Your toddler's developmental milestones at 2 years
Everything you need to know about your growing 2-year-old.
By the age of 2, your toddler is talking, walking, climbing, jumping, running and bustling with energy. Your child now has a growing vocabulary and acquires new words on a regular basis. They can sort shapes and colours and may even show an interest in potty training. As your little one grows more independent, they may show signs of defiance as they begin to push boundaries and explore the world around them.
Test your knowledge
True or false? Your child's brain develops fastest when they start school.
False! The brain develops most rapidly before birth and during the first two years of life.
To learn more, watch our mini parenting master class on the most important phase of life.
Social and emotional milestones at 2 years
Some of the ways you’ll see your little one learning to connect with the people around them at 2 years:
- Likes to copy adults and other children
- Gets excited when they're with other children
- Is more independent, even more defiant
Tips for parents
- Find opportunities to engage in play and conversations with your toddler. Playtime could be as simple as rolling a ball back and forth, handing you their toys or helping you with safe activities like folding clothes with your supervision. These types of activities can help develop pro-social behaviours by fostering a sense of belonging and collaboration with others.
Language and communication milestones at 2 years
How your toddler is expressing their needs:
- Says short sentences with two to four words
- Points to things when they are named
- Knows familiar body parts
- Recognizes familiar people
- Repeats words they have overheard and follows simple instructions
Tips for parents
- When taking them for a walk, tell them the names of things you see.
Brain development milestones at 2 years
How your child’s brain is growing:
- Starts to sort shapes and colours
- Can find things hidden under multiple layers
- Completes sentences in familiar books
- Plays simple make-believe games
- Builds towers with four or more blocks
- Can follow two-step instructions
- May start to develop a dominant hand
Tips for parents
- Encourage them to go looking around the room for objects you hide and give them hints.
>>Discover learning activities for 2-year-olds
Movement and physical development milestones at 2 years
How they’ll move through their environment:
- Can run, kick a ball and throw a ball overhead
- Climbs up and down from furniture without assistance
- Makes or copies straight lines and circles.
Tips for parents
- Create little fine-motor skills challenges for your toddler, like asking them to turn the page of a book.
Food and nutrition milestones at 2 years
What mealtimes look like at 2 years:
- Chews with full jaw movements
- Uses utensils with some spills
Tips for parents
- Be calm and accepting. Give your child positive attention when they do eat, but don’t make it a problem when they don’t eat. Just take the food away, cover it and offer it to them again a bit later.
Things to look out for
While all children develop differently, you should speak to your paediatrician if your 2-year-old:
- Doesn’t know how to use common objects
- Doesn’t use two-word phrases
- Doesn’t copy actions or repeat words
- Doesn’t follow basic directions
- Can’t walk steadily
- Loses skills they once had
