What to Expect out of Your Three Year Old

     Having the experience in working in a daycare facility has been an awesome experience.    In having the chance to work with all of the different age groups; I feel that the three year olds are probably my favorite age group to work with.  They have such an imagination and you can carry on a great conversation with them. They are such a fun age group to work with.

      You’ll notice some big developmental changes within that year between your child from the age of two to three years old. One of the major things you will see is their language skills and the amount that it grows and develops within that year. Their vocabulary grows and they are able to put together a sentence that makes sense. You’ll love this as a parent because you will begin to see what your child’s personality will be.

      Another thing you will notice is that your child will have a longer attention span and will play with something for a longer period of time. At this age group they will learn to block out other distractions and focus on what they are doing.  At this age group they should be able to do some fine motor skills such as putting more difficult puzzles together, and knowing the concept of sorting pieces out.

       This is a wonderful age group for the children because this is the time they are starting to develop friendships with each other. But you’ll notice that the kids will say to each other , “I’m not going to be your friend,” this usually only last for  just for a little while because they get upset, but they don’t stay mad for long. So don’t get offended if a child says this to your child. It happens to everyone.

        Another really good thought is that by this time they are pretty much potty trained.  They are usually going by themselves. You’ll see that they still might have some accidents, it’s because they get too busy playing and forget to go, and that’s ok. Having a three year old is a big difference from having a two year old. They have come a long way in development and are much more independent.

Activities for a Two Year Old

     Having a two year old, I feel  is one of the most fun age group to engage in activities with. Some of the more popular things that are done with this age group and that the child loves is dancing. At our day care; when they are having free time there’s always music playing and you’ll see them over there dancing along and having a great time. This is something that they can do it by themselves and have a blast. This also teaches them to have independence.

      Play dough is something to always have on hand.  You can do so many things with it and have him/her sit there for a long time being entertained and creative. You can make so many things with it such as numbers, letters, animals etc. They can use their imagination and do whatever they want to with it. Play dough is a useful tool to have at this age.

      Making crafts is another activity this age group loves to do. With fall being here; there’s so many fun things you can make with them such as; trace a pumpkin on a piece of paper, then have them color it, and give them items to decorate with, such as googley eyes. Be creative and think of ideas to make a face out of it. This time of the year, they would love to go and pick a pumpkin out and paint it and then set it up somewhere. This would make your child very proud that they did something and you’re using it as a decoration.

       Having a two year old child can be a great age, but it can also be very frustrating and a lot of work, but yet very rewarding. As a parent, you just need to set standards for your child and teach them to abide by the rules and have a fun time with them. Remember they are only little once!

Two Year Old Development

Have you ever heard of the phrase terrible twos? This isn’t a very fun stage for parents to go through. Terrible twos is the stage when your child acts differently and their behavior isn’t very good. They don’t think they have to listen and just do what they want to do. Being parents, you just have to be   strict and have ground rules to help prevent this from becoming the acceptable way to act. Some of the things you can do are introduce time outs and talk to them what they do wrong. Take away a privilege they have, such as a toys, treat, etc. It’s really important to start early so they don’t grow up and think they can do whatever they want to and have the privilege to run over the top of you. Remember you are the parent and need to be in control.

Two years old is a big step in being a parent and a child. It can be a stressful yet very rewarding time.  A lot of important things happen during this year. It’s the time to begin potty training. Potty training isn’t always fun or easy, but you just have to develop some ways to help make this run smoothly. Make sure your child is ready and stick with it. At times, it can be overwhelming and stressful, but it’s well worth the hassle after they are potty trained. It cost less money because you aren’t having to buy diapers and wipes.

  Their developmental skills have made a dramatic change such as beginning to use their senses, talking, pretending etc. At this point in your child’s life, they should be able to put sentences together and begin to talk more. You should be able to have little conversations with your child. This becomes the more exciting part of being a parent; to be able to really talk with your child. Also, while they are playing; during this stage you will notice that they are beginning to pretend. They are becoming more social with children their own age. The child loves to play make believe, especially with someone else.

      Some of other curriculum your two year old should be doing is singing their ABC’s. It’s a good idea to have them say them at least once a day and say it with them.  But at this age they aren’t connecting the reading with the letters yet. They also have the concept of drawing on paper and pretending they are actually drawing a real picture. So just go along with what they are drawing and that will make them feel very special and all excited because they did something really cool. Even at this age, if they have help, they are able to start writing the first letter of their name.

      You’ll see that two year olds will begin to develop frustration, if something they are doing doesn’t work out how they want it to. All you can do as a parent is try to control it and say “It’s ok, try it again” etc. Sometimes the situation will cause them to go into a melt down and throw a fit. 

                Another thing to watch out for is biting. Biting occurs a lot around this age and is a very bad and hard habit to stop. They will go up to a child that’s in a corner and bit them or they even just go up to a child and bite in a blink of an eye. Not every child has this problem, but if they do; just don’t let them around other kids without close without supervision. This isn’t a very fun thing, but just let them know it’s not right and try different things and soon they will grow out of it.

                Their skills have increased a lot and they have figured out new techniques. It’s just a very proud and exciting time to see your child do all of these new and different things. Just enjoy all the fun times you can because they are only at this age once.  Also, just work with them so they can learn and do fun things and begin to feel the sense of achievement.