Developmental Milestones

Social / Emotional

• Begins to smile at people
• Can Briefly calm himself (may bring hand to mouth and suck on hand)
• Tries to look at parents

Language / Communication

• Coos, makes gurgling sounds
• Turns head toward sounds

Cognitive (Learning, thinking, problem-solving)

• Pays attention to faces
• Begins to follow things with eyes and recognize people at a distance
• Begins to act  bored (cries, fussy) if activity does’t change

Movement / Physical Development

• Can hold head up and begins to push up when lying on tummy
• Makes smoother movement with arms and legs

Social/Emotional

• Smiles spontaneously, especially at people
• Likes to play with people and might cry when playing stops

• Copies some movements and facial expressions, like smiling or frowning

Language/Communication

• Begins to babble
• Babbles with expression and copies sounds he hears
• Cries in different ways to show hunger, pain, or being tired

Cognitive (learning, thinking, problemsolving)

• Lets you know if she is happy or sad
• Responds to affection
• Reaches for toy with one hand
• Uses hands and eyes together, such as seeing a toy and reaching for it
• Follows moving things with eyes from side to side
• Watches faces closely
• Recognizes familiar people and things at a distance

Movement/Physical Development

• Holds head steady, unsupported
• Pushes down on legs when are on a hard surface
• May be able to roll over from tummy to back
• Can hold a toy and shake it and swing at dangling toys
• Brings hand to mouth
• When lying on stomach, pushes to elbows

Social/Emotional

• Knows familiar faces and begins to know if someone is a stranger
• Likes to play with others, especially parents
• Responds to others people’s emotions and often seems happy
• Likes to look at self in a mirror

Language/Communication

• Responds to sounds by making sounds
• Strings vowels together when babbling (“ah”, “eh”, “oh”) and likes taking turns with parents while making sounds
• Responds to own name
• Makes sounds to show joy and displeasure
• Begins to say consonants sounds (jabbering with “m”, “b”)

Cognitive (learning, thinking, problemsolving)

• Looks around at things nearby
• Brings things to mouth
• Shows curiosity about things and tries to get things that are out of reach
• Begins to pass things from one hand to the other 

Movement/Physical Development

• Rolls over in both directions (front to back, back to front)
• Begins to sit without support
• When standing, supports weight on legs and might bounce
• Rocks back and forth, sometimes crawling backward before moving forward

Social/Emotional

• May be afraid to strangers
• May be clingy with familiar adults
• Has favorite toys

Language/Communication

• Understands “no”
• Makes a lot of different sounds like “mamamama” and “babababa”
• Copies sounds and gestures of others
• Uses fingers to point at things

Cognitive (learning, thinking, problemsolving)

• Watches the path of something as it falls
• Looks for things he sees you hide
• Plays peek-a-boo
• Puts things in her mouth
• Moves things smoothly from one hand to the other
• Picks up things like cereal o’s between thumb and index finger

Movement/Physical Development

• Stands, holding on
• Can get into sitting position
• Sits without support
• Pulls to stand
• Crawls

Social/Emotional

• Is shy or nervous with strangers
• Cries when mom and dad leaves
• Has favourite things and people
• Shows fear in some situations
• Hands you a book when he wants to hear a story
• Repeat sounds or actions to get attention
• Puts out arms or leg to help with dressing
• Plays games such as “peek-o-boo” and “pat-a-cat”

Language/Communication

• Responds to simple spoken requests
• Uses simple gestures, like shaking head “no” or waving “bye-bye”
• Makes sounds with changes in tone (sounds more like speech)
• Says “mama” and “dada” and exclamations like “uh-oh!”
• Tries to say words you say

Cognitive (learning, thinking, problemsolving)

• Explores things in different ways, like shaking, banging, throwing
• Finds hidden things easily
• Looks at the right picture or things when it’s named
• Copies gestures
• Starts to use things correctly; for example, drinks from a cup, brushes hair
• Bangs two things together
• Puts things in a container, takes things out of a container
• Lets things go without help
• Pokes with index (pointer) finger
• Follows simple direction like “pick up the toy”

Social/Emotional

• Likes to hands things to others as play
• May have temper tantrums
• May be afraid of stangers
• Shows affections to familiar people
• Plays simple pretend, such as feeding a doll
• May cling to caregivers in new situations
• Points to show others somethings interesting
• Explores alone but with parents close by

Language/Communication

• Says several single words
• Says and shakes head “no”
• Points to show someone what he wants

Cognitive (learning, thinking, problemsolving)

