Ages & Stages
Each child has a unique set of needs, depending upon their age, learning style, and personality. The first five years for children are especially important for their physical, intellectual, and social-emotional development.
Developmental Milestones for Children
Each child is unique and develops at their own pace. The developmental information below is intended to be a general guideline:
Physical & Motor Development
- Supports head and upper body when on stomach
- Stretches out legs & kick when on stomach or back
- Opens and shut hands
- Brings hands to mouth
- Grabs and shakes hand toys
- Swipes and bats at dangling objects
- Follows moving objects with eyes
- Turning their head to face the stimulus
Language Development
- Makes cooing noises
- Begin to babble and imitate sounds
- Turns head towards sound or voice
- Shows interest in faces
- Cries differently for different needs (e.g. hungry vs. tired)
Social/Emotional Development
- Smiles at familiar faces
- Enjoys games with other people
- Quiets or smiles in response to sound or voice
- Makes eye contact
- Able to calm with rocking, touching, and gentle sounds
Cognitive Development
- While lying on back, attempts to reach for a toy held above their chest
- While lying on back, visually tracks a moving toy from side to side
- While lying on back, keeps head centered to watch faces or toys
- Enjoys a variety of movements
Physical & Motor Development
- Rolls over both ways
- Sits up with, and then without, support of their hands
- Transfers objects from hand to hand
- Supports whole weight when on legs and held upright
- Explores objects with hands and mouth
- Explores objects by banging and shaking
Language Development
- Cries to communicate needs
- Listens and responds when spoken to
- Begins to use consonant sounds in babbling, e.g. "da, da, da"
- Uses babbling to get attention
- Makes different kinds of sounds to express feelings
Social/Emotional Development
- Can distinguish emotion by tone of voice
- Forms attachment to one primary caregiver
- Generally happy when not hungry or tired
- Enjoys a variety of movements
- Is not upset by everyday sounds
Cognitive Development
- Reacts to sudden noises or sounds
- Notices toys that make sounds
- Uses both hands to explore toys
- Brings hands and objects to mouth
- Able to calm with rocking, touching, and gentle sounds
Physical & Motor Development
- Sits without support
- Sits and reaches for toys without falling
- Moves from tummy or back into sitting
- Starts to move with alternate leg and arm movement e.g. creeping, crawling
- Picks up head and pushes through elbows during Tummy Time
- Turns head to visually track objects while sitting
- Shows more control while rolling and sitting
- Picks up small objects with thumbs and fingers
Language Development
- Uses increased variety of sounds and syllable combinations in babbling
- Looks at familiar objects and people when named
- Recognizes sound of name
- Participates in two-way communication
- Follows some routine commands when paired with gestures
- Shows recognition of commonly used words
- Uses simple gestures, e.g. shaking head for "no"
- Imitates sounds
Social/Emotional Development
- Raises hands towards adult to be picked up
- Maintains eye contact with people during playful interaction
- Enjoys moving to explore the environment when placed on floor
- Enjoys various types of movement, such as being gently swung in the air by parents
- Is interested in interacting with others (such as peek a boo)
Cognitive Development
- Enjoys a variety of movements – bouncing up and down, rocking back and forth
- Explores and examines an object using both hands and mouth
- Turns several pages of a chunky (board) book at once
- Experiments with the amount of force needed to pick up different objects
- Focuses on objects near and far
- Investigates shapes, sizes, and textures of toys and surroundings
Physical & Motor Development
- Pulls to stand and cruises along furniture
- Stands alone and takes several independent steps
- Moves in and out of various positions to explore environment and get desired toys
- Maintains balance in sitting when throwing objects
- Claps hands
- Uses thumb and pointer finger to pick up tiny objects
Language Development
- Meaningfully uses "mama" or "dada"
- Responds to simple directions, e.g. "Come here"
- Produces long strings of gibberish (jargoning) in social communication
- Says one or two words - Imitates speech sounds
- Babbling has sounds and rhythms of speech
- Pays attention to where you are looking and pointing
Social/Emotional Development
- Begins using hand movements to communicate wants and needs, e.g. reaches to be picked up
- Responds to "no"
- Points to objects of interest by 12 months
- Frequently explores the environment when placed on floor
Cognitive Development
- Enjoys listening to songs
- Explores toys with hands, fingers, and mouth
- Crawls to or away from objects baby sees in the distance
Physical & Motor Development
