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Experiments with putting things together and taking them apart
Knows concept of and uses terms “his/hers”
Talks about own body parts, functions, gender, and what he can do
Talks about what he “knows” and “thinks” about the world
Actively participates in dressing and other activities of daily living with the adult
Demonstrates anger or excitement at adult separation and/or upon reunion after separation
Engages in pretend parallel play; talks about how others feel
Demonstrates roles of both a leader and a follower in different activities
Extensive emotional vocabulary, but still may hit or bite to express anger or frustration
Acts out to gain independence from adult’s rules and control, aggression and anger increase
Asks about others’ feelings or states and the causes of their feelings
Sitting: Transitions easily from one position to another
Plays standing, such as at a small table (plays, then moves away)
Walks upstairs and downstairs alone, both feet on a step
Moves up and down the slide at the park
Skills combined into Manipulation/Tool use
Skills combined into Manipulation/Tool use
Lines up objects, such as blocks or dolls
Demonstrates taste and texture preferences in food; makes requests
Demonstrates a pattern of toileting needs (i.e. when and how often)
Demonstrates oral motor skills necessary to eat foods from all food groups
Uses tongue to clear area between gums and cheek
Understands vocabulary related to familiar items, people, and routines
Understands size (e.g., big, little)
Takes 2-3 turns in conversations by adding new information
Initiates a topic and responds with new information
Dependent on the adult to scaffold the conversation
Begins to cooperate in games, songs, and finger plays
Points to an object when asked, “Which one is…” (a cow, big, etc.)
Asks “What that” questions for information
Combines noises to make sound effects (e.g., “zoom-zoom,” “Brrring,” “Bang”)
Uses negative sentences for nonexistence (no cookie), rejection (no nite-nite) and denial (no break)
Plays house and acts out going to bed, cooking, eating, and other daily routines
Responds to adult’s suggestions for expansions of play
Produces regular possessives (e.g., mommy’s) emerge
Produces and between nouns (e.g., “I want juice and cookies.”)
Produces number words: Knows numbers one and two and knows “one more”
Understands and uses comparative words (e.g., big, little)
Uses pronouns (e.g., he, me) and possessives within a statement (e.g., that mine, your hat)
Protests when adult misreads a word in a familiar book; offers correct word
Recites whole phrases from favorite stories
“Reads” to dolls, stuffed animals or self
Discusses characters and events in books in ways that show understanding of the story
Points to and labels pictures on billboards, cereal boxes, etc. in the environment
Repeats the alliterative words with these sounds more easily /w, p, b, d, t, m, n, h, y/
Experiments with putting things together and taking them apart
Recognizes familiar signs, books
Use the word “pretend” when doing dramatic play
Decides which role to play and what actions to perform
Increases activity level with fast rhythms
Experiments with materials, objects, and instruments
Engages in “music babble” as he sings and dances
Makes circles inside of circles, radiating lines from circles, and repetitive line formations
Engages in sensory art such as play dough, finger paints, etc.
Dramatizes different roles in familiar routines, up to three steps
Names own and others’ possessions
Shares toys, demonstrates some prosocial behavior with peers
Retrieves objects from different parts of the home
Knows cultural expectations for behaviors within the family
Play may be highly gender stereotyped
Prefers play with peers to that of adults
Notices obvious disabilities and points or makes comments
Counts first three count words
Demonstrates one-to-one correspondence (give one to each person), but doesn’t know amount
Understands the concept of one
Correctly nests four or more small square boxes
Stacks five circular rings in correct size order
Size: Recognizes size differences (big, little)
Time: Understands now, today, in a minute; understands and talks about sequence of events in the day
Tries to imitate songs and finger plays, dance moves, and rhythms with instruments
Beginning to think about how things in the world are alike (rocks, trees, flowers, etc.)
Knows clothing for different occasions
Matches basic shapes of different sizes
Experiments with combining shapes in different configurations
 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/.