24-30 Months: Child to Child -- Milestones

1. Plays beside other children.

Toddlers like to be near other children, and they enjoy small-group activities. They listen to each other's suggestions, imitate each other, and may have one or more preferred friends within small groups of familiar children. They are more apt to play beside other children than to play with them, but they are able to share some short pretend-play themes. Although their verbal skills are improving, they continue to need adult help and intervention to solve social conflicts. For example:

Developing as expected, they might:

• drive their pedal car along the blacktop path, saying "beep, beep" to the child ahead of them
• add blocks to a construction another child has started, without being invited
• sit near other children who are using crayons and markers
• use words or actions to ask another child to play with them
• push another child away from the toddler slide, so they can have a turn first
• insist on sitting next to a particular child at the snack table
• push a friend around the yard in the pushcart

Needing development, they might:

• not try to engage other children in play activities or try to join in their play
• try to talk to other children, but go off and sulk, when it's too hard for the other children to understand them because their words are not yet clear
• push their way into a small group of children even though the others protest and yell, "Stop!"
• walk on top of the sand "road" the other toddlers are making, because they want to play in the sand too
• follow and watch other toddlers play, but not know how to join them

2. Responds to other children's feelings.

Toddlers are becoming aware of the feelings of other children, and they may even try to comfort children who are distressed. However, solving social problems, such as whose toy this may be, whose turn it is, or who gets to be the leader, all make demands beyond toddlers' limited capacity to understand. Hitting, kicking, and yelling are more likely to be their way of handling emotionally charged situations. In the heat of these disagreements, toddlers continue to need adult support to understand what is happening and to realize that someone else's needs are involved. For example:

Developing as expected, they might:

• say they're sorry when their friend's painting rips while they try to take it off the easel
• try to help wipe up the paint that spilled on the floor
• call for help when another child takes all the hats in the dramatic play area
• say "please" when asking for the crayon a classmate is coloring with
• listen carefully when the teacher explains that hitting hurts and she will help them find words to use instead of hitting
• look anxious and ask why that boy is crying
• say "no-no" instead of grabbing when another child tries to take the play dough
• comfort a friend who is crying because she can't have the riding toy she wanted

Needing development, they might:

• push another child out of the way in order to climb the steps to the slide
• try to claim the tricycle that another child is holding onto while they both pull on it
• yell, "I had it first," after hitting another child and grabbing the sand shovel
• start to ask for a turn on the tricycle, but end up grabbing it when the other child starts riding away
• bump into another child, making him cry, and then continue pulling their wagon along the path
• hit out when another child takes a crayon away from them