Between two and three, children can appear to change almost by the week.
Vocabulary expands. Movement becomes more confident. Pretend play becomes richer. Opinions become stronger. Independence appears — often accompanied by considerable frustration when the world does not cooperate.
It is an extraordinary stage. It can also be an intense one.
Good toddler nursery provision recognises that language, movement, emotions, relationships and independence are not separate subjects. They develop together, largely through play and everyday experiences.
Development is not a race
Children do not develop in a neat, identical sequence.
One two-year-old may talk constantly but be cautious physically. Another may climb everything in sight while using relatively few words. A child can make rapid progress in one area and appear to pause in another.
The Department for Education’s Development Matters guidance describes children’s development as having many interconnected strands rather than following one straight line.
Nursery should therefore be interested in the whole child, not simply whether they have reached a list of milestones.
Language grows through conversation
Two- and three-year-olds are beginning to discover just how useful language can be.
Words can request things, protest, make people laugh, explain an idea, join a game and tell somebody exactly why the wrong cup is completely unacceptable.
Nursery provides hundreds of natural opportunities for language. A practitioner might comment on what a child is building, introduce a new word while playing, sing a rhyme, share a story or help a child put an emotion into words.
The most valuable conversations are often not lessons at all. They happen in the middle of play.
Play becomes increasingly imaginative
A cardboard box can become a bus. A wooden block can become a telephone. A toy animal may need lunch, a bath and an urgent trip to the doctor.
Pretend play is important because children are beginning to represent experiences and ideas rather than simply handling objects. It also creates opportunities for language, social interaction, problem-solving and imagination.
Adults can enrich this play without taking control of it.
Movement supports much more than fitness
Toddlers need to move. Running, climbing, balancing, pushing, carrying, digging, throwing, dancing and manipulating smaller objects all contribute to physical development.
These experiences also support confidence and coordination.
Fine motor development grows through ordinary play too: turning pages, using spoons, manipulating dough, building with blocks, making marks and attempting fastenings.
“I do it” is an important stage
A toddler insisting on putting on their own coat when you are already ten minutes late can test the patience of the calmest adult. But that desire for independence is developmentally important.
At nursery, everyday routines offer opportunities to practise:
- feeding themselves;
- choosing activities;
- washing and drying hands;
- putting things away;
- attempting clothing and shoes;
- making simple decisions; and
- beginning to manage their own belongings.
They will not always succeed. That is part of the learning. The aim is not perfect independence at two. It is growing confidence in trying.
Big emotions are part of toddlerhood
A two-year-old can have a very strong feeling without yet having the language or self-regulation skills to manage it. This is why apparently small events can lead to enormous reactions.
Adults help by remaining calm, recognising the emotion and gradually giving children language for what they are experiencing: “You wanted the truck and you’re angry because Sam is using it.”
Over time, children begin to connect feelings, words and actions. Emotional development is not about eliminating difficult feelings. It is about gradually learning what to do with them.
Learning to be with other children takes time
Toddlers are interested in other children, but friendship at this age does not necessarily look like friendship between older children.
They may play next to each other before they consistently play together. They may copy each other, laugh together, chase one another — and then argue intensely over the same toy.
Nursery provides repeated opportunities to practise social skills: waiting, noticing others, taking turns, joining play, resolving disagreements and beginning to understand another person’s point of view.
These skills develop through experience, with adults nearby to help.
What about numbers and literacy?
Early mathematics is everywhere in toddler play: more and less, big and small, full and empty, one more, two shoes, three strawberries, a tall tower, a round wheel.
Likewise, early literacy begins long before formal reading. Toddlers build foundations through:
- conversation;
- songs and rhymes;
- listening to stories;
- enjoying books;
- noticing pictures and print;
- making marks; and
- hearing rich language.
There is no need to rush children into formal academic work. Deep, playful early learning provides the foundations that later learning is built on.
The progress check between two and three
The EYFS includes a review of a child’s progress between the ages of two and three.
This provides an opportunity for practitioners and parents to think together about how a child is developing, celebrate progress and identify areas where additional support may be helpful. It should not feel like an exam.
If either parents or practitioners have concerns about a child’s development, talking about them early is helpful. Depending on the concern, families may also wish to speak to their health visitor or another appropriate professional.
Supporting toddlers at Dickory Docks
Our toddler provision is designed for this wonderfully busy stage of childhood.
Children have opportunities for language, imaginative play, physical activity, creativity, stories, music, exploration and the everyday routines through which independence develops.
We work within the Early Years Foundation Stage while recognising that every toddler arrives with their own interests, temperament, experiences and pace of development.
Because development happens at home as well as nursery, communication with families matters too.