What should I expect from my 3 year old’s speech & language skills?

Now there are mixed opinions on norms and how helpful they are, but you are here for a reason! You are wondering what is your 3 year old’s communication ‘supposed’ to look like.

So let me help you by answering that…

Firstly, all children develop at their own rate!

However… we do have norms or milestones for a reason.

They are there to help us see if children maybe need a little extra support, and helping-hand guiding them in the right direction. They aren’t there to be scary, although, as someone who has turned to google themselves in times of worry – I get it! It does feel scary.

So let me say here, if your little one isn’t quite where they ‘should be’ don’t worry – we can support them. There are absolutely things that can be done to make communicating easier and less frustrating for them.

Ok onto what we expect at 3…

Let’s start with the big hitters! The things you will notice if they are there or are not quite there yet.

Words! How many words are we expecting at 3 years old?

Typically at 3 years old we expect little ones to have over 250 words in their vocabulary.

We expect children to be putting these words into 3+ word phrases. For example they might say “In Arthur’s car”, “Mummy eating apple”.

They should be understood 75% of the time by a non-familiar adult (so 3 out of 4 words should be understood).

In my experience, it is the amount, or lack, of talking that tends to bring parents to my door (or my inbox!), but it isn’t just talking we want to look at and support.

Even if your little one finds talking easy or hard, you may find they have unexpected strengths in these other areas…

What other communication skills are we expecting at 3 years old?

At 3 years old we expect little ones to:

-       Follow simple instructions (e.g. “go get your shoes and coat”).

-       Can answer simple ‘wh’ questions (e.g. “who is that?”, “what are they doing?”).

-       Understands early concepts (e.g. “in”, “on”, “big”, “small”).

-       Can copy the actions of adults.

-       Will notice and look for a missing toy.

-       Will watch other children play and join in.

-       Will defend their own possessions.

-       Can engage in a variety of play (building, puzzles, drawing, make-believe play).

This is not an exhaustive list of all the skills we are expecting but it gives a sense of the things we are expecting at 3 years old.

If your little one isn’t meeting these milestones or you have questions about their development you can:

-       Speak to your GP or health visitor.

-       Refer yourself to your local NHS speech therapy service (most pre-school services allow self-referral but check with your local service).

-       Search for a local private Speech & Language Therapist via the ASLTIP website.

Want to work with me?

I am taking on face to face clients who are based in South West London, and offer online consultations for everywhere else! (Including the rest of the UK and international families).