Can your nine to twelve month old do this?

• Understand familiar words
• Pull up to stand but not get down
• Explore what is in a container
• Drop things into a small opening or container
• Wave bye-bye
• Crawl, scoot, creep, or move well from one place to another
• Crawl around and over things
• Crawl while holding something
• Follow a few simple directions
• Poke at holes with pointing finger
• Look at pictures in a book
• Begin to stoop
• Try to roll a ball
• Babble as if speaking a sentence or asking a question
• Tear paper
• Say a few words, but not perfectly
• Copy new gestures
• Turn a few pages in a hard-page book
• Begin to scribble
• Finger paint
• Roll or push a ball
• Spend longer doing one thing than she used to
• Make a stack of two blocks
• Show interest in things farther away than he used to
• Help pull off simple clothing
• Fit one thing into another
• Know where familiar things are kept

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Preschool children at three years old usually

• are more sociable and willing to conform than younger children
• have great interest and curiosity in people and things
• slow down a bit physically compared to at two
• develop much more complex motor abilities
• have increased interest in dramatic play and imitation of others
• listen to verbal suggestions
• have increased interest or attention span
• adjust better and easier to change
• understands parents will return – not as clingy
• plays more spontaneously in groups
• doesn’t need constant-hovering-direct adult supervision to stay out of trouble
• begins to appreciate form in manipulative activities
• loves imaginary activities and outlets that help promote emotional development
• has an imaginary companion to play and pretend with

Three year olds pre-schoolers like 

• words and conversation
• dramatization
• trips and excursions
• planning visits, lunch with grandma, etc.
• watching adults work
• watching machinery in use
• imaginative stories based on real people and real animals
• to look at books
• singing and a diversity of musical experiences
• constructing with blocks more than playing with the finished product

Preschool children at age three need

• dramatization outlets like a costume boxes, large blocks, pretend kitchens, food, etc.
• both active group play and quiet individual private time
• suggestions or cues from adults sometimes in order to continue play

How to help your three year old’s development

• Whisper to get three year old’s attention
• Be humorous and silly with wrong guesses to questions
• Sometime answer their questions with silly off the wall answers
• When appropriate let three year old children settle their own disputes
• Surprise excursions, visitors, activities – be spontaneous don’t always follow the exact routine
• Offer choices: Do you want to wear the blue hat or the red. hat?
• Distract and divert to a move on to a different activity or take mind off of something
• Respect their imaginary life and join in on the fun.

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A typical four year old preschool child usually

• Goes “out of bounds” easily in almost every direction – both with mind and muscles
• Has high Motor drive; likes rough and tumble play
• Is a great talker, exaggerates, boasts and is bossy
• Likes old, new and different words, silly language, including profanity
• Calls other children names
• Asks many questions. Wants to know why and how.
• Talks about becoming five years old
• Likes to play cooperatively with 3 and 4 children.
• Will exclude a third child sometimes
• Has difficulty distinguishing between truth and fiction
• Loves to defy mommy and daddy
• Routines go more smoothly and independently
• Has a strong sense of family and home
• Can combine talking and activity at the same time like dressing, eating, etc.
• Social; wants a playmate all the time
• Can be cooperative, calm, imaginative, quiet but also bossy, assertive, noisy, silly, dogmatic.

Four year old preschool children like

• nonsense rhymes, nursery rhymes, tall stories, words and numbers
• listening to familiar stories over and over again
• dress up and true dramatic play
• planning and carrying out excursion, trips and picnics
• building things to can get into, like box houses, forts, and tents
• manipulating large hunks of clay
• carpentry
• playing in mud and water
• playing in groups

Four year old pre-kindergarten children need

• to be allowed to test themselves
• limits set and authority of adults
• supervision even though he seems self-reliant
• to interact with children at the same age and maturity level
• variety but still love repetition
• group play
• supervision when using the bathroom because of curiosity
• active play involving large muscle groups

You can help your four year old and yourself by

• Being patient
• Being in control
• Always following through on what you say
• Following through on consequences and enforcement

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Can your newborn to five month old do this?

