Twenty-Five Words Every Toddler Needs to Know

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-16-2008
Twenty-Five Words Every Toddler Needs to Know
Wed, 03-14-2012 - 1:40pm

I just stumbled upon this article, and the following is a list of words researchers claim every child should know by the time he/she is two.

The 25 common words that should form the building blocks of a toddler's vocabulary:

-all gone





-bye bye


















-thank you


by sara photo sigbysara.jpg


iVillage Member
Registered: 12-28-2005
Thu, 03-15-2012 - 11:23pm

tad's got 17 out of 25 there. oddly enough, "mommy" and "daddy" aren't among the ones he knows, lol. he STILL doesn't call me mama, although he knows who mama is.

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-16-2008
Thu, 03-15-2012 - 8:45am
Elyse--It's definitely saying these are words they should be saying.

I'm completely missed "cookie." We don't give those either.

Ok, I found this article about the same subject: and here are a few quotes from it:



by sara photo sigbysara.jpg
iVillage Member
Registered: 07-15-2004
Thu, 03-15-2012 - 7:44am
Simon says all of these and many more. He repeats pretty much anything you ask him and speaks n pretty close to full sentences about certain things.

I think this is probably a list of the most common words said by 2 year olds. As someone else said they probably just documented words and picked the top 25. I don't take this kinda of things with to much excitement. However, I think we have to have some sort of base to be able to gauge our children on where they are developmentally. While every child is different you have to have something to compare to so that you can assist in spotting children that might be having difficultly with certain mile stones or areas of development as a whole.



iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2007
Thu, 03-15-2012 - 12:35am
I kind of hate news articles reporting on research because I bet the researchers never said those 25 were the words the children needed to say by 2, but that children should be saying 25 common words. These are probably the most common words but obviously if you don't give your child cookies or juice, then he or she may very well be saying cracker and water (though water is much tougher to say than juice - Barrett called all drinks juice for a long time). I think generally that's a decent list of words your toddler should be able to say assuming he/she has experience with them (you know -eats bananas and cookies, drinks juice) but it's s a really stupid title- how on earth is the word "cookie" a BUILDING BLOCK of your child's vocabulary?!!!

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-30-2007
Wed, 03-14-2012 - 9:21pm

So while I didn't read the actual article, I don't know if it's saying that toddlers should actually say the word or know what it is if asked. William has known all of the these words for quite some time even though he never gets juice and rarely gets cookies. DH and I drink juice, but I also take William grocery shopping and we go through the store naming lots of the items in the store which has helped build his vocabulary. I would agree that many of the words on this list are quite common and probably very familiar to most toddlers. As a parent and teacher, I'd be much more concerned if my toddler couldn't identify the words when asked, ie- "Bring me your shoes" and he brings a coat or other object.

I don't know if that makes any sense, but I wouldn't get worked up over a list put out by some journalist.


iVillage Member
Registered: 11-01-2005
Wed, 03-14-2012 - 8:58pm
I'm annoyed by it too especially juice. Maxim doesnt get juice at home (and only a little at daycare) so I hardly think of that being an important word for him to know now. Also doesnt take into account bilingual children either...growl to the whole thing.


iVillage Member
Registered: 03-08-2008
Wed, 03-14-2012 - 8:46pm

Articles like this really make me want to give the "journalist" something real to do!

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-29-2008
Wed, 03-14-2012 - 8:18pm
I'm definitely annoyed by this. I'm especially annoyed by "cookie."

-Suzie :)



iVillage Member
Registered: 02-16-2008
Wed, 03-14-2012 - 4:54pm
I agree, Ruby. I just want to know where such a random list came from. It seems so arbitrary and like a scare tactic to make parents worry. My brother didn't say many intelligible words until he was three.
by sara photo sigbysara.jpg
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-01-2005
Wed, 03-14-2012 - 4:52pm
Hmmm...not a fan of "shoulds"...thats all I'll say about that.