As the parent of a two year old you know there are new challenges, changes, and opportunities to share every day with your child. Here are some of the developmental milestones you can expect during your child’s 2nd year.
Physically your child will show the following motor skills, routines, and specific skills.
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- Joy of activity
- Runs more than walks
- Likes to fill and empty cans, etc. with sand or water
- Likes to knock down blocks
- Grasps spoon between thumb and index finger
- Messy or spotless eater
- Susceptible to respiratory infections
- Can ride kiddie cars
- Helps dress himself with help from parents
- Can use one foot up and down stairs
- Steady growth with perfection of basic skills already acquired
The development of your two year old’s emotional feelings of affection, anger, fear, jealousy, anxiety, and sympathy are shown below.
- May be selfish
- Sometimes lacks control
- Cries easily, frequent outbursts of anger
- Shows affection spontaneously
- Cries when he fails to do what he wants to do
- Shy periods with strangers
- Persistent drive for mastery of environment makes him show frustration and temper
- Awareness of self as independent is important to later development of social consciousness
Socially, your two year old may be showing the following personal behavior in relation to other children, adults, and groups.
- Self Centered
- Negativism – “No”
- Enjoys solitary play
- Definite social responses
- Attacks playmates physically
- Conforms domestically
- Watches other children play
- Something of a “Dawdler”
- Social contact with peers is primitive in nature
- Discriminates between those he likes and dislikes
- gives and receives affections
Two year olds are developing mentally at a very fast rate. Their language, curiosity, investigation, exploration, and questions lead them to becoming a “thinking animal”. You may see the following things with your two year old.
- Motor minded
- Acquires words
- Chatters happily
- Short attention span
- Strong imitation
- Beginning of reasoning
- Likes to investigate and touch things with hands and mouth
- Not logical
- Where? What? questions
- Knows night and day
- Names objects
- Listens to stories with pictures over and over again
- Searcher for sensory experiences