| Age | Body mastery (Gross Motor) | Manual dexterity (Fine motor) & vision | Language & hearing | Understanding & social skills |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newborn | Prone: knees under abdomen. Turns face to one side. | Can fixate on a visual object about 20cm away and follows it horizontally for 90 ° . | Alerts or becomes quiet in response to sound. | Sleeps and feeds. Elicits affection from others. |
| 1 month | Prone: raises head momentarily. Lifts head momentarily when held in ventral suspension. | Regularly follows objects through 90-180 ° . Watches examiner intently when speaking. | Soft, guttural noises when content. | May smile back at parent or person |
| 2 month | In ventral suspension keeps head in same horizontal plane as body. Holds head erect when held upright. | Hands mostly open, grasp reflex weak. Follows moving person with eyes. | Vocalises when talked to. | Smiles readily. Starts to respond more readily to parent than to others. |
| 3 month | Prone: lifts chest off bed, taking weight on forearms. Only slight head lag when pulled to sit | Holds rattle placed in hand. Reaches towards objects, but unable to grasp. Starts to look at own hands (hand regard). | Consistently turns to soft sound at ear level. Squeals in delight. | Pleasurable response to familiar, enjoyable situations (bottle, bath). |
| 4 month | Rolls from front to back. Pulled to sit, only slight head lag. | Hands start to come together in midline. | Spontaneous vocalising to self. people and toys. Laughs. | Imitates social contact with smile or vocalisation. |
| 5 month | Rolls from back to front. No head lag when pulled to sit. | Reaches out for and grasps toys. | Babbling becoming more tuneful. | Smiles at self in mirror. |
| 6 month | Prone: lifts chest on extended arms. Spontaneously lifts head when supine. | Transfers objects between hands. Picks up small block in palmar grasp. | Turns towards soft sound at 40-50 cm on ear level. | Laughs, squeals and chuckles. May imitate sounds. Fear of strangers develops. |
| 9 month | Crawls. Sits unsupported for 10 min. or more. Stands holding onto support. | Starts to pick up small objects with Menu finger and thumb (pincer grip). | Localises soft sounds at 1 metre above and below ear level. | Looks for toy fallen out of sight. Plays pat-a-cake, peek-a-boo. |
| 12 month | Walks alone or with one hand held. | Throws objects onto floor repeatedly. Less likely to take all objects to mouth. | Says 2 or 3 words with meaning. | Drinks from cup with help. Knows and turns to own name. |
| 18 month | Jumps with both feet together. Walks backwards. | Builds tower of 3 or 4 blocks. Scribble spontaneously. | Uses 5-20 words (recognises many more). | Points to 2 or more parts of body. Indicates toilet needs. |
| 2 years | Runs well. Can kick ball without overbalancing. | Builds tower of 6 or 7 blocks. Copies vertical and circular strokes. | Uses 2 and 3 word phrases. Starts to use pronouns. | Negative behaviour is common. Gives first name. Begins fantasy play. |
| 3 years | Rides tricycle. Stands on 1 foot momentarily. | Builds tower of blocks. Copies circle. | Uses 3 to 5 word sentences. Uses plurals. May count to 10 | Gives full name and sex. Competent with fork and spoon. |
| 4 years | Can hop on 1 foot. | Copies cross. Draws person with three parts | Asks many questions. May tell fanciful stories. | Knows and names 4 primary colours. Very imaginative play. Gives age and address. |
| 5 years | Can skip. | Copies squares. Draws person with six parts. | Fluent speech; good articulation. | Dresses with assistance. |