Have any questions about your child’s development?
Here is each domain and where a child should be at developmentally.
Fine Motor
Birth-3 months
Hands are in a fist, thumbs are tucked in
Baby’s arms move randomly in asymmetric patterns
Watches movements of her hands and can bring the hand to her mouth
Swings at a target using her entire arm
Follows a moving person with her eyes
Holds objects in hands
3-6 months
Picks up objects with one hand
Transfers objects from one hand to another
Looks at objects a few feet away
Holds hands together
Reaches for a toy using both arms and holds it briefly
6-9 months
Rakes tiny objects with fingers
Uses thumb and fingertips to grasp objects
Uses thumb and side of index finger to grip objects
Holds 2 objects, one in each hand, at the same time
Uses 2 hands to pick up large objects
9-12 months
Puts small objects in cup or other container
Turns book pages a few at a time
Attempts to imitate new gestures
Pokes and points at things using index finger
Grabs crayons in fist
Uses both hands and begins to show preference for on
12-18 months
Builds tower of 2 or more blocks
Marks with crayon or pencil
Marks a piece of paper with a crayon and scribbles imitatively
Stacks 2-3 cubes
Can hold an object with one hand and manipulate it with the other hand
18-24 months
Starts using fingers and thumb to grasp crayons
Imitates vertical and circular scribbles
Turns pages of a book one at a time
Strings 1-3 inch beads
Builds tower with 3-5 blocks
2 years
Removes screw-on lid from bottle
stacks 8-10 cubes
strings 2-4 beads
copies circle
3-4 years
Cuts across paper with small scissors
Draws or copies a complete circle
unbuttons 3 buttons
4-5 years
Prints first name (four letters)
Draws a person that has at least 3 parts- head, eyes, nose, etc.
Draws recognizable pictures
buttons and unbuttons 1 button
grasps marker between thumb and pad of index finger
gross motor
Birth-2 months
Raises head slightly off floor or bed when on stomach
Holds head up momentarily when supported
Alternates kicking legs when on back
Arm thrusts in play
3-5 months
Lefts head and chest when on stomach (props on forearm)
Head control improving
Some head bobbing in supported sitting
Rolls from side to side
Rolls from stomach to back
Sits briefly with arm support
Random batting at objects
Hands to midline
Makes crawling movements
6-8 months
Reaches to objects on stomach
Pivots around when on stomach
Pulls self forward on stomach
Rolls from back to stomach
Sits alone briefly
Assumes quadraped and rocks
Moves from sitting to lying on stomach
Stands with support
9-11 months
Sits alone with trunk rotation
Pivots and scoots in sitting
Creeps or crawls
Pulls to stand
Cruises
Stands alone momentarily
12-15 months
Assumes tall kneeling
Walks on knees
Walks independently without support
Able to stand without support
Creeps up stairs
Able to start, stop and turn without falling while walking
Crawls up on chairs or other furniture
Runs
16-18 months
Walks up one step at a time with hand held or railing
Creeps down stairs
Walks with heel-toe pattern, seldom falls
Walks sideways and backwards
Run stiffly
Stands on one foot with help
Kicks large ball forward after demonstration
Manages riding toys
Good balance and coordination
19-24 months
Walks down one step at a time with rail or hand holding
Squats in play and stands back up
Jumps in place
Kicks a stationary ball
Jumps off 12 inch box with 1 foot leading
walks on balance beam with 1 foot on/ 1 foot off
walks up and down stairs alone
24-29 months
walks on balance beam with one hand held
stands on balance beam alone
walks up stairs one step at a time with no railing
runs well
briefly stands on one foot
jumps from one step with feet together
throws ball overhead
climbs on play equipment-ladders, slides, etc.
2-3 years
walks down stairs step by step without railing
balances on one foot 2-3 seconds
jumps forward at least one foot
walks on balance beam alone
walks on tip toe when asked
3-4 years
walks on balance beam sideways
catches a bounced ball
rides a tricycle
hop on one foot 2-5 times
balances on one foot 2-5 seconds
consecutive jumping
walks up stairs step over step alone
4-5 years
balances on one foot 4-8 seconds
walks on balance beam in all directions
walks down stairs step over step alone
kicks a rolling ball
catches large and small ball with outstretched arm
throw a small ball overhand
5-6 years
balances on one foot 10 seconds
skips
rides a bike with or without training wheels
begins to jump rope
hops on one foot ten times
catches bounced or thrown ball with hands
walks on heals when asked
swings on swing, pumping by self
Speech and language
0-6 months
Uses a different cry to express different needs
Localizes sounds by turning head
Uses sounds or gestures to indicate wants
Frequently coos, gurgles and makes pleasure sounds
Imitates tongue movements and smiles at familiar faces
Looks and smiles at people when talked to
7-12 months
Listens to and imitates some adult speech sounds/intonation patterns
Babbles using long and short groups of sounds
Understands phrases like “no-no,” “all gone,” and “bye-bye”
Makes some appropriate use of gestural language (shake head for “no”)
Begins to change babbling to jargon
Uses speech intentionally for the first time
Say “mama” or “dada” for parents
13-18 months
Looks for hidden objects
Points or gestures to communicate or identify needs
Talks in single words, often omits some initial consonants and almost all final consonants
Uses echolalia and jargon
Has 3-20 words (mostly nouns) in expressive vocabulary
Receptively identify 1-3 body parts
Follows simple directions
19-24 months
Uses words more frequently than jargon
Has an expressive vocabulary of 50 to 100 words
Has a receptive vocabulary or 300 or more words
Starts to combine nouns and verbs
Begins to use pronouns
Is approximately 25-50% intelligible to strangers
Names a few familiar objects
Identifies 5-6 body parts on a doll
Begins to understand adjectives in phrases
2-3 years
Speech is 50-75% intelligible
Consistently uses initial consonants
Frequently uses medial consonants
Frequently omits or substitutes final consonants
Begins to demonstrate turn-taking and sharing behaviors
Follows simple commands and answers simple questions
Uses 3-4 word phrases
Has a receptive vocabulary of 500-900 words
Has an expressive vocabulary of 50-250 or more words
3-4 years
Spontaneous sentences approximately 4-5 words long
Is at least 80% intelligible to familiar listener
Use of irregular plurals, future tense verbs, conjunctions, and contractions emerge
Understands object functions
Has a 1,000-2,000 or more word receptive vocabulary
Has a 800-1,500 or more word expressive vocabulary
Appropriately uses is, are, and am in sentences
Tells 2 events in chronological order
4-5 years
Consistently uses verbally and grammatically correct sentences
Completes analogies
Identifies at least 6 capital letters
Recognizes absurdities in pictures
Identifies all basic colors
Understands passive voice statements
Likes to pretend and act out stories
Understands and answers complex 2-part questions
Significantly reduces number of persistent sound omissions and substitutions
Uses grammatically correct sentences of 4-8
5-6 years
Follows 3 step directions
Asks “how” questions
Uses past and future tenses appropriately
Uses conjunctions
Names opposites
Reduces sentence length to 4-6 words
Accurately relays a story
Exchanges information and asks questions
6-7 years
Names letters, numbers and currencies
Is detailed in descriptions
Uses irregular verb forms
Names days, months and numbers in serial order
Comprehends future and past tenses
Understands humor
Wonders about abstract events like how things work
Counts to 100
Uses most morphological markers appropriately
Has a receptive vocabulary of approximately 20,000 words