3 Years (36–39 Months): Your Child Expands Their Language Skills

Your 3-year-old is learning to act by watching you and doing the things you do. This is a good time to help them solve problems by asking simple questions and letting your child think about ways to solve them. They learn best by playing. Play with them in ways that help them decide which is the best action to take.

Consider enrolling your child in a preschool program. There are private and public programs available. A preschool program will allow them additional opportunities to socialize and to learn how to get along with other children outside the home. It will also help prepare them for school. Find out if your child is eligible for Head Start, a federally funded preschool program for low-income families. 

Physical (Eye-Hand Control): Pre-writing Development

• Give them a slice of bread and show them how to cut out shapes with cookie cutters. Let them spread peanut butter or softened cheese spread on the shapes and put them on a plate for lunch or snack time.
• Talk about shapes and textures. Show them how to fold napkins into shapes, such as triangles or rectangles.
• Let them set the table and dishes; use plastic forks and spoons for safety.
• Encourage good table manners: elbows off the table, chewing with mouth closed, using a napkin to wipe their mouth, etc.
• Make sewing cards, using paper plates with holes punched along the edge. Show them how to sew or lace from one hole to another using string, yarn, twine or a shoestring.
• Show them how to lace their own shoes. Let them practice (but don’t expect your child to tie them without your help).
• Give them large sheets of paper and large crayons to scribble and create drawings. Talk about the colors they select.
• Avoid coloring books. Children’s hand muscles need to develop more fully before they can color inside the lines.   
• Show them how to mix frozen orange juice. Give them the can of orange juice and a large pitcher and spoon. Encourage them to repeat the process after you.

Use simple pictures as instructions:

• Step 1: Pouring one can of juice into an empty pitcher.
• Step 2: Adding three cans of water.
• Step 3: Stirring with a spoon.
• Step 4: Pouring into a glass.

Language and Mind: Pre-reading Development

• Read stories and nursery rhymes to them daily. After a child has heard a rhyme several times, allow them to fill in the blanks. Eventually, they will be able to say the full rhyme.
  
• Encourage them to talk about the stories. Show them, by pointing, that reading moves from left to right and from top to bottom. Allow them to use the pictures in the book to cue the story.
  
• Take a picture from a photo album and ask them to make up a story for you to write down. Use their own words when you read the story back. You can also use pictures from magazines or newspapers. Paste the pictures on paper so that they can make their own books.
  
• Listen to a recorded story. When it is over, ask them to retell the story.
  
• Begin a story and let your child make up the ending.
  
• Cut a square hole in a large cardboard box and let them use it as a TV or a puppet theater to make up their own shows.
  
• Measure their height monthly. Fix a measuring tape on the back of their door and let them see and talk about their growth.
  
• Using play dough (either bought or homemade), show them how two equal pieces of something look different. When one is flat like a pancake and one is shaped like a snake, they will think that one is larger than the other. Show them that the pieces are equal.
  
• Measure 1 cup of water and pour it into a tall, narrow, clear jar. Measure another cup and pour the water into a small, wide jar. Ask your child which has more. They will think the tall one has more. Show them how they are the same. Talk about how size and shape of container can make one thing look bigger or smaller than another, even when each contains the same amount.
  Show them pictures illustrating different careers and ask them what they want to be. 
  

Health Hints

Well Baby Checkup: 36 months (Do it now!)
Help your child get lots of physical exercise. Take them to a park or go outside with them and play simple games.   

Things You Can Do Every Day to Help Your Child Grow

• Give your child a large piece of paper and a crayon and allow them to draw. Ask them to tell you about their picture. Put it up on the refrigerator for all to see.
• Sing or say nursery rhymes with your child while in the car or in the tub.
• Let your child help in the kitchen when you are cooking. Let them help you turn on the water and fill the pan or watch the oven as it bakes.
• Make mealtime a special time. Take time to sit down with your child as you eat. Talk about happy things—something fun that happened during the day or in the past.
• Listen as your child talks. Repeat what they say, and make it into a complete sentence. For example: "Me want cracker" spoken by the child becomes "Billy wants a cracker," repeated by the parent or caregiver, followed with “Here’s your cracker.” Having the cue word, “cracker” at the end of the sentence is the best way for the parent to respond.
• Point out something special about the food. "Ooh, I like the orange carrots. Do you see something else orange in the room?" "Listen to the crunch when I bite my celery. Do your mashed potatoes crunch when you eat them?"
• Read to your child every day. Let them pick their favorite book or story. Allow them to help you turn pages and tell what is happening as you look at the pictures.                                     

Remember: Your child likes to explore their world. Make sure all harmful cleaning products, matches, lighters, knives and firearms are placed in an area that your child cannot open. If you own firearms, it is very important to unload all guns before you lock them away.