Your child is constantly learning and growing! Here are 7 new and exciting skills they'll gain this month.

At 31 months old, your child is more observant of the world around them. They are quickly accelerating in their sense of independence, and are excited to share that with you! You'll notice that they'll make a shift from parallel play to more pretend play, where they hope you will play with them. This month marks a time where you'll be able to watch their personalities and imagination grow a little more each and every day.

The milestones this month fall into five areas: Gross Motor, Fine Motor, Cognitive Development, Social-Emotional Growth, and Communication development. Together, these skills help your toddler learn to move their bodies, think and ask questions, express themselves, and make sense of their surroundings.

Is your toddler showing new signs of independence?

At this age, your toddler is growing in their independence, curiousity, and expressiveness. Their language skills are developing rapidly with the ability to form short sentences and ask simple questions. Physically, they are becoming more coordinated to where they can now stack block towers and turn pages of a book. They may show a desire to do things "by themselves" which can be both rewarding and frustrating to them. Your little one is navigating boundaries and self-control.

Why the 31-month milestones matter

This month is all about letting their creativity and imagination run wild and building their sense of confidence. Their imagination is now more active as they can imagine their toys as objects different from themselves. This could mean they can pretend to view their building block as other objects such as a car or box. They will also now be able to match objects they see in books to real life, such as pointing to a cat in a book and then to their pet cat. All of these growth points allow your toddler to further explore their surroundings and build confidence.

What are the 31-month milestones?

This month, Gross Motor development involves the ability to catch a ball without losing balance. At this age, children attempt to catch by extending their arms and trapping the ball against their chest. They are able to catch when thrown a ball from a few feet away. Practicing this catch motion with them helps to further develop their eye-hand coordination and helps them feel accomplished when they are able to successfully catch.

Their Fine Motor skills continue to grow. They are now able to build a block tower of 8 blocks, often with minimal help. Applaud them on their creation and encourage them to keep building these towers, which will help strengthen their hand coordination. To encourage further development, potentially consider introducing blocks of different sizes and shapes for more of a challenge.

In addition to block tower building, they have now reached an age where they are able to hold crayons. They can hold crayons with a 5-finger grasp. Encouraging their coloring will also help aid in the continuation of their hand coordination and strength building.

In Cognitive development, you'll notice their growth in understanding basic sequences, increased attention span, and imagining play scenarios. They will now be able to understand the order sequence of familiar events. This could include steps in a familiar routine, such as their bedtime routine, with them now understanding the order sequence of getting undressed, putting on pajamas, and brushing their teeth. Encourage them to tell you the next step in their routine so they feel a sense of independence and can strengthen this skill.

Their attention span is also growing this month. They can now pay attention to a toy or an activity for 5 minutes without getting distracted. To further increase their attention span, follow their lead by focusing on activities they enjoy and are passionate about, which will help increase their attention span slowly with time.

They can also now create and explain unique play scenarios. They can create unique scenarios that they have never experienced before, such as flying on a dragon. Be open to their creativity and play alongside them, as toddlers often make the shift from parallel play to wanting to play with others, during this month.

As for Social-Emotional growth, your child now has a sense of awareness of parental approval and disapproval. Children may react to approval such as the idea that they did a good job, which is important to be vocalized by their parents to help develop a healthy sense of self-esteem in them. They are constantly observing their outside world, and your words to them make a greater impact on their development than it may seem!

Since your toddler has begun to seek out playing with others now, they are also able to explain imaginary play scenarios to invite others to play. This could include pretend play such as "playing restaurant" or pretend doctor's office with stuffed animals. It's important to foster their play with others, as imaginary play scenarios will help foster their creativity and build confidence.

Communication development in this month includes your child's ability to say all of the syllables in a multi-syllabic words. An example of this would be the ability to say all of the syllables in the word "umbrella" without dropping any syllables such as "brella." This is a huge communication development so be sure to vocally praise your child when they practice this skill in front of you!

In addition to this growth point, your toddler will also be able to now say all of the vowel sounds. Encourage them to practice to strengthen this skill further.

The 31-month stage is full of discovery and increasingly active imagination as they continue to build upon previous skills. Your toddler is learning through movement, play, and question asking. They are rapidly growing in their skills and observations about the world! With your consistent support and validation of their learning, they’ll continue to rapidly develop their skills and increase their confidence.

How many of 31 month's milestones has your baby mastered?

Your toddler is growing fast! Being aware of the 31-month milestones helps you celebrate progress as it happens. It also helps you keep track of what your child should be working on. Each new skill helps in building confidence and personality. With a Basic Membership for just $2 per month, you can track all 812 milestones your child is expected to reach by age 4. Stay on top of your baby’s progress and celebrate every exciting new skill along the way!

Create a free account with Fledglings' Flight and get access to 4,820 screen-free, play-based exercises. That is 200-300 exercises each month that you can start doing with your baby from the day that they are born to help them develop into the best version of themselves. In addition, your free account gives you access to over 1,200 articles on child development to keep you informed while you help to navigate your child's developmental journey with confidence.

FAQs

What milestones should a 31-month-old toddler be reaching?

At 31 months, toddlers often show growth in gross motor skills, fine motor skills, cognitive development, social-emotional growth, and communication development. Common milestones include catching a ball without losing balance, building an 8 block tower, holding a crayon with a 5-finger grip, understanding familiar order sequencing, paying attention for 5 minutes at a time, creating unique play scenarios, having awareness of parental approval and disapproval, explaining imaginary play to others, saying all syllables in a multi-syllable word, and saying all vowels.

What are the gross motor milestones for a 31-month-old?

At 31 months, many toddlers are able to catch a ball thrown from a few feet away, without losing their balance. This helps improve eye-hand coordination and balance.

What are the fine motor milestones for a 31-month-old?

A 31-month-old toddler may begin building block towers up to 8 blocks high and being able to grip crayons with a 5-finger grasp. Encouraging both of these forms of play will increase their strength and confidence.

What cognitive milestones are common at 31 months?

At 31 months, toddlers will be able to understand the order sequence of familiar events such as their bedtime routine, be able to pay attention for 5 minutes at a time, and can create and explain unique play scenarios to others. Encourage these skills to help them gain confidence in their memory, build stamina in their attention span, and foster their active imagination.

What are the social-emotional milestones for a 31-month-old?

Social-emotional milestones at 31 months often include having awareness of parental approval and disapproval, and having the ability to explain imaginary play scenarios to invite others to play. Their social-emotional understanding will only continue to grow through observing the world around them.

How does a 31-month-old communicate?

At 31 months, many toddlers are able to say all of the syllables in a multi-syllabic word and say all vowels. Encourage practice of these skills to help your child's confidence which will help to increase their vocabulary!

How can I support my toddler’s 31-month milestones?

Parents can support 31-month milestones by practicing throwing their child small balls, having your toddler grasping crayons and other small tools to help with their grip, and encouraging pretend play with others, to give them more opportunities to utilize their active imagination.