Why Three-Year Olds Are Wonderful
Of all the adjectives starting with ‘W’, wonderful may not be the one that immediately springs to mind when parents describe their three-year old. You might hear ‘wild’, ‘wicked’, ‘wilful’ and maybe even ‘whiny’ but the truth is, three-year olds are absolutely wonderful.
Here’s why three year-olds are wonderful
Each child is unique and they develop and grow at different rates, but by the time they reach the age of three, they’re transitioning from babyhood to childhood. This opens up a whole new world of independence, exploration, discovery and development as the child learns about their world, about their place in the world and about others.
Of course, this period of growth and development can also bring challenges (as does every stage of parenting – even when little ones become fully grown adults!) but the tricky situations pale into insignificance when weighed against the abundant positives.
Let’s unpack the different aspects of a three-year old’s growth and development to see why it’s such an extraordinary stage.
Why a three-year old’s emotional development is wonderful
By the age of three, a child is becoming more aware of their own as well as other people’s feelings and how people interact with one another. They’re learning about their own emotions and finding ways (with the help and support of parents and caregivers) to manage these.
They’re eager to form friendships and want to practise ways of being more independent. They also demonstrate affection to those familiar to them and let’s be honest, who can deny the warm fuzzies when your toddler slips their little hand in yours or envelops you in a cuddly hug?
They’re also learning to do things for themselves like eating, doing daily hygiene tasks like washing hands, toilet training and getting dressed. When you consider the mammoth effort that goes into learning these key skills, it’s awe-inspiring to watch a little person become more independent.
Why a three-year old’s language and communication development is wonderful
A three year-old can understand 500 or more words and they’re generally using sentences of around 3-5 words – sometimes longer. There’s so much going on in their brains and words can tumble out in the cutest of ways.
This can be a time when other ‘W’ words come into play and your three-year old will be asking lots of ‘what’, ‘where’, ‘why’ and ‘who’ questions. It can be a test of patience to constantly engage with your curious toddler, but parents and caregivers have a huge role to play in helping little people develop strong communication skills.
Have conversations using adult language (not baby speak), keep things positive and enjoy sharing in their rich imaginations and their enthusiastic interactions. And seeing them start to follow simple instructions (please get your bag etc) is pretty special too!
Why a three-year old’s cognitive skills development is wonderful
This is a time when a child starts to solve problems. They start working out how things are linked (eg matching objects to pictures) and discovering how events are connected to one another. You can see their minds and their imaginations working overtime and how they are really starting to develop the core cognitive skills that their brains use to think, read, speak, learn, remember, reason, make decisions and pay attention.
Our Treasured Tots early learning centres are inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach which is founded on the premise that every child has an innate sense of curiosity, wonder and creativity – and it’s this desire to explore and discover their world which drives their growth and development. You can read more about this inspirational approach here.
Why a three-year old’s physical movement is wonderful
By the time they are three, most toddlers are highly active and very energetic. They’re constantly practising their skills at climbing, balancing, throwing, catching, kicking, running, hopping etc as well as getting better at fine motor movement such as drawing, painting, threading and picking up small items like dry spaghetti. You can have so much fun playing with your toddler, enjoying games like hide and seek, discovering the great outdoors, getting messy with nature and introducing them to ball and racquet games.
Why a three-year old’s social interactions are wonderful
Watching three-year olds playing with one another – and entertaining themselves too – is so much fun. They’re learning to share, they’re becoming much more imaginative (although they’re not always able to distinguish between fantasy and reality) and they love pretend play. Listening to them chatter away to one another, observing them navigate relationships and watching them engage with others and with you is deeply fulfilling.
Why a three-year old’s playing and learning are wonderful
Play is vital for a young child’s healthy development and experts agree that learning through play is best. It’s how a child develops crucial skills, it’s how they explore and understand their emotions, it’s how they understand about others’ feelings, it’s how they discover the world, how they find out what interests them and it can inspire a lifelong love of learning.
A three-year old is curious to find out more about themselves, their surroundings and how they fit into the world – and it’s quite amazing to experience the speed, scale and scope of their development in these early years.
Wonderful everyday life with your three-year old
Some may say that their three-year old is more ‘threenager’ than anything else with lots of intense emotions and impulsive behaviour. But with patience, routine, repetition, empathy, love and a sense of humour, it can be the most amazing time with your little one.
As explained by the Australian Writers’ Centre, ‘wondrous’ describes something that inspires awe – a thing to be marvelled at’ whilst ‘wonderful’ literally fills the observer with wonder. Having a three-year old in your life can be truly wondrous AND wonderful!
At Treasured Tots, we love our three-year olds and we love watching them grow and develop. It’s an exciting, fun, fulfilling and rewarding stage and we just love seeing them happy, content and secure in their environment. For more information about our early learning centres, please contact us or book a tour of any of our five centres in Mandurah, Piara Waters, Bibra Lake, Hamersley, Fremantle, Bennett Springs and Bicton to ensure our friendly management team is available to show you around and answer any questions you may have. We look forward to welcoming you!