Speech and Language Traits of the
Two-and-a-Half-Year-Old

At age two and one-half, your child will…

• Have a 450-word vocabulary
• Give his or her first name
• Use past tense and plurals and combine nouns and verbs
• Understand such simple time concepts as “last night” and “tomorrow”
• Refer to self as “me” rather than giving his or her name
• Try to get your attention, such as “watch me”
• Like to hear stories repeated
• Use “no” or “not” and say “no” when meaning “yes”
• Talk to other children as well as adults
• Begin to control behavior verbally rather than just physically
• Answer “where” questions
• Name common pictures and things he or she comes in contact with regularly
• Use short sentences to announce what he or she had done or will do, such as “me do it” or “me want to go”
• Know big and little
• Hold up fingers to tell age

You can stimulate your two and one-half year old child’s speech and language by…

• Letting your child tell you answers to simple questions
• Reading books every day, perhaps at bedtime
• Listening attentively as the child talks to you
• Talking to the child a little beyond his or her level or understanding
• Describing what you are doing, thinking, or planning
• Exposing the child to many new experiences which you will talk about before, during and after the event
• Having the child deliver a simple message for you such as “Mommy needs you, Daddy.”
• Providing a quiet time during which you and the child carry on a conversation
• Asking questions of the child to stimulate thought and language
• Showing the child you understand what he or she says by answering, smiling, nodding your head
• Prolonging some sounds in words the child may have difficulty in saying such as “Put on your sssock (sock).” Have the child watch your face as you say the sound correctly.
• Expanding what the child says. If he or she says, “More juice” you say “Billy wants more juice.”
• Playing records and singing songs
• Introducing new words and concepts to the child
• Encouraging the child to talk.

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