Development at 24 Months
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Activity 1
Age Appropriate Gross Motor Development
Tiptoes To Reach Up
 I am learning to stand on tiptoes! Hold my favorite toy in your hand just out of my reach. Observe if I am able to stand on tiptoes to try to get the toy from your hand. I usually develop this ability between 23 and 26 months. |
Steps
Feedback
Your child is developing excellent calf muscle strength! Standing up on tiptoes also helps your child develop joint awareness sense in the legs. However, for some children who have a natural tendency to walk on tiptoes, the calf muscles may be overactive. You may need to consult a pediatrician or child physiotherapist for this. You may look at the suggested activities for more ideas with this task.
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Incorporate standing on tiptoes as a movement in games and dances so your child can continue to develop his little calf muscles.
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Place your child's favorite toy on a slightly lower table so that he is able to gain more support through his hands as he tiptoes to reach for it. You may need to put the toy further away from the table's edge so that your child needs to go onto tiptoes to get it.
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Encourage your child to reach for a toy on a shelf that requires him to tiptoe to get to it. You may place a low chair or table the height of his hips beside him which he is able to use for support while going up on tiptoes. Alternatively, you may give him support from your hands. Gradually decrease the amount of support given.
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Activity 2
Age Appropriate Social Development
Demonstrates Make-Believe Play
 I learn about the world and people around me by playing and interacting with objects, toys, dolls and people. Between 24 and 30 months, my imagination skill is developing and I can actually understand what it means to "pretend". I can string a sequence of 3 actions when I dramatize a play using a doll. It's also very fun when I use a substitute object and pretend that it can be used for something else. Pretend play is an important outward expression of my knowledge and imagination. |
Steps
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Observe when your child plays with his toys in a natural setting.
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Do NOT facilitate his play.
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Does he use make-believe play? Observe: a. Whether he can link at least 3 simple play action sequences on an object or doll? Or b. Pretend to use an object imaginatively in the play?
Feedback
Your child's imagination and pretend play skills are developing at this stage. You know that your child is learning about what is going on around him because of what he displays in his play. Be amazed at his play and encourage it.
Observe if your child is already able to dramatize with a doll, 3 interactions in a meaningful sequence, e.g. pour ‘milk’ into a cup for teddy, feed the teddy with a ‘biscuit’ and let teddy ‘drink’ from the cup. Observe also if he is able to play using a theme (e.g. tea time). Your encouragement and support for his play now is vital for the expansion of his play skill. However, if your child is still not showing an active ability to pretend play, do provide plenty of encouragement for him to pretend, for example that a play dough can be used to make a cake, or that the doll’s hands can be used to get the cups etc. He just needs a little facilitation and support from you to elaborate his pretend play. Make use of any natural occurring situations. Look at the suggested activities for more ways to facilitate his pretend play skills.
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 Create a pretend play corner in your room. Demarcate the area with a mat or a small make believe world using a tent. Arrange his pretend play toys in a box and place some unused clothing, cloths and sticks in another box. Whenever he likes, he can enter this make believe world to play.
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Watch a favorite video together. Gather some simple props to dress up and enact a simple scene together with him.
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Buy your child's favorite toys to make-believe. If he does not like doll play, use trucks and cars. Make believe the people going in, the bus moving off, etc. Be sure that he has experiences traveling in buses for this. He cannot pretend play if he does not have the real life experiences before.
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If your child needs to be facilitated in pretend play, guide him through doll play using imitation and practice. Start from the action that your child is showing you and lead on from there. E.g. When your child takes a doll in his hand and touches the face, you can show him 1 additional step of action, combing the doll's hair. Then, give him the equipment he needs for the imitation. Then, when he is able to, 'graduate' from that step, add on another pretend play action like wearing a shirt.
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