- Enjoys clapping hands
- Walks with assistance / Walks without assistance
- Crawls up and down stairs
- Stacks two objects
- Pulls off socks and shoes
- Scribbles without control
Language Development
- Uses gestures and actions intentionally
- Intentionally says "mama" or "dada"
- Speaks in jargon or nonsense phrases
- Understands more words than can be expressed
Social/Emotional Development
- Engages mostly in parallel play with peers
- Begins to imitate siblings or peers
Cognitive Development
- Closes doors
- Follows simple commands
- Turns pages in books
Physical & Motor Development
- Walks up and down stairs with help
- Stands on one foot with help
- Runs reasonably well
- Throws a ball
- Can feed self
- May begin toilet training
Language Development
- Says "hi" "bye" & "uh oh"
- Begins to express feelings with words
- Uses two to three word phrases
Social/Emotional Development
- Initiates separation from adults
- Plays with toddlers
- Shows sense of trust
- Checks in with home-base/significant adult
Cognitive Development
- Begins to recognize colors
- Enjoys container play
Physical & Motor Development
- Runs with ease, stands on tip toes
- Engages in exercise play (running, climbing, jumping)
Language Development
- Shows interest in print & books
- Shows ability to name words for objects of interest
- Puts nouns and verbs together in simple sentences
- Uses word "No"
Social/Emotional Development
- Shows independence in routine activities (dressing)
- Has tantrums
- Engages in parallel play
Cognitive Development
- Pretends to read
- Can do simple sorting
- Recognizes names & colors, shows interest in shapes
- Repeats simple nursery chants and rhymes
- Sings parts of simple songs
Physical & Motor Development
- Has developed hand preference
- Holds markers/crayons with ease
- Stacks toys with ease
- Shows interest in drawing and marking
Language Development
- Echoes questions
- Uses understandable speech
- Uses loud and soft voice
Social/Emotional Development
- Can identify and talk about personal feelings
- Can identify and talk about others’ feelings
- Shows interest in helping
- Can recite rules, but may not follow consistently
Cognitive Development
- Can talk about books
- Can tell own age, knows first & last name
- Asks questions
- Creates imaginary friends
- Follows more complex commands from adults
Physical & Motor Development
- Swings arms when walking
- Jumps with both feet, balances or hops on one foot
- Builds and stacks with several small blocks
- Copies & draws simple shapes
- Can use scissors
Language Development
- Speaks when spoken to
- Tells stories without prompting
- Enjoys rhymes & simple, repetitive songs
- Likes to learn new words
- Speaks in 3- or 4-word sentences (young 3)
- Uses up to 7 words in sentences (older 3)
- Enjoys books that have photographs of real things
Social/Emotional Development
- Shows independence
- Engages in solitary play & parallel play
- Begins to engage in associative play (joining with peers)
- Begins to show perspective taking
- Begins taking turns
- Likes to be silly, make others laugh
- Begins to understand some limits and rules
Cognitive Development
- Can stay with the same activity for 5 to 10 minutes
- Uses toys to symbolize real objects
- Engages in fantasy play
- Show interest in numbers & names of numbers
- Uses words for time (yesterday, today)
- Uses color names appropriately
- Identifies and names body parts
Physical & Motor Development
- Runs with ease and stops quickly
- Copies, prints, cuts and pastes with a paintbrush
- Writes own name
Language Development
- Speaks in 7- to 10-word sentences
- Enjoys fingerplays & rhymes
- Tells simple stories in sequence
- Uses appropriate speech
- Follows 3-step directions
- Pronounces words and sounds correctly
Social/Emotional Development
- Engages primarily in associative play
- Has an increasing attention span
- Is developing patience
- Is developing friendships
- Uses words to solve problems
Cognitive Development
- Begins to reason
- Understands simple concept (age, number, weight, size, color, shape, distance)
- Begins to sort or categorize, notices patterns
- Counts objects out loud
- Is interested in alphabet
- Identifies colors
Physical & Motor Development
- Balances well
- Uses left or right hand with dominance
- Jumps over objects eight to ten inches high without falling
- Uses large muscles to run, skip, tumble
Language Development
- Speaks in 6- to 10-word sentences
- Answers questions about familiar stories
- Argues, reasons and uses because
- Makes up stories
- Has an expanding vocabulary
- Asks lots of questions
Social/Emotional Development
- Takes turns and shares more easily
- Plays simple games with rules
- Follows and makes simple rules
- Often plays with peers
- Shows strong emotions
- Is self-directed
Cognitive Development
- Counts twenty or more objects with accuracy
- Uses measurement terms (long, heavy)
- Matches objects with ease
- Draws basic shapes and more
- Expresses interest in creative movement