Milestone chart: 31 to 36 months

Medically reviewed by Rachel Tomlinson, RP, Registered Psychologist

Written by Sabrina Rogers-Anderson | 22 Aug 2023

Photo credit: Thinkstock

From 31 to 36 months, your little one will start to express themselves in sentences, enjoy playing with other children, and begin to be able to express their feelings better. Here are the developmental and communication milestones you can expect from your almost 3 year old.

Your child will probably	Your child might	How to support their development
Child's age: 31 months to 36 months
Love to run, swing and climb	Run away from you or climb too high, so keep an eye out!	Give them plenty of time to play outdoors and at playgrounds
Ride a tricycle	Jump off a step	Let them tests their limits while staying nearby to offer help and reassurance
Enjoy arts and crafts, playing dress-up and building towers	Copy a circle with a crayon and turn pages to "read" books with you	Have a variety of open-ended toys, books and craft activities on hand
Put on some clothes by themselves	Help you wash them in the bath	Encourage them to be more independent when it comes to everyday skills
Experience less separation anxiety	Start to manage their emotions a bit better (but tantrums are still a thing!)	Praise them when they’ve used problem solving or been resilient in the face of a tough problem
Play next to, or even with other children, but dislike sharing	Grab, push or seem bossy because they can’t control their impulses yet	Calmly remind your child about appropriate play behaviour
Say 50+ words and join two or more words, uses ‘I’, ‘we’ and ‘me’ in context	Start learning to take turns when speaking and have a two-turn chat back and forth	Model how to have a conversation by listening to them before responding
Explain what they’ve done or where they’ve been in simple terms	Talk about people and objects that aren’t there ("Mummy at work")	Read books and tell stories to develop their language skills
Follow two to three-step instructions and a simple routine when prompted	Answer "who", "what" and "where" questions	Ask them questions and give them clear instructions
Have started toilet training	Be toilet trained	Setbacks are normal (especially if you have another baby), but your child will get there in time

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(CDC 2023, Healthy WA 2019, Pregnancy, Birth & Baby 2021, Raising Children 2022)

If you have any concerns about your child’s development, talk to your doctor or a child health nurse.

Go to the last chart: 25 to 30 Months

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Sources

BabyCenter's editorial team is committed to providing the most helpful and trustworthy pregnancy and parenting information in the world. When creating and updating content, we rely on credible sources: respected health organisations, professional groups of doctors and other experts, and published studies in peer-reviewed journals. We believe you should always know the source of the information you're seeing. Learn more about our editorial and medical review policies.

CDC. 2023. Important Milestones: Your Child By Three Years. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. www.cdc.govOpens a new window [Accessed August 2023]

Healthy WA. 2019. Child development 2-3 years. Healthy WA. www.healthywa.wa.gov.auOpens a new window [Accessed August 2023]

Pregnancy, Birth & Baby. 2021. Development milestones - your child at 3 years. Pregnancy, Birth & Baby. www.pregnancybirthbaby.org.auOpens a new window [Accessed August 2023]

Raising Children. 2022. 2-3 years: toddler development. Raising Children Network. www.raisingchildren.net.auOpens a new window [Accessed August 2023]

Sabrina Rogers-Anderson

Sabrina Rogers-Anderson has been a freelance writer for 25 years. Her work has been published in magazines and on websites around the world and she's the author of two books.

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Milestone chart: 31 to 36 months

Your 22-month-old's development

Your 13-month-old's development

Your toddler's development (31 to 32 months)

Your 21-month-old's development

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