After your child’s second birthday, there are plenty of exciting things to look forward to in your child’s development. He or she will probably be very interested in brushing his or her own teeth, for instance, although you will still want to supervise the job! He or she will probably also have mastered washing and drying his or her own hands, although you will still need to help your child to reach the hand basin.
By this age, most children will have mastered walking, and are energetically trying out jumping at every opportunity. Your child is probably also trying to throw a ball over rather than underhand, and is generally a bundle of energy! It’s best to allow children this age at least an hour of unrestricted play every day, to give them a chance to use up some of it!
Another marked difference between children over two and those younger than two are that preschoolers start to get taller and slimmer – whereas toddlers are usually shorter and chubbier.
As far as linguistic and cognitive development goes, your child is probably already able to use around 50 single words, and is probably putting them together in short, two or three word sentences. He or she can probably also follow two part instructions, and, although you won’t be able to understand everything your child is saying until he or she is around four years old, you can probably make out what he or she means about half of the time.
Your preschooler’s needs in terms of sleep and nutrition are changing too. At this age, your child will need roughly nine to 13 hours of sleep a night, and may not take naps at all. Your child also needs less fat in his or her diet, and experts agree that fat should now make up no more than 30 percent of your child’s daily calorie intake.
By this age, most children will have mastered walking, and are energetically trying out jumping at every opportunity. Your child is probably also trying to throw a ball over rather than underhand, and is generally a bundle of energy! It’s best to allow children this age at least an hour of unrestricted play every day, to give them a chance to use up some of it!
Another marked difference between children over two and those younger than two are that preschoolers start to get taller and slimmer – whereas toddlers are usually shorter and chubbier.
As far as linguistic and cognitive development goes, your child is probably already able to use around 50 single words, and is probably putting them together in short, two or three word sentences. He or she can probably also follow two part instructions, and, although you won’t be able to understand everything your child is saying until he or she is around four years old, you can probably make out what he or she means about half of the time.
Your preschooler’s needs in terms of sleep and nutrition are changing too. At this age, your child will need roughly nine to 13 hours of sleep a night, and may not take naps at all. Your child also needs less fat in his or her diet, and experts agree that fat should now make up no more than 30 percent of your child’s daily calorie intake.
