Motor Development

• Your young preschooler is learning to combine the use of fingers, palm of hand and the wrist to perform activities such as unscrewing lids and turning door knobs, so be aware of areas or items that your preschooler may not have been able to get in to previously.  Since she can now access new areas, do a safety check around the house taking into account your preschooler's increasing abilities and curiosity
• With lots of newly accomplished physical skills, your child may now seem to be always on the move
• Loves to play chasing games
• Loves to slide down slides, and enjoys swinging and running
• May show a desire to learn how to pedal a tricycle
• Attempts learning to jump up and down - it still takes a bit of effort to do this
• May be able to balance on one foot

Intellectual and Language Development

• Begins to form an understanding about the concepts of "soon" and "after lunch".  However, he doesn't understand broader concepts such as the days of the week or time
• Begins to think problems through in his head
• Starts to understand simple classification concepts such as "a dog is an animal"
• Language is flourishing.  Your toddler will combine nouns and verbs to create simple 3-4 word sentences and also start using pronouns such as "I" and "me"

Social and Emotional Development

• Learns about rules through trial and error
• Begins to explain about how he's feeling by using simple phrases and gestures
• Starts to learn how to play with other children. Will need adult guidance to learn about taking turns and sharing toys
• May have tantrums when feeling angry and frustrated
• Loves putting band aids on boo-boos
• Insists on dressing herself
• Can have quite a lot of mood swings
• May enjoy playgroups - developing the idea of what a "friend" is
• Likes to follow siblings around and copy them
• May swap from crib to bed - stick to a bedtime routine to make the transition smooth

Related Tips

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• Encouraging toddlers to eat more fruits and veggies
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• Shopping with your child (age 2-4)
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