2-5 Years

From the first 250 words of a 2-year-old, the average communication journey will include an increase in vocabulary, and also the combining of words into short sentences. Additional vowel sounds are added, tone and inflection are used for additional meaning, and the clarity of speech improves considerably.

Below are the communication milestones and averages for children between 2-5 years.

Underneath the milestones you’ll find information on how to help your child progress, and what to do if your child is below average.

* Learn more about milestones and averages [opens new tab]

Milestones

• Points to things in a book when you ask, like “Where is the bear?”
• Says 50 single words – some easier to understand than others, but becoming more consistent
• Says at least two words together, like “More milk.”
• Points to at least two body parts when you ask him to show you
• Uses more gestures than just waving and pointing, like blowing a kiss or nodding yes

Averages

• Follows simple two part instructions (e.g., ‘give me the ball and the car’)
• Respond to simple wh-questions, such as ‘what’ and ‘where’
• Points to several body parts and pictures in books when named
• Understands when an object is ‘in’ and ‘on’ something
• Says 200-300 single words (average is 250 words)
• Puts two words together (e.g., ‘bye teddy’, ‘no ball’)
• Uses their tone of voice to ask a question (e.g.,‘teddy go?’)
• Says ‘no’ when they do not want something
• Uses most vowel sounds and a variety of consonants (m, n, p, b, k, g, h, w, t, d)
• Starts to use ‘mine’ and ‘my’

Milestones

• Talks with you in conversation using at least two back-and-forth exchanges
• Asks “who,” “what,” “where,” or “why” questions, like “Where is mommy/daddy?”
• Says what action is happening in a picture or book when asked, like “running,” “eating,” or “playing”
• Says first name, when asked
• Talks well enough for others to understand, most of the time
• Says 250 single words (milestone is 250 words)

Averages

• Follow more complex two part instructions (e.g., give me the teddy and throw the ball)
• Understand simple wh-questions, such as ‘what’, ‘where’ and ‘who’
• Understand the concepts of ‘same’ and ‘different’
• Sort items into groups when asked (e.g., toys vs food)
• Recognise some basic colours
• Say four to five words in a sentence
• Use a variety of words for names, actions, locations and descriptions.
• Ask questions using ‘what’, ‘where’ and ‘who’
• Talk about something in the past, but may use ‘-ed’ a lot (e.g., ‘he goed there’)
• Have a conversation, but may not take turns or stay on topic
• Says 1000 words (average is 1000 words)

This is the time where children seem to talk incessantly.

I once heard a mother say: "Well, my 4 yo says one run on sentence of 37,086 words which begins the second he opens his eyes in the morning to when he finally passes out. Send help."

Milestones

• Understand up to 50 words and some short phrases.
• Follow simple instructions (e.g., ‘throw the ball’).
• Point to familiar objects when named
• Point to some pictures in familiar books
• Say 6 to 20 single words – some easier to understand than others, but becoming more consistent
• Copy lots of words and noises
• Name a few body parts.
• Use objects in pretend play (e.g., hold toy phone to their ear and say ‘hello?’)

Averages

It's difficult to put a number on the averages — there are so many words!

• Follow three part instructions (e.g., put on your shoes, get your backpack and line up outside)
• Understand time related words (e.g., ‘before’, ‘after’, ‘now’ and ‘later’)
• Start thinking about the meaning of words when learning
• Understand instructions without stopping to listen
• Begin to recognise some letters, sounds and numbers
• Use well formed sentences to be understood by most people
• Take turns in increasingly longer conversations
• Tell simple, short stories with beginning, middle and end
• Use past and future verbs correctly (e.g., ‘went’, ‘will go’)
• Use most speech sounds, but still may have difficulties with ‘s’, ‘r’, ‘l’ and ‘th’

From 24 months onwards, toddlers experience vast development in speech sounds and at least triple the number of words they can say between 1 and 2 years of age. Often many more.

Their speech becomes easier to understand and by the time they’re 4 years old, most of their speech should be understood.

By 4 years, toddlers can say a range of speech sounds when talking.

You should expect a 4-year-old to be able to hold a basic conversation and be understood, while a 5-year-old will have increased conversational skills.

Parents can continue to help their toddler’s speech development by modelling the correct way of saying words, particularly when children make occasional sound errors.

However, if a toddler’s speech is very difficult for parents to understand, or if children are using gestures (and grunts) in place of words, parents should contact a speech pathologist for further advice.

If parents are concerned about their child’s speech development, they are advised to have their child’s hearing checked by an audiologist, as hearing is important in learning how to say sounds correctly.

If you are worried about your child’s speech, if your child sounds different to the ages and stages outlined or if your two-year-old cannot be understood by adults, you may need to seek help from a speech pathologist.

A speech pathologist has been professionally trained to advise, diagnose and work with adults and children who have difficulty in communicating. Speech pathologists work in a variety of settings including schools, health centres, hospitals and private practice. Your child health nurse or GP can put you in contact with a speech pathologist.

Often, parents are slow to seek help because they don’t want to believe their child has a problem.

We’re parents too, and completely understand why and how you feel this way. (It’s one of the reasons we created the ‘Parents & Carers’ course.)

The parents and carers course is to the point — with no fluff or filler — you can go through it within a few hours.

You will learn how to overcome the typical barriers to successful communication in young children.

Also, it’s exactly what a speech pathologist would want you to know before they provided speech therapy for you and your child.

As well as the course, you get access our live streams with a fully-qualified and highly-experienced Speech Pathologist (Carissa Gorman), who will answer individual questions.

Learn more about the parents and carers course here.