What should your child be able to do or say at 24 to 36 months? Take a look at this list of milestones and see if your child needs speech therapy, physical therapy, or occupational therapy.
24-30 Months
- Standing on one foot with hands on hips
- Walking upstairs using two feet on each stair
- Jumping 24 inches both forward and down
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Established hand preference
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Grasping a cup with one hand without spilling
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Grasping spoon and turning hand to bring to mouth
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Turning pages 1 at a time
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Building a tower using 8 cubes
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Folding paper in half
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Cutting on line
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Turning door knobs and jar lids
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Stringing half inch beads
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Recognizing outline of familiar pictures
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Vocabulary grows from 100 words 450 words.
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Using 2-3 word phrases
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Speech is 50-75% understandable
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Making the following sounds: “b”, “m”, “p”, “d”, “t”, “h”
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Using pronouns (my, me, mine, you) in phrases
FUN FACT: On average, a 2-year old’s vocabulary increases by 5 words every day.*
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Beginning to brush teeth if adult puts paste on and does the main brushing
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Undressing self with only help with fasteners and pullovers with narrow necks
- Biting and chewing foods of various thickness
- Moving from drinking from a bottle to drinking from an open cup without spilling
- Beginning to use a fork
- A highchair is no longer needed
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Consistently following 2-step directions will become common
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Understanding and answering “where” and “what” questions will become consistent
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Grouping toys by size, shape, and color
- Pretend play and sharing toys with other children and adults
- Following adult-directed tasks
- Consistently greeting familiar and unfamiliar people
FUN FACT: Toddlers are always learning behavior by watching people. Many of their behaviors (both positive and negative) are learned by watching others
- Bubbles
- Balls
- Simple puzzles
- Blocks
- Playdoh
- Sidewalk chalk or large crayons to work on grip/grasp
- Stickers
- Toy cars/trains
- Tricycle
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Regressing physical skills
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Not jumping with feet together
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Complaining of pain with activities
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Difficulty holding a cup or spoon
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Difficulty chewing a variety of textures
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Difficulty tolerating different textures in clothing, foods, and toys
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Talking in phrases that are less than 2 words long
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Not labeling common objects
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Having a small vocabulary
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Not producing “m”, “b”, “p”, “d”, “h”
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Limited eye contact with other people
30-36 Months
- Standing on one foot with hands on hips
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Walking upstairs shifts from using two feet on each stair to alternating feet
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Jumping will increase to 24 inches both forward and down
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Riding a tricycle
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Climbing up rock wall independently
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Completing simple 3-piece puzzle
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Matching identical pictures
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Copying drawing circles
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Pouring liquid from one container directly into another
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Holding a fork with a fist
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Building a 9-block tower
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Making continuous cuts with child-safe scissors
- Vocabulary growing from 100 words to 1,000 words
- Producing full sentences during conversation
- Speech is 75% understandable
- Making the “k” and “g” sounds
- Asking Wh- questions becomes frequent (e.g. what, where, when, whose, etc)
- Beginning to brush teeth with help from adult to put paste on brush and do main brushing
- Dressing self with help with fasteners only
- Putting shoes on with little assistance
- Potty training is almost complete
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Chewing and swallowing “adult food” with lips closed (e.g. steak, raw vegetables, nuts, etc)
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Moving from drinking from an open cup without spilling
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Using a fork and spoon will become an independent task
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A highchair is no longer needed
- 11-14 hours of sleep per day with one 2-hour nap during the day time
- Beginning to transition from crib to toddler bed
- Cuddling is very good at calming during this age
- A weighted blanket may help with calming
- Tolerating new fabrics in clothing
- Tolerating a variety of smells and noises
- Understanding and answering “where” and “what” questions will become consistent
- Consistently following 3-step directions containing “in”, “on”, “next to”
- Understanding time concepts (e.g. soon, later, wait)
- Matching and sorting similar objects and pictures
FUN FACT: By the time toddlers are 3 years old, their brains are almost full size in weight
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Pretend play and sharing toys with other children and adults
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Playing by rules of simple games
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Consistently greeting familiar and unfamiliar people
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Farm and farm animals
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Potato Head
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Balls
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Puzzles
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Tricycle
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Playdoh
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Kitchen / pretend play
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Dolls
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Simple books
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3-wheeled scooter
- Not jumping in place
- Walking on their toes or falling a lot
- Not walking up and down stairs with a handrail
- Shaky, stiff, or weak movements
- Difficulty holding a fork and cup
- Difficulty chewing threw meat and vegetables
- Difficulty tolerating different textures in clothing, foods, and toys
- Talking in phrases that are less than 3 words long
- Having a small vocabulary
- Not producing “m”, “b”, “p”, “d”, “h”, “k”, and/or “g”
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Following multistep directions consistently
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Dealing with and managing emotions related to change
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Completely potty trained
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Following adult-directed tasks without much protest
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Becoming fairly independent (eating lunch, washing hands)
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Avoiding obstacles when walking and walking over various surfaces
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Interacting with other children and adults well