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Displays sense of pride in accomplishment (smiles and shows others, “Me do it”)
Looks at books, plays, or performs preferred actions independently for several minutes
Desires to be held or sit on the adult’s lap, clingy at times
Alternates between clinging and resistance to familiar adult
Attempts to control others by telling them what to do
Delays gratification for a short time
Talks about emotions (happy, mad) and states (tired, hungry)
Demonstrates frequent tantrums but tries to self- calm
Uses words relating to mental state for self and others (e.g., happy, sad, want, like)
Stands briefly on one foot when dancing
Walks downstairs while holding on
Catches a large ball that is close with arms straight out
Rocks back-and-forth from one leg to another when dancing
Sits in a variety of floor positions and different types of chairs
Rocks back-and-forth from one leg to another when dancing
Kicks ball forward with either foot
Sits and rocks on a rocking horse or other rocking toy
Skills combined into Reach/Grasp/Release
Grasp: Precise tasks use fingertip grasp
Grasps crayon in palm and turns hand thumb up or down
Makes large continuous circular scribbles, with occasional straight lines
Grasp: Power tasks use palmer grasp
Moves one or two objects from palm to fingers
Unscrews a bottle lid (wrist rotation)
Practices getting on and off the potty, pulling pants down and back up
Gives up bottle for travel cup with straw
Unwraps food in simple wrapping
Holds spoon and keeps it upright
Point of spoon enters mouth first
Helps push/pull underpants and pants down/up
Locates head hole in shirt and pulls it on
May be bladder trained during the day if adults and children are both motivated
Understands labels for most common objects, animals, etc.
Understands a variety of action words (e.g., sleep, play, eat, etc.)
Takes 1-to-2 turns in conversation
Uses 2 -word phrases to communicate
Initiates a topic with one or more words
Intentionally communicates five times per minute
Talks about needs, feelings, and past events with adult help
Answers simple open-ended questions (e.g., “What do you want?")
Requests information with gestures and words (points to and uses “questioning” expression)
Makes statement with rising intonation to ask a question (“Mommy go bye-bye?”)
Speech is at least 50% intelligible to unfamiliar persons
Uses VC (e.g., up), CV (e.g., bye), CVC (e.g., sad), and CVCV (e.g., puppy)
Produces words more than gestures
Directs conversation in dramatic play toward self, dolls, stuffed animals, and an adult
Repeats same events multiple times (cooking, serving)
Asks for name of object or location of object (“What’s that?” “Where Daddy?”)
Names parts of objects (e.g., body parts or wheel of car)
Uses categorical vocabulary (e.g., trees, animals, toys, people)
Produces mostly concrete nouns (i.e., can be defined by pointing or acting out)
Understands over 300 words (Less than 50 words at 2 years is a red flag for delay)
Engages in reading behavior by verbalizing while looking at pictures
May use books as a transitional object
Relates pictures in stories to own experiences
Performs an action shown or mentioned in a book
Recites parts of well-known stories, rhymes, and songs
Identifies objects in pictures
Distinguishes print from non-print (e.g., picture or drawing)
Imitates rhyming words (loo-loo, goo-goo) and makes up nonsense words
Makes large continuous circular scribbles, with occasional straight lines
Holds crayon with thumb and several fingers
Uses tools to solve a problem (a fork to stab a bite, a hammer to pound, sifter, funnel)
Demonstrates long-term memory for experiences up to six months previous
Verbally describes basic emotions and desires
Knows what will make others laugh and shares humor
Decides not to do something she wants to do, but knows is wrong.
Identifies preference in instrumental music
Prefers using a tool with materials like play dough
Names scribbles as representing something
Combines sand, water for tactile play
Dramatizes remembered events, and directs dramatic play to self, doll, and/or adult
Alternates between clinging and resistance to familiar adults
Demonstrates prosocial behaviors with everyone
Recognizes and names self, family, and friends in photos
Girls may withdraw from rough house play of boys
Dresses up like the same gender parent
Counts using several number words, but not necessarily in order
Instantly recognizes amounts of 2 or 3 without counting (two shoes)
Examines a small group of objects and knows which has more if there is a big discrepancy in amount
Explores measuring tools for emptying and filling
Amount: Knows more; believes that a cracker broken in several pieces is more
Notices attributes and calls them a “pattern” even if not a pattern
Demonstrates knowledge of basic-level categories (plants, animals, people)
Compares and matches form, size, color
Matches forms with the same size and orientation
Places circle, square, triangle in puzzle
Stacks 6 small blocks (interested in stacking many so they won’t fall)
Imitates drawing horizontal, vertical lines, and circular shapes in sand, etc.
Demonstrates knowledge of basic-level categories (plants, animals, people)
 North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, 2015
©2015 by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/.