What developmental milestones is your 2-year-old reaching? (2024)

How your child plays, learns, speaks, acts, and moves offers important clues about your child’s development. Developmental milestones are things most children (75% or more) can do by a certain age.

Check the milestones your child has reached by 2 years by completing a checklist with CDC’s free Milestone Trackermobile app, foriOSandAndroiddevices, using the Digital Online Checklist, or by printing the checklist [1 MB, 2 Pages, Print Only]below.

“Learn the Signs. Act Early.” materials are not a substitute for standardized, validated developmental screening tools.

What most children do by this age:

Social/Emotional Milestones

  • Notices when others are hurt or upset, like pausing or looking sad when someone is crying
  • Looks at your face to see how to react in a new situation What developmental milestones is your 2-year-old reaching? (2)

Language/Communication Milestones

Cognitive Milestones (learning, thinking, problem-solving)

  • Holds something in one hand while using the other hand; for example, holding a container and taking the lid off

    Audio Description Low Resolution Video

  • Tries to use switches, knobs, or buttons on a toy
  • Plays with more than one toy at the same time, like putting toy food on a toy plate

Movement/Physical Development Milestones

  • Kicks a ball
  • Runs

    Audio Description Low Resolution Video

  • Walks (not climbs) up a few stairs with or without help
  • Eats with a spoon

Notices when others are hurt or upset, like pausing or looking sad when someone is crying

What developmental milestones is your 2-year-old reaching? (8)
Right click here and select “Save Target As…” for hi-resolution image (1 MB)

See Also
Fussy Eaters

Tries to use switches, knobs, or buttons on a toy

What developmental milestones is your 2-year-old reaching? (9)
Right click here and select “Save Target As…” for hi-resolution image (1 MB)

Plays with more than one toy at the same time, like putting toy food on a toy plate

What developmental milestones is your 2-year-old reaching? (10)
Right click here and select “Save Target As…” for hi-resolution image (961 KB)

Kicks a ball

What developmental milestones is your 2-year-old reaching? (11)
Right click here and select “Save Target As…” for hi-resolution image (882 KB)

Walks (not climbs) up a few stairs with or without help

What developmental milestones is your 2-year-old reaching? (12)
Right click here and select “Save Target As…” for hi-resolution image (1 MB)

Eats with a spoon

What developmental milestones is your 2-year-old reaching? (13)
Right click here and select “Save Target As…” for hi-resolution image (975 KB)

Other important things to share with the doctor…

  • What are some things you and your baby do together?
  • What are some things your baby likes to do?
  • Is there anything your baby does or does not do that concerns you?
  • Has your baby lost any skills he/she once had?
  • Does your baby have any special healthcare needs or was he/she born prematurely?

Download CDC’s free Milestone Tracker App

View

Concerned About Your Child’s Development?
Act Early.

You know your child best. Don’t wait. If your child is not meeting one or more milestones, has lost skills he or she once had, or you have other concerns, act early. Talk with your child’s doctor, share your concerns, and ask about developmental screening. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children be screened for general development using standardized, validated tools at 9, 18, and 30 months and for autism at 18 and 24 months or whenever a parent or provider has a concern.

If you or the doctor are still concerned:

  1. Ask for a referral to a specialist who can evaluate your child more; and
  2. Call your state or territory’s early intervention program to find out if your child can get services to help. Learn more and find the number at cdc.gov/FindEI.

For more on how to help your child, visit cdc.gov/Concerned.

Special acknowledgments to the subject matter experts and others who contributed to the review of data and selection of developmental milestones, especially Paul H. Lipkin, MD, Michelle M. Macias, MD, Julie F. Pajek, PhD, Judith S. Shaw, EdD, MPH, RN, Karnesha Slaughter, MPH, Jane K. Squires,PhD, Toni M. Whitaker, MD, Lisa D. Wiggins, PhD, and Jennifer M. Zubler, MD.

Sincere gratitude to Natalia Benza, MD and José O. Rodríguez, MD, MBA for their thoughtful review of the Spanish-language translation of these milestones.

