Developmental Milestones

By 12 Months

Motor Development

• Enjoys drinking from a cup
• Begins eating finger food
• Continues to explore everything by mouth
• Enjoys opening and closing cabinet doors
• Crawls well
• Pulls self to a standing position
• Stands alone holding onto furniture for support
• Walks holding onto furniture or with adult help

Speech, Language, and Mental Development

• Says first word
• Says da-da and ma-ma or equivalent
• “Dances” or bounces to music
• Interested in picture books
• Pays attention to conversations
• Claps hands, waves bye, if prompted
• Likes to place objects inside one another

Social and Emotional Development

• Copies adult actions such as drinking from a cup, talking on the phone
• Responds to name
• Likes to watch self in mirror
• Expresses fear or anxiety toward strangers
• Wants caregivers or parent to be in constant sight
• Offers toys or objects to others, but expects them to be returned
• May become attached to a favorite toy or blanket
• Pushes away something he or she does not want

By 12 to 18 months

Motor Development

• Crawls well
• Stands alone, sits down
• Gestures or points to indicate wants
• Likes to push, pull, and dump things
• Pulls off hat, socks, and mittens
• Turns pages in a book
• Stacks 2 blocks
• Likes to poke, twist, and squeeze
• Enjoys flushing toilets and closing doors
• Enjoys carrying small objects while walking, often one in each hand
• Holds crayon and scribbles, but with little control
• Waves bye-bye and claps hands
• Walks without help
• Enjoys holding spoon when eating, but experiences difficulty in getting spoon into mouth
• Rolls a ball to adult on request

Speech, Language, and Mental Development

• Says 8 to 20 words you can understand
• Looks at person talking to him or her
• Says “Hi” or “Bye” if reminded
• Uses expressions like “Uh-oh”
• Asks for something by pointing or using one word
• Identifies object in a book
• Plays peek-a-boo
• Looks for objects that are hidden or out of sight
• Understands and follows simple one-step directions
• Likes to take things apart

Social and Emotional Development

• Becomes upset when separated from parent
• Likes to hand objects to others
• Plays alone on floor with toys
• Recognizes self in mirror or pictures
• Enjoys being held and read to
• Imitates others especially by coughing, sneezing, or making animal sounds
• Enjoys an audience and applause

By 18 to 24 Months

Motor Development

• Walks well
• Likes to run, but can’t always stop and turn well
• Drinks from a straw
• Feeds self with a spoon
• Helps wash hands
• Stacks 4 to 6 blocks
• Tosses or rolls a large ball
• Open cabinets, drawers, and boxes
• Bends over to pick up toy without falling
• Walks up steps with help
• Takes steps backward
• Enjoys sitting on and moving small-wheeled riding toys
• Begins to gain some control of bowels and bladder; complete control may not be achieved until around age 3 (boys often do not complete toilet training until age 3 ½)

Speech, Language and Mental Development

• Has a vocabulary between fifty and one hundred words
• Uses two to three word sentences
• Echoes single words that are spoken by someone else
• Talks to self and “jabbers” expressively
• Has “favorite” toys
• Likes to choose between two objects
• Hums or tries to sing
• Listens to short rhymes or finger plays
• Points to eyes, ears, or nose when asked
• Uses the words “Please” and “Thank you” if prompted
• Makes animal sounds such as “moo”

Social and Emotional Development

• Likes to imitate others
• Begins to show signs of independence; says “no”
• Has difficulty sharing
• Very possessive
• Finds it difficult to wait and wants it right now!
• Gets angry sometimes and has temper tantrums
• Acts shy around strangers
• Comforts a distressed friend or parent
• Refers to self by name
• Uses the words “me” and “mine”
• Enjoys looking at picture books
• Tries to do many things alone
• Enjoys adult attention
• Enjoys pretending (wearing hats, talking on phone)
• Enjoys exploring; gets into everything, and requires constant supervision
• Generally unable to remember rules
• Often gets physically aggressive when frustrated; slaps, hits, etc
• Shows affection by returning a hug or kiss
• May become attached to a toy or blanket

2 Years Old

Motor Development

• Walks up and down stairs by holding onto railing
• Feeds self with spoon
• Experiments by touching, smelling and tasting
• Likes to push, pull, fill and dump
• Can turn pages of a book
• Stacks 2 to 4 objects
• Scribbles with crayons or markers
• Walks without help
• Walks backwards
• Tosses or rolls a large ball
• Stoops or squats
• Opens cabinets, drawers
• Can bend over to pick up toy without falling

