Between two and three years of age, your child will continue to develop new skills in many areas. You can expect strong emotions, pretend play, more words, and lots of cuddles! This article provides a list of the typical speech and language milestones most children will achieve at this age.
Play milestones:
Play next to other children but may not play with them
May begin to play with other children but may not directly interact with others during play (e.g., use the same play equipment with other children at the same time but not for a shared activity)
Treat dolls or stuffed animals as if they are alive
Begin to use more imagination with common objects (i.e., use a stick as a sword, pretend to fill up a toy car with gas)
Play themes reflected in less common events (e.g., visiting the doctor)
Include storylines and more details in play
Social milestones:
Introduce new topics when changing topics
Clarify when someone does not understand them and ask for clarification when they do not understand
Provide details to enhance understanding
Begin to adapt speech to different listeners
Engage in short conversations
Express emotions
Use language in an imaginative way
Follow rules and use some polite terms
Understand others may feel differently than they do
Speech milestones
Use p, b, m, h, w, t, d, and n in words
k, g, f, s sounds are emerging
Use a variety of vowels sounds such as ‘oo’, ‘ah’, ‘ay’, ‘oy’, ‘ee’, ‘oh’, ‘uh’, ‘eye’
Understood by parents 50–75% of the time
May leave off harder sounds (e.g., “ba” for “ball”, “bat”, or “bus”) or repeat easier sounds (e.g., “baba” for “bubbles”)
Use a variety of syllable shapes including vowel consonant (“eat”), consonant vowel (“bye”), CVCV (“baby”)
Expressive language milestones:
Have at least 100–200 words and add more each week
Use words like “in”, “on”, and “under”
Talk about things that are not in the room
Use verbs, nouns, and adjectives
Use two- and three-word phrases
Ask “why” questions
Use verbs with “-ing” ending (e.g., going, falling eating)
Use -s ending for plurals (cars, apples)
Begin to use possessive -s (baby’s bottle)
Receptive language milestones:
Understand opposites (e.g., “go” versus “stop”)
Follow two-part directions (e.g., get the ball and put it in the box)
Understand in, on, out of
Start to understand basic concepts: wet/dry, big/little, hot/cold
It is important to remember these are milestones for most children at this age, but each child develops at their own rate. However, if your child has not met a significant number of these milestones or if you are concerned with your child's development, please see your family doctor who can do a thorough assessment and suggest next steps.
We offer speech and language assessments and therapy for children of all ages.
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