What developmental milestones is your 2-year-old reaching? (2024)

FAQs

What developmental milestones is your 2-year-old reaching? ›

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.

What milestones are achieved by 2 years 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.

What are the developmental tasks of a 2 year old? ›

They become more independent in daily activities like dressing/undressing themselves. They make major strides in communication, and their vocabulary increases slowly over the first 6 months and then expands quickly during the second 6 months. At this point, most 2 year old's are able to use simple two-word sentences.

What stage of development is a 2 year old in? ›

Your baby enters her second year and becomes a toddler, crawling vigorously, starting to walk, even talking a little. Exploring the boundaries established by your rules and her own physical and developmental limits will occupy much of her time for the next few years.

What is an example of a developmental milestone for a toddler? ›

Skills such as taking a first step, smiling for the first time, and waving “bye-bye” are called developmental milestones.

What is a 2 year old counting milestone? ›

By age 2, a child can count to two ("one, two"), and by 3, he can count to three, but if he can make it all the way up to 10, he's probably reciting from rote memory. Kids this age don't yet actually understand, and can't identify, the quantities they're naming.

What is cognitive development in a 2 year old? ›

Thinking - Cognitive Development

Finds things even when hidden under two or more covers. Explores how things work by touching them and trying them out. Begins to sort shapes and colors. Follows two-step directions such as, “pick up your truck and put it on the shelf.”

What are the brain development milestones at 2 years? ›

Brain development milestones at 2 years

Starts to sort shapes and colours. Can find things hidden under multiple layers. Completes sentences in familiar books. Plays simple make-believe games.

What is advanced for a 2 year old? ›

Most children at age two are experimenting with onomatopoeia (aka using words that describe noises, like “beep beep!”) and starting to ask questions (“Where's Dada?”), but verbally advanced kids might already be speaking in longer sentences with many verbs, such as, “I played and I jumped and I sang!” says Fujimoto.

What is a 2 year old development check? ›

This review will cover: general development, including movement, speech, social skills and behaviour, and hearing and vision. growth, healthy eating and keeping active. managing behaviour and encouraging good sleeping habits.

How many words should a 2 year old say? ›

At age 2, most kids say at least 2 words together. By 30 months, they are saying 50 words or more and are understood about half of the time. They are using words like “I,” “me,” or “we.” By 30 months, most kids can follow 2-step instructions, like "Pick up the ball and bring it to Daddy."

What is a 2 year old assessment? ›

Your child will undergo a series of tests that may include a physical exam, hearing and vision screenings, play observation, and standardized tests that determine your child's areas of strength and weakness.

What are the developmental leaps at age 2? ›

At 2-3 years, you can expect strong feelings, tantrums, pretend play and independence. Toddlers are developing new skills in many areas, including language, thinking and movement. Development activities include talking and listening, reading, playing outdoors, playing with others and cooking together.

What are the five developmental milestones? ›

Developmental milestones are a set of goals or markers that a child is expected to achieve during maturation. They are categorized into 5 domains: gross motor, fine motor, language, cognitive, and social-emotional and behavioral.

What are the developmental tasks of a toddler? ›

From ages one to three, your child has many developmental milestones. These milestones are skills like showing greater independence and recognizing themselves in pictures or a mirror. It's also things like putting words together, talking in sentences and exploring new objects and people around them.

What is considered advanced for a 2 year old? ›

Most children at age two are experimenting with onomatopoeia (aka using words that describe noises, like “beep beep!”) and starting to ask questions (“Where's Dada?”), but verbally advanced kids might already be speaking in longer sentences with many verbs, such as, “I played and I jumped and I sang!” says Fujimoto.

What should a 2 year old be saying? ›

At age 2, most kids say at least 2 words together. By 30 months, they are saying 50 words or more and are understood about half of the time. They are using words like “I,” “me,” or “we.” By 30 months, most kids can follow 2-step instructions, like "Pick up the ball and bring it to Daddy."

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