How to use this guide
Notice what your toddler keeps practising — the skill they repeat most is usually the one growing fastest. Use this guide to support it with play.
Small steps add up in toddler development
Development Guide
See what your toddler is building — and how to support it
Explore the skills that are growing, browse by age stage, and pair development with meaningful play — whether you want reassurance, awareness, or ideas to take things further.
What development looks like
Your toddler might talk in sentences but still struggle with stairs. Progress is uneven — that’s completely normal at this age.
What matters most
Small, repeatable signs of growth matter more than big milestones. If they tried it yesterday and again today, something is building.
Want to go further?
If your toddler is thriving and you want to stretch their learning, this guide helps you pick the right areas to focus on — and match them with play that keeps challenge light and fun.
Areas your toddler is developing
Body AwarenessUnderstanding body parts, spatial awareness, and movement control.167 activitiesCognitive SkillsProblem-solving, memory, sorting, matching, cause-and-effect understanding, and early math concepts.295 activitiesCreativityImaginative play, art expression, music exploration, and pretend scenarios.156 activitiesEarly LiteracyBook exploration, recognising letters, rhyming, and pre-reading skills.86 activitiesEmotional RegulationIdentifying feelings, calming strategies, managing frustration, and developing patience.148 activitiesFine MotorSmall muscle control for tasks like grasping, stacking, scribbling, and manipulating small objects.257 activitiesFocus and AttentionSustaining attention on tasks, following through on activities, and resisting distractions.208 activitiesGross MotorLarge muscle movement skills like walking, running, jumping, climbing, and balance.216 activities
Browse by age stage
12–18 monthsEarly WalkersBuilding walking confidence through supported and independent steps, with lots of cruising along furniture and falling safely.224 activities19–24 monthsLate InfancyVocabulary expands rapidly toward 50 or more words, and toddlers begin combining two words into simple phrases like 'more milk' or 'daddy go.' They follow simple one-step instructions and love pointing at pictures in books while naming what they see.481 activities25–36 monthsYoung ToddlersTwo-word and three-word sentences become the norm, with a vocabulary explosion that can reach 200 or more words by age three.600 activities37–48 monthsOlder ToddlersClear multi-word sentences allow for real conversations, and children begin telling simple stories about their day.503 activities
You might be seeing this
They keep throwing things
Motor exploration
Throwing is how toddlers learn about force, distance, and cause and effect. It’s a motor skill milestone, not misbehaviour.
Explore motor skills →They repeat the same word constantly
Language growth
Repetition is how toddlers cement new vocabulary. The word they say fifty times today is the one they’ll use in a sentence next week.
Explore language skills →They won’t share yet
Social development
Sharing requires understanding another person’s feelings — a skill that’s still developing. Parallel play and turn-taking come first.
Explore social skills →SEND support
Play that meets your child
where they are
If your toddler has additional needs — diagnosed or suspected — explore activities and guidance aligned with the four areas of the SEND Code of Practice.
Explore the SEND Support guide →Going further
For children who are ready for more
Some toddlers are ahead in one or more areas — asking bigger questions, solving harder puzzles, or inventing more complex games. If that sounds like your child, explore enrichment ideas matched to specific skills.
Explore the Going Further guide →Need something practical?
Turn a developmental focus into today’s activity
Use Find an Activity when you want to support a skill with something realistic for the time, space, and energy you have.
Go to Find an Activity →Need behaviour context too?
Look at the harder moments alongside development
Some patterns make more sense when you read the behaviour guide and developmental context side by side.
Explore the Behaviour Guide →