Speech, Language, and Mental Development

• Enjoys simple stories, rhymes and songs
• Uses 2 to 3 word sentences, such as “I do it!”
• Says names of toys
• Hums or tries to sing
• Enjoys looking at books
• Points to eyes, ears, or nose when asked
• Repeats words
• Understand and uses pronouns

3 Years Old

Motor Development

• Develops a taller, thinner, adult-like appearance
• Develops a full set of baby teeth
• Sleeps 10 to 12 hours at night
• Sleeps through most nights without wetting the bed (occasional accidents are still quite common)
• Uses the toilet with some help (many boys may not be ready for toilet learning until 3 ½)
• Puts on shoes (but cannot tie laces)
• Dresses self with some help (buttons, snaps, zippers)
• Feeds self (with some spilling)
• Tries to catch a large ball
• Throws a ball overhead
• Kicks a ball forward
• Hops on 1 foot
• Walks short distance on tip toe
• Climbs up and down a small slide by self
• Pedals a tricycle

Speech, Language, and Mental Development 

• 75 to 80 percent is understandable; talks in complete sentences of 3 to 5 words: “Mommy is drinking juice.”  “There’s a big dog.”
• Stumbles over words sometimes; usually not a sign of stuttering
• Listens attentively to short stories; likes familiar stories told without any changes in words
• Repeats words and sounds
• Enjoys listening to stories and repeating simple rhymes
• Able to tell simple stories from pictures or books
• Enjoys singing and can carry and simple tune
• Understands “now,” “soon,” and “later”
• Asks who, what, where, and why questions
• Stacks 5 to 7 blocks
• Enjoys playing with clay or play dough (pounds, rolls, and squeezes it)
• Puts together a 6 piece puzzle
• Draws a circle and square
• Recognizes everyday sounds
• Matches objects and pictures
• Identifies common colors
• Can count 2 to 3 objects
• Can answer the question, “Are you a boy or a girl?”

4 Years Old

Motor Development

• Uses a spoon, fork, and dinner knife skillfully
• Needs 10 to 12 hours sleep each night
• Dresses self without much help
• Walks a straight line
• Hops on 1 foot
• Pedals and steers a tricycle skillfully
• Jumps over objects 5 to 6 inches high
• Runs, jumps, hops, skips around obstacles with ease
• Stacks 10 or more blocks
• Forms shapes and objects out of clay or play dough
• Threads small beads on a string
• Catches, bounces, and throws a ball easily

Speech, Language, and Mental Development

• Can place objects in a line from largest to smallest
• Can recognize some letters if taught and may be able to print name
• Recognizes familiar words in simple books or signs (STOP sign)
• Understands the concepts of tallest, biggest, same, more, on, in, under, and above
• Counts 1 to 7 objects out loud
• Understands order of daily routines (breakfast before lunch, lunch before dinner, dinner before bedtime)
• Speaks fairly complex sentences: “The baby ate the cookie before I could put it on the table.”
• Enjoys singing simple songs, rhymes, and nonsense words
• Adapts language to listener’s level of understanding. To baby sister: “Daddy go bye bye.”  To Mother:  “Daddy went to the store to buy food.”
• Learns name, address, and phone number if taught
• Asks and answers who, what , when, why, where questions
• Continues 1 activity for 10 to 15 minutes
• Names 6 to 8 colors and 3 shapes
• Follows two unrelated directions:  “Put your milk on the table and get your coat on.”

5 Year Olds

Motor Development

• Able to dress self with little assistance
• Learns to skip
• Throws ball overhead
• Catches bounced balls
• Rides a tricycle skillfully, may show interest in riding a bicycle with training wheels
• Uses a fork and knife well
• Cuts on a line with scissors
• Hand dominance is established
• Jumps over low objects

Speech, Language, and Mental Development

• Knows basic colors like red, yellow, blue, green, orange
• Able to memorize address and phone number
• Understands that stories have a beginning, middle, and end
• Enjoys telling his or her own stories
• Understands that books are read from left to right, top to bottom
• Enjoys riddles and jokes
• Draws pictures that represent animals, people, and objects
• Enjoys tracing or copying letters
• Sorts objects by size
• Identifies some letters of the alphabet and a few numbers
• Understands more, less, and the same
• Counts up to 10 objects
• Understands before and after, above and below (position words)
• Is project-minded; plans building, play scenarios, and drawings
• Interested in cause and effect