How to Communicate With Your 2- to 3-Year-Old

Children at this age can learn new words quickly, and they get better at putting words together to make sentences. You can help your child's communication skills develop by speaking, reading, and singing together every day.

• Talk with your child as often as possible.

• Respond when your child asks a question or starts a conversation.

• Talk with your child about the things you see and do together.

• Pause after you ask questions. Kids this age can have trouble putting their words together. Pausing gives your child a chance to answer.

• Encourage your child to put strong feelings into words. For example, say, "Use your words to tell your friend that you want a turn with the toy."

• Make sure you understand your child. If you're not sure what your child is trying to say, repeat back using grown-up speech. For example, if you think your child is saying "want book," you can ask, "Do you want the book?"

• Play games where you and your toddler name body parts and common objects.

• Listen to music and sing songs with your child.

• Read books together every day:

  • Ask questions about the story or pictures.

  • Encourage your child to point to pictures and name objects, animals, shapes, colors, and numbers with you.

  • Let your child pretend to "read" books to you. Respond happily to whatever your child says.

  • It's OK if your child wants to read the same book over and over. Pause at times to let your child fill in a word or finish a familiar sentence.

• Children are very good at copying, so be careful what you say around your little one. Try not to use words that you don't want your child to learn and repeat.

• Use screen time carefully. Children this age learn best by talking and playing with others and touching things around them. Video chatting is OK, but if your child has other screen time:

  • choose educational programming and apps

  • view/play together when possible

  • limit screen time to less than 1 hour a day

  • do not allow a TV, computer, or smartphone in your child's bedroom

• Your child isn't putting words together to form a sentence.

• Your child can't follow simple instructions.

• You're concerned about your child's talking or the way he or she understands talking.

• You're worried that your child isn't seeing or hearing normally.

How do children this age communicate? By age 2, most kids can follow simple directions, answer simple questions, and speak 50 or more words. Many of them can say two-word sentences, like "have milk" or "want bear." Between the ages of 2 and 3, most kids start to put three or four words together to make a sentence. They speak clearly about half the time. They also may start learning to follow two-step instructions, such as "pick up the ball and bring it to me." Most 3-year-olds know how to say 200 or more words, use pronouns ("me," "you," "they"), and speak clearly most of the time. They may learn to count up to three objects and say their own first and last names.

How do I know if my child's communication skills are developing normally? Talk to your health care provider if you notice that your child doesn't seem to talk or understand language as well as other kids the same age. Some children learn to communicate more slowly than others but end up with normal language skills. Your health care provider can help you decide if your child needs testing or just more time to develop.