Contrary to the stereotyped view, a two-year-old can be sensitive to others' feelings and concerned about relationships. They enjoy the company of other children, observing, imitating and initiating contact, and they will make friends with children with similar interests, following each other and laughing together.
Their eagerness to please their close adults means that two-year-olds love to help, particularly when it involves them in an everyday task that has meaning for them and also fits in with their particular schema or interest, such as pushing the shopping trolley or laying out sleeping mats.
But a two-year-old has also begun to establish a view of themselves as an autonomous person who is keen to assert their independence of thought and action. This means having their own agenda, practising making decisions, asserting preferences and struggling with choices.
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