• Feel, taste, smell, and hear
• Move arms and legs in play
• Cry when in need of something
• Enjoy being held and spoken to
• See things 8”-12” away
• Begin to turn head
• Make eye contact
• Look at clear simple pictures or designs
• Grasp a small thing briefly
• Make cooing sounds
• Lift head to look around
• Smile
• Follow with eyes from side to side
• Reach toward a toy show happy and sad feelings by making sounds
• Watch your mouth when you talk
• Hold and shake a small toy
• See things farther than 12 inches away
• Look at hands and feet
• Bat or hit at things
• Support head and chest with arms when on stomach
• Try to roll over
• Reach out when on stomach
• Watch moving things
• Answer a sound you make with another sound
• Try to pull up to a sitting position
• Bounce when held in a standing position
• Enjoy looking in a mirror
• Hold something in either hand
• Play peek-a-boo
• Recognize familiar people

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Typical two year old preschooler characteristics

• Active!
• On the go
• Possessive – “MINE!”
• Great curiosity with no judgment
• Becoming aware of himself as an individual
• Likes to do things for himself/herself
• Can be negative at times.
• Grabs and socks
• Cannot share
• Snatches things
• Bites sometimes
• Still prefers solitary play to parallel play and seldom plays cooperatively
• Likes to watch others
• Interest or attention span is short; two to five minutes maximum
• Has no sense of time
• Can not be hurried
• Prone to dawdle
• Dependent on mother and father
• Has many fears, chiefly loud and sudden noises; also fears moving and changes

The Toddler Creed

If I want it, IT’S MINE!
If I give it to you and change my mind later, IT’S MINE!
If I can take it away from you, IT’S MINE!
If it’s mine it will never belong to anybody else. No matter what.
If we are building something together, All the pieces are MINE!
If it looks just like mine, IT’S MINE!
If it breaks or needs putting away, IT’S YOURS!

by Dr. Burton L. White

Two year olds like to

• do things for themselves
• taste just about anything
• run, be chased and chase
• fill and empty containers
• imitate and to do simple dramatizations of everyday things like the telephone
• use action toys; cars, trikes, things to ride

Two year olds need

• Constant supervision; since two’s do not usually ask for help, be alert to give them help by terminating play that is deteriorating, protecting individual children’s rights and helping to handle disputes.
• Activities involving big muscles
• Outdoor activity and lots of it
• Opportunities to explore

You can help your two year old and yourself by

• Being brief in talking
• Using a calm, positive, reassuring tone
• Distracting or diverting to different activities – Redirection
• Warning in advance of any change
• Picking-up bodily and carrying to next situation if necessary
• Being consistent in your discipline and reaction to behaviors

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Can your twelve month to eighteen month old baby do this?

• move around the room
• copy a few simple sounds or actions
• use some gestures, such as waving
• understand a few words
• play simple pretend games
• put something in and take it out of a container
• move to music
• use one-word sentences
• play simple musical instruments
• hand a toy to someone
• play with others
• help dress and undress self
• roll a ball
• pour and splash water
• use some words correctly, such as “mama,” “oh oh,” or “no”
• enjoy looking at books
• get a ball that rolls out of sight
• enjoy doing the same thing over and over
• walk upstairs with help
• feel difference in temperature, taste, smell
• try to sing songs
• enjoy messy play, such as finger painting
• point at or name familiar things
• hug and kiss people they like
• recognize self in mirror
• stack two or more things
• drink from a cup
• turn two or three pages at a time
• understand many words and simple directions
• try to kick a ball
• explore without putting things in mouth
• show one body part
• match same toys
• push, pull, or carry toy while walking
• put up to six large round pegs into a peg board
• use a spoon to scoop

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Can your eighteen month to two year old toddler do this?

• throw a ball
• try to walk up or down steps
• show many emotions
• enjoy nursery rhymes, songs, and finger plays
• chew foods well
• zip and unzip easy zippers
• copy housework
• point to up to five body parts
• feel frustrated easily
• use play dough, paint, paper
• ride a small riding toy without pedals
• turn familiar pictures right side up
• use his or her own name
• walk on a wide balance board
• try to balance on one foot
• wash and dry hands with help
• listen to a short story
• string large beads
• say two-word sentences
• unwrap packages or peel a banana, once started
• use words that tell what people or things do
• use words that tell about people and things
• match sounds to animals
• run fast
• recognize self in photograph
• try to comfort others
• turn one page at a time
• try to copy folding
• enjoy water and sand play
• do a one-to-three piece puzzle or form board
• match pictures to real things
• copy four words you say
• try to jump in place
• sing some words to songs

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Can your five to nine month old do this?

• look for things dropped
• uncover hidden things
• drop things on purpose
• hold a bottle*
• play with paper
• play with things by banging them together
• sit in a highchair
• change something from one hand to the other
• eat some solid foods
• reach out with one hand to pick something up
• sit without support
• support some weight when held in a standing position
• babble a string of sounds
• get into a sitting position
• begin to copy a few familiar sounds
• rock on hands and knees
• copy some familiar actions
• make noise with things on purpose
• pick up small things and put into mouth
• feed self finger foods
• babble to show wants
• copy some new sounds you make
• take things out of containers
• look at pictures when named
• pick up, push, or shove large things
• pull a string

* Make sure to hold and cuddle baby even when he can hold his own bottle. He needs your warmth and love. And remember-don’t put your baby to bed with a bottle. This can lead to ear infections, choking, or tooth decay.

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