Did you know that 75% of brain growth happens in early childhood before children even start school? According to Harvard University’s Center on the Developing Child, brain architecture begins before birth and continues into adulthood and the early years are the most active period for establishing brain connections. Over 700 new connections form every second in the first three years of life, building the foundation for all the capabilities and behavior that follow. Growing brains thrive on positive interactions!
As you use this guide, remember that your child may develop skills faster or slower -- at their own pace. Still, child development tends to follow a fairly predictable path and these are the general development patterns. If you do have concerns, contact your child's health care professional.
Birth to 3 Months
- Recognizes faces, smiles, touch, voices, and smells
- Uses their sounds, facial expressions, and body movements to tell you how they are feeling--sleepy, hungry, happy, or uncomfortable
- Smiles and coos
- Grips your finger or a toy you place in their hand
- Relies on you to respond to their signals and provide comfort
3 to 6 Months
- Pushes themselves up to see people and things that interest them
- Rolls over from front to back
- Sits with help and holds their head steady
- Makes a few different sounds in response to your sounds
- Drools and may start teething
- Develops a more regular eating and sleeping schedule
- Smiles and laughs when they recognize you or they want to keep playing
- Reaches for and grasps objects and explores them with fingers, hands, and mouth
- Plays "Peek-a-boo" and plays with fingers and toes
6 to 9 Months
- Rolls over from back to front
- Copies actions you make, like waving bye-bye and shaking their head for "no"
- Uses their thumb and other fingers to pick up an object
- Holds their own bottle and lets caregiver know taste preferences
- Babbles and makes sounds to communicate
- Smiles when they see themselves in a mirror
- Sits on their own and may crawl or scoot to get around -- may even start pulling themselves up on furniture to stand
- Loves to meet new people or needs time to feel comfortable with someone they don't know
- Like lots of sound and activity or prefer things to be more quiet and calm
9 to 12 Months
- Understands more words than they can say and are able to follow directions like "Go and get the ball"
- Tells you what they want by making sounds and body movements. They may say a word or two, like "mama" and/or "dada"
- Creeps and crawls and may even be starting to walk
- Cries when you leave them
- Starts to drink from a cup with help
- Does things over and over again to figure out how things work---like dropping their toy on the floor after you pick it up for them
- Tries to build a tower with 2 blocks
12 to 15 Months
- Walks on their own or by holding a hand
- Crawl up stairs but can't come down yet
- Throws a ball and turns pages in a book
- Points to a body part or a picture in a book
- Says "no" or shows you in other ways that they want to do things on their own
- Loves to imitate, like talking on a phone or stirring in a pot
15 to 18 Months
- Finger feeds self and starts using a spoon and drinks from a cup without help
- Walks, runs, and climbs, scribbles with a crayon, and builds a block tower
- Comforts others or makes them laugh with sounds or actions
- Understands simple questions and says as many as 20 words
- Has difficulty handling feelings and starts having tantrums. They may need your help to calm down.
18 to 24 Months
- Learns new words every day and may say as any as 50-100 words by their 2nd birthday They may even make a sentence out of two words.
- Understands the word "no", but still may have difficulty controlling their feelings and actions
- Wants to do things by themselves
- Uses their imagination, like making noises when they play with their cars
24 to 30 Months
- Walks up the stairs one foot at a time, walks backward, and balances on one foot
- Uses language (about 50 words) to tell you what they are feeling--favorite words "no, me, mine"
- Links two words together and speaks clearly enough to be understood about half the time
- Loves to open and close things to see how they work and sorts similar objects together
- Gets scared -- getting good at using imagination, but not always sure what's real and what's pretend
- Needs help sharing with their one or two friends
- Your toddler laughs at silly things in stories or at the actions of others
30 to 36 Months
- Uses his body to do "big kid stuff" like running, riding a tricycle, drawing a line, or dressing themselves
- Knows their first name and age
- Establishes more friendships and plays cooperatively
- Use as many as 900 words and understands more spatial concepts (over and under)
- Walks up and down stairs using alternate feet
3 to 4 Year-olds
- Uses pronouns (I, you, we, they) and some plurals
- Remembers what happened yesterday and acts out stories
- Takes turns
- Easily separates from parents and expresses affection openly
- Builds a tower of 6 blocks
- Manipulates small objects and turns book pages one at a time
4 to 5 Year-olds
- Speaks clearly enough for strangers to understand and uses verbs that end in "ing"
- Tells simple stories
- Tries to solve problems
- Cooperates with friends, is interested in new experiences, and becomes more independent
- Wants to be like their friends and understands gender
- Draws a person with 2-4 body parts and uses scissors
- Understands "same and different" and "behind and next to"
- Stands on one foot for at least 5 seconds
- Dresses and undresses on their own
- Throws a ball overhand, kicks a ball forward and catches a bounced ball most of the time
5 to 6 Year-olds
- Uses compound and complex sentences
- Says full name, address, and sometimes phone number
- Understands the concept of rhyming
- Follows three-step commands (put on your hat, put on your coat on and stand by the door)
- Uses imagination to creates stories, but distinguishes between fantasy and reality
- Correctly names at least four colors and counts at least 10 objects
- Copies a square, triangle, and other geometric patterns
- Understands the concepts of time and sequential order
- Stands on one foot for at least 10 seconds, hops, swings, and somersaults
- Starts to skip, swim, and ride a bike
- Brushes their teeth and cares for other personal needs
Courtesy of the Wyoming Department of Education, the organization - Zero to Three, and Mayo Clinic
Communication (Language)- This domain includes understanding the meaning of feelings and ideas expressed by others, the ability to express one's self, and the foundations of reading and writing. Communication includes the ability to express one's self by listening and the use of speech, sounds, gestures, facial expressions, body language and words. It also includes symbol and alphabet awareness, which helps with reading.
Sense of Self and Relationships (Social/Emotional) - The ability to relate to others; a growing self-concept; self-control; expressing feelings, wants and needs; and amanging emotions in appropriate ways are all part of this domain. Participation in social interactions allows children to learn to cooperate with others, to cope with frustrations and to resolve conflicts. It includes learning about self as a unique individual--the foundation of social skills.
Curious Minds (Cognitive, General Knowledge and Approaches Toward Learning) - Developing wonder and curiosity, simple problem-solving skills, creative self-expression, and memory skills are included in this domain. Also included are math, science, and visual discrimination and understanding cause and effect. Curious minds have the ability to explore; be interested, confident, persistent and focused; and are willing to try.
Strong and Healthy Bodies (Physical Development and Motor Skills) - This domain includes health, self-help skills, a growing awareness of meeting basic needs, use and control of the body, gross motor-development of larger body parts (legs, arms, torso) along with their functions and coordination (walking, jumping, etc), and fine motor-development of the fingers and hands along with hand/eye coordination (i.e. picking up a piece of paper).