The Power of Parenting

Thursday, 12 November 2020

Intellectual Development: 25 to 30 Months

Intellectual Development means being able to think creatively and abstractly, to pay attention, solve problems and develop keen judgement along with a lifelong readiness to learn.
Typical Skills
Language
  • Uses “self-centred” pronouns like ‘I’, ‘me’, ‘mine’, ‘you’
  • Puts together simple, two-word sentences
  • Answers simple questions like, “What’s your name?”, and performs simple tasks when asked to
  • Enjoys looking at books and talking about the pictures Sings parts of songs
Thinking Skills
  • Engages in simple pretend play with others
  • Matches shapes, pictures, some colours
  • Can better understand the similarities and differences of shapes and sizes
  • Becomes aware of verbal sequence of numbers
  • Shows increased attention span, staying with activities longer
    Emerging Skills
    Language
    • Is able to use words that describe things, e.g., big, dirty, wet, hot
    • Participates more in conversations and stories
    • Is able to provide more information about self (e.g., name, gender, age) and understands two-step directions
    • Can recite a few simple nursery rhymes
    • Uses plurals in a general way (e.g., foots not feet)
    Thinking Skills
    • Sorts groups of objects into sets
    • Completes simple puzzles
    • Combines toys and games in more complex ways (e.g., uses playdough in dramatic play
    • Begins to understand the concept of future time, e.g., ‘soon’, ‘in a long time’, but not past, e.g., ‘yesterday’
    • Begins to understand one-to-one actions, e.g., one plate per person

      Comfort
      If you do this:

      • Provide opportunities for your toddler to talk about things that he finds interesting
      • Incorporate numbers and counting into daily routines, such as tidying up toys or putting away tin cans
      • Make playdough with your toddler
      • Know that you are interested in what he has to say and will want to talk with you more and more
      • Begin to understand that numbers are a part of his everyday environment
      • Observe how dry ingredients change in texture through the process of cooking
      Play
      If you do this:

      • Let your toddler fill in the blanks while singing a song
      • Incorporate counting into child-initiated activities, such as block building, for example, “Let’s count how many blocks you used in your tower”
      • Provide different sized jars and lids and, together, find out which ones match
      • Enjoy singing important words on her own
      • Begin to recognize and correctly repeat numbers; may only count to 4 with confidence
      • Enjoy working with you to solve problems
      Teach
      If you do this:

      • Keep expanding language by adding more new words and descriptions about events in your toddler’s day
      • Offer experiences for your toddler to sort objects, for example, all the puzzles in this box, crayons in this tin
      • Play with playdough using different tools, cookie cutters, rollers and so on
      • Develop confidence in the use of many words and feel secure enough to try new words
      • Experiment with sorting, such as the big blocks in one pile, little blocks in another
      • Compare the different sizes and shapes of objects he creates