Contents

Learning and development 2 to 3 years

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

I will need help to understand; and learn how to manage my emotions. I want to feel positive about myself and develop my self-confidence. I will learn about my body and work out how to manage my personal needs, all by myself. I need help to make and learn about healthy choices. I would like lots of friends and learn skills so I can play and work with others harmoniously.

Building Relationships: Help me learn how to form relationships with others

  • Make dens from sheets and blankets that I can play in with you or my friends
  • Help me learn how to take turns when playing – “My turn next or teddy’s turn”

Managing Self: Help me to be healthy, feel good and learn about myself

  • Make a box with different things in it, like glue and different types of paper, that I can choose from when I’m making a picture or model from boxes
  • When I help, remember to thank me and explain why it is helpful
  • Let me help get lunch ready by cutting the cheese or bananas
  • Let me pour my own drink
  • Give me praise when I have tried hard or listened to you, it helps me to learn how to be helpful

Self-Regulation: Learning and feeling emotions

  • Talk to me about the order I need to do things in, like brushing my teeth or getting ready for bed
  • Remember to give me a cuddle if I have had a tantrum, I usually can’t remember what it was about and may feel confused and a bit scared
  • Help me understand how I feel by using words to match my feelings, happy, giggly, sad, upset

Physical Development

Help me to be happy, healthy and active. I need you to support me to develop my muscles and learn through my senses, so I am strong and able to balance and co-ordinate my body. I need to play indoors and outdoors so I can use all my muscles. Later on, my fine motor control will become more skilled so I can be more precise and develop my hand-eye co-ordination to help with my writing when I get to school.

Big and little skills to develop muscles and body control

  • Play ball games with me and let me crawl and move over obstacles like bean bags, cushions and you - if you lay on the floor!
  • Give me lots of ribbons that I can wave around me
  • Let’s go and play outside, I love all types of weather
  • Let me try and dress my teddy or doll with different types of clothes, like coats, jumpers and dresses, and different types of fastenings, like buttons, Velcro and zips
  • Can I try and put my own shoes on?

Communication and Language

Help me to develop my speaking (my home language or signing is important too) as this is important for all areas of learning and in later life. I will be talking lots and lots and will enjoy interesting conversations, I will love learning new words, learning rhymes and songs and I will really benefit from you reading stories to me regularly, so I hear and learn lots of new words.
 

Listening, attention and understanding:

  • Use sock puppets or toy people or animals when you’re sharing one of my favourite stories or songs with me
  • Can you sing rhymes and songs during everyday activities, like nappy or bath time?
  • When we’re making a sandwich together and when your doing things, tell me what you are doing so I can join in

Speaking:

  • When we’re playing with things, use new words (in our home language) to describe what I’m doing and tell me what items are called
  • Respond to words I use so we have a conversation
  • When you talk to me, give me a bit of time to understand what you have said and think of a reply
  • When I use words, repeat what I say, adding one or two extra words
  • Have a look at the communication checker to see if I’m on track

BBC's Tiny Happy People

Tiny Happy People can provide you with further ideas on how to help your child's brain development so they get the best start in life.

Visit 2 to 3 years old brain development on Tiny Happy People

For more information and ideas visit What to Expect When on the Foundation Years website.

BBC TIny Happy People logo