Child development 1.5-3 years old

Many children move around quickly at this age – maybe you’ve noticed? As a parent, you might be exhausted from lifting your 1.5-year-old off the same chair for the twentieth time. You might be a little sweaty, but having the chance to get to know their body, their movements and their surroundings is important for your child’s brain and motor skill development. The older they get, the stronger their will...

Fine motor skills

Most children can drink from a cup and hold a spoon in one hand by about 1.5 years old. They’re learning how to eat on their own, but usually prefer to pick up their food with their hands. That’s part of development, and the child needs to be able to see and touch their food before putting it in their mouth. As a parent, it’s important to stay cool here and not interfere when things get a little messy – even if you know that might mean an extra trip to the laundry room, because some of the food could still miss its target. Many children start to show a preference for the right or left hand at this point. A 1.5-year-old may be scribbling with crayons and building towers with blocks.

A 3-year-old generally has sufficient control of their hands to use children’s scissors and draw circles. Many can also colour with slightly thicker markers and build towers with a few more blocks. Often, a 3-year-old can actually dress themselves – as long as you have a little patience and aren’t too concerned about buttons ending up in the right place or whether the garments are right side out.

Starting to climb, run and jump

After practising standing up and walking, children naturally develop an interest in climbing onto furniture and they’ll start to run soon – though exactly when will vary from one child to the next; they aren’t all in a rush, and more cautious kids may prefer not to climb too high. You may have noticed an enormous need for your child to move around at this point – and it’s important to let them move a lot. And of course, that means you’ll have to stay on your toes, because things can happen lightning fast. The second you turn your back, your child may have managed to climb onto a chair or grab hold of a tablecloth. So you might want to consider your furniture arrangement and see if anything should be put away for a while, or screwed securely into place, to avoid unnecessary accidents.

Starting to walk on stairs is thrilling for most toddlers, and can be challenging for their motor skills initially. So practice on a not-too-steep staircase with a railing to hold. Age 2 is also when many children start riding kick scooters and tricycles. Around two and a half, that wide-legged cowboy-style walk will start to disappear, and your child’s gait will become more upright. Around age 3, many children have refined their skills on stairs and can take them hands-free – as long as the stairs aren’t too steep, of course.

Practice makes perfect

Practice is the most important way that people learn new skills, so even if you’re going a little nuts watching your child climb up and jump down from that stool a hundred times in a row, for them, it’s a fun and important activity. Exploring and trying different things also helps your child learn how to problem-solve, for example, by seeing how items can fit into drawers, or what different materials feel like.

Mimicry and pretend play

Between 1.5 and 3 years old, language skills often start developing at a rapid pace. Your child might go from only being able to say a few words to speaking more or less fluently and understanding most of what you discuss together – even if sometimes, it might feel like your announcement that it’s bedtime just isn’t sinking in. Cognition and imagination are developing just as fast, and your child is beginning to think differently than before. Around age 2, children usually start to play pretend; for example, they might pretend a block is a car, or hold an imaginary tea party. When parents – or better yet, siblings – get involved in pretend play, it can be even richer and more rewarding for the child, because their imagination might still be limited at 2 years old. Your child is also mimicking what the people around them do now, whether at home or things they’ve seen at preschool. If you want to establish new habits at home, this might be your moment: it’s great timing to let your child copy you now, because a determined 3-year-old won’t be quite as easy to get on board. Remember, children rarely do what we say; rather, they do what we do – and that will continue to be true for years to come.

For a 2-year-old, it’s getting easier to understand the meaning of the word ‘no’ and that it’s wrong to do some things. However, they often have a strong impulse to resist. This can also be a way for a child to be playfully mischievous, or to connect with adults, because they’re noticing that they tend to get a reaction by doing the opposite of what we say. As your child develops cognitively, their will and the desire to be more independent get stronger, too. The more abilities your child develops, the more you will notice an urge to try and exercise them. Watching your child grow as a person is an amazing part of parenthood.

Please note that all information above is based on Swedish recommendations.