Toddler Milestones - what should your toddler be doing

The following page gives the usual age at which different toddler milestones are reached during the period 24 to 36 months (2 to 3 years of age). For other ages, see the links at the bottom of the page.

Each age band has the development described in terms of motor, fine motor, language and personal/social development as that is how professionals assess development. Different areas have prominence at different ages.

From 2 years of age, you will notice your toddler's speech and language development really progressing to the stage where they can have a conversation with you by 3 years of age.

24 months toddler developmental milestones

Motor Development

At 24 months, your toddler will be able to:

kick a ball
run
walk upstairs holding on using two feet per step

Fine Motor / Vision Development

At 24 months, your toddler will be able to:

unscrew the top of a jar
build a tower of 6 using 1 inch cube wooden bricks
copy a vertical line
turn pages one at a time

Your toddler will also be developing hand preference, so will be starting to favor either the right or left hand.

Speech and Language Development

At 24 months, your toddler will be able to:

put two words together - like "daddy gone", "mummy home"
name 4 or 5 body parts
identify 5 pictures in a picture book - for example, your child will be able to point to objects you name
use about 50 words

Personal / Social Development

At 24 months, your toddler will be able to:

play alone
put socks and shoes on
give her first name
tell you when she wants to toilet
to have a major temper tantrum!!

30 months toddler milestones

Motor Development

At 30 months, if your child has reached normal toddler milestone, she will be able to:

throw a ball overarm

Fine Motor / Vision Development

At 30 months, your toddler will be able to:

thread beads onto a string
copy a horizontal line

Speech and Language Development

At 30 months, your toddler will be able to:

use more than 200 words
understand prepositions like "under", "in", "behind"

Personal / Social Development

At 30 months, your toddler will be able to:

give full name and sex
feed skillfully with a spoon

36 months toddler milestones

Motor Development

At 36 months, if your child has reached normal toddler milestones, she will be able to:

stand on one foot
go upstairs one foot per step
ride a tricycle

Fine Motor / Vision Development

At 36 months, your toddler will:

build a 9 cube tower using 1 inch cube wooden bricks
build a 3 cube bridge using 1 inch cube wooden bricks
copy a circle
use a tripod grasp on a pencil
turn pages one page at a time
show hand preference

Speech and Language Development

At 36 months, your child, if she is following normal toddler milestones, will be able to:

identify 3 colors if asked
name 8 pictures in a picture book
ask lots of questions - "what is ...?", "why..."
hold a good conversation
use plurals
count to 10
understand simple negatives

Personal / Social Development

At 36 months, your toddler will be able to:

dress and undress
play with other children
do up buttons
understand sharing with other children

When to be concerned

If your child has not reached the following toddler milestones or is demonstrating the following signs, see your doctor:

if your toddler is using a fisted grasp or grip at age 3 years
if your toddler is unable to make her needs known at age 3 years

References

Martin Bellman and John Cash. Schedule of Growing Skills. NEFR-Nelson. ISBN 0 7005 1161 X
Mary Sheridan. From birth to five years. NFER-NELSON. ISBN 0 85633 074 4

For infants from birth to six months of age, click here

For infants from 6 to 12 months of age, click here

For toddler milestones from 1 to 2 years of age, click here

For toddlers from 2 to 3 years of age, click here

For toddlers from 3 to 4 years of age, click here

For children from 4 to 5 years of age, click here

To go to the main Development page, click here

To return to the Home page, click here

Last reviewed 14 April 2007