• Knows what ordinary things are for; for example, telephone, brush, spoon
• Points to get the attention of others
• Shows interest in a doll or stuffed animal by pretending to feed
• Points to one body part
• Scribbles on his own
• Can follow 1-step verbal commands without any gestures; for example, sits when you says “sit down”

Movement/Physical Development

• Walk alone
• May walk up steps and run
• Pulls toys while walking
• Can help undress herself
• Drinks from a cup
• Eats with a Spoon

Social/Emotional

• Copies other, especially adults and other children
• Gets excited when with other children
• Shows more and more independence
• Shows defiant behavior (doing what he has been told not to)
• Plays mainly beside other children, but is beginning to include other children, such as in chase games

Language/Communication

• Points to things or picture when they are named
• Knows names of familiar people and body parts
• Says sentences with 2 to 4 words
• Follows simple instructions
• Repeats words overheard in conversation
• Points to things in a book

Cognitive (learning, thinking, problemsolving)

• Finds things even when hidden under two or three covers
• Begains to sort shapes and colour
• Completes sentences and rhymes in familiar books
• Plays simple make-believe games
• Builds towers of 4 or more blocks
• Might use one hand more than the other
• Follows two-step instructions such as “Pick up your shoes and put them in the closet.”
• Names items in a picture book such as a cat, bird, or dog

Movement/Physical Development

• Stands on tiptoe
• Kicks a ball
• Begins to run
• Climbs onto and down from furniture without help
• Walks up and down stairs holding on

Social/Emotional

• Copies adults and friends
• Shows affection for friends without prompting
• Takes turns in games
• Shows concern for crying friend
• Understands the idea of “mine” and “his” or “hers”
• Shows a wide range of emotions
• Separates easily from mom and dad
• May get upset with major changes in routine
• Dresses and undresses self

Language/Communication

• Follows instructions with 2 or 3 steps
• Can name most familiar things
• Understands words like “in”, “on” and “under”
• Says first name, age, and sex
• Names a friend
• Says words like “I”, “me”, “we”, and “you” and some plurals (cars, dogs, cats)
• Talks well enough for strangers to understand most of the time
• Carries on a conversation using 2 to 3 sentences

Cognitive (learning, thinking,problem-solving)

• Can work toys with buttons, leavers and moving parts
• Plays make-believe with dolls, animals and people
• Does puzzles with 3 or 4 pieces
• Understands what “two” means
• Copies a circle with pencil or crayon
• Turns book pages one at a time
• Builds towers of more than 6 blocks
• Screws and unscrews jar lids or turns door handle

Social/Emotional

• Enjoys doing new things
• Plays “Mom” and “Dad”
• Is more and more creative with make-believe play
• Would rather play with other childern than by himself
• Cooperates with other childern
• Often can’t tell what’s real and what’s make-believe
• Talks about what she likes and what she is interested in

Language/Communication

• Knows some basic rules of grammer, such as correctly using “he” and “she”
• Sings a songs or says a poem from memory such as the “Itsy Bitsy Spider” or the “Wheels on the Bus”
• Tells stories
• Can say first and last name

Cognitive (learning, thinking,problem-solving)

• Name some colours and some numbers
• Understands the idea of counting
• Starts to understand time
• Remembers parts of a story
• Understands the idea of “same” and “different”
• Draws a person with 2 to 4 body parts
• Uses scissors
• Starts to copy some capital letters
• Plays boards or cards games
• Tells you what he thinks is going to happen next in a book

Movement/Physical Development

• Hopes and stands on one foot up to 2 seconds

Social/Emotional

• Wants to please friends
• Wants to be like friends
• More likely to agree with rules
• Likes to sing, dance, and act
• Is aware of gender
• Can tell what’s real and what’s make-believe
• Shows more independence (for example, may visit a next-door neighbor by himself [adult supervision is still needed]
• Is sometimes demanding and sometimes very cooperative

Language/Communication

• Speaks very clearly
• Tells a simple story using full sentences
• Uses future tense; for example,”Grandma will be here.”
• Says name and address

Cognitive (learning, thinking,problem-solving)

• Counts 10 or more things
• Can draw a person with at least 6 body parts
• Can print some letters or numbers
• Copies a tringle or other grometric shapes
• Knows about things used every day, like money and food

Movement/Physical Development

• Stands on one foot for 10 seconds or longer
• Hops; may be able to skip
• Can do a somersault
• Uses a fork and spoon and sometimes a table knife
• Can use the toilet on her own
• Swings and climbs