Approaching the "Terrific Two’s"

At this stage your child enjoys helping you do things around the house. Take the opportunity to talk to your child about the task the two of you are doing. This encourages the learning of new words. Singing and reciting nursery rhymes together also helps your child’s speech and language grow.

By 21 months, most
children will:

When to call for help:

• point to a picture or sign, such as when asked "Where's McDonalds?"
• play with toys and pretend to do things like feeding a doll or going in a car
• say at least 20 or more words
• follow directions such as "drink your juice" or "sit down please"

• Your child can only say about ten words
• Your child does not pretend with toys.

By 24 months, most
children will:

When to call for help:

• understand more than they can say
• say two words together like "more milk"
• ask "what¹s that?" (may sound like "wha dat" or "whatssat")
• pick one thing out from a group of objects, such as a cup

• You have a hard time understanding what your child says.
• Your child uses fewer than 50 words or does not put two words together.