. It is a big, red car.”

Cognitive Development

• Find items that may be hidden under things
• Sort objects by colors and shapes
• Follow simple two-step instructions
• Begin to identify common objects
• Build towers with blocks
• Enjoy simple puzzles

Help me complete puzzles with shapes, colors, or farm animals and name each piece when I put it in place. Encourage me to identify not only common objects, but also common noises like the vacuum cleaner, running tap water, thunder, airplanes, dogs barking, and others. Give me clear and simple choices like, “Do you want to wear green or blue socks?” or “Do you want milk or juice?” Ask me questions to identify common objects or instruct me to pass a specific item (“Can you pass me your sippy cup?” or “Can you hand me that block?”)

Physical Development

• Walk backward
• Walk up and down stairs when holding a handrail
• Push, pull, fill, pour, and dump
• Turn the pages of a book
• Scribble with crayons and markers
• Toss, catch, roll, and kick a large ball
• Jump in place
• Walk on my tiptoes
• Pedal a tricycle
• Stoop or squat
• Have almost a full set of teeth

Make sure I am eating healthy meals and getting enough servings of fruits and vegetables each day. Also, limit my intake of sugary drinks, including juice. Give me plenty of safe, open space to play and explore with adequate supervision.

Social/Emotional Development

• Help put things away
• Play alongside others more than with them
• Imitate others
• Become easily frustrated and possibly throw a temper tantrum
• Enjoy simple make-believe activities, such as talking on the phone
• Be very possessive (I may offer toys to others, but then I want them back.)
• Show defiant behavior

Provide safe, well-monitored places where I can have some alone time. An old cardboard box or a blanket over a card table can be a great “fort.” Do not expect me to share or take turns at this stage. Right now, I am focused on learning how to move my body and talk. I will learn to share later.

Self-Help Skill Development

• Turn doorknobs to open cabinets, drawers, and doors
• Pull off and begin to put on my own clothes
• Brush my teeth with help
• Insist on trying to do tasks by myself
• Show more and more independence

Allow me to help you with simple chores like picking up my toys or putting my clothes in the laundry basket. Praise me for being a good helper. Help me learn objects and materials in my environment by naming the items you are using.

Teach me a new song!

Twinkle, twinkle, little star

How I wonder what you are

Up above the world so high

Like a diamond in the sky

Twinkle, twinkle, little star

How I wonder what you are

Teach me this fingerplay!

If you’re happy and you know it,

Clap your hands. (clap, clap)

If you’re happy and you know it,

Clap your hands. (clap, clap)

If you’re happy and you know it,

Then your face will surely show it. (point to mouth with both hands, smiling)

If you’re happy and you know it,

Clap your hands. (clap, clap)

If you’re happy and you know it, stomp your feet…(stomp feet two times)

If you’re happy and you know it, shout hooray!... (jump up with hands in the air)

Here are some books that I may enjoy:

Llama, Llama, Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney

Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom by Bill Martin Jr.

Love You Forever by Robert Munsch

Toddle Waddle by Julia Donaldson

Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson

Sheep in a Jeep by Nancy Shaw

I am getting more mobile and curious and learning about my world. Make sure everything is baby-proofed and that I can’t get to dangerous objects and liquids.

There are toys you can make for me using things from around the house, like a shaker bottle.

Materials

• water bottles
• water
• food coloring
• tape
• glitter
• beads or other items for inside the bottle

Instructions

1. Fill the bottle with glitter, beads, or other items.
2. Fill the bottle with water and add food coloring as desired.
3. Make sure the top is securely fastened to the bottle, using tape or hot glue.
4. Shake the bottle and watch the items float around.

Make an obstacle course for me!

You can use items that you find around your home to create an obstacle course! Use items like pillows, blankets, baskets, towels, chairs, basketballs, a drum, ball pit, hula hoop, and cardboard boxes and set them up as an obstacle course. You can do this inside on a cold or rainy day or outdoors! Include activities in the course like:

• Shooting a ball in a basket
• Climbing on top of pillows
• Jumping into the hula hoop (or a circle made out of other materials)
• Crawling under chairs
• Crawling through a tunnel
• Banging a drum or tambourine

Sleep helps me grow and develop. I should get 11–14 hours of sleep a day.

Safety note: Any toys or materials that can fit inside a paper towel roll can be choking hazards for infants and toddlers. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, any object handled by young children should be at least 1.25 inches in diameter and 2.25 inches long.

Remember that each child develops at his or her own rate, and this handout is meant only as a guide of what to expect of your child’s development at this age.

For more information about parenting and developmental milestones, contact your county Extension office or visit extension.msstate.edu.

References

American Academy of Pediatrics. 2010. Policy statement—prevention of choking among children.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2022. Your child at 2 years.

National Sleep Foundation. 2020. How much sleep do you really need?

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Publication 2656 (POD-08-24)

By Louise E. Davis, PhD, former Extension Professor; Elizabeth Thorne, PhD, Project Manager; and Mary Hannah Mills, MS, Project Manager, Human Sciences.