North Carolina Early Learning and Development Progressions: Birth to Five

Skills for ages 10-12 Months

Click on a skill below for information about observing the skill, elicting the skill, and interventions related to the skill.
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Health and Physical Development

Prone: Crawls to explore environment

Rotates body to get into sitting position

May stand without support briefly

Still crawls to get somewhere fast

Throws objects

Reaches for distant objects forward, up, and behind with balance and rotation when sitting on the floor

Walks with hand held

May take steps; if walking independently, uses wide base of support and uneven steps

May walk as primary means of locomotion

Rolls a ball toward an adult

Sitting: Rotates hand up or down to orient to object

Grasp (of tiny object): Initially, pincer grasp- with object between the pads of index finger and thumb, thumb slightly flexed - thumb is in opposition; later, fine pincer grasp-between fingernails and thumb, with thumb flexed

Combines two objects, for example puts one object on another

Tries to imitate adult marks on paper by banging dots or short marks

Grasp: Radial-digital grasp with wrist extended

Grasp: Inferior pincer grasp- between the thumb and pad of index finger; beginning thumb opposition

Release: Controls release of object into container

Release (of tiny object): Unsuccessful release into small container

Pokes fingers into small holes and explores toys with index finger

Moves objects from fingers to palm

Imitates use of a tool (e.g., comb, stirring with spoon, etc.)

Places puzzle piece

Pulls string to get toy

Pushes cars, trucks, balls

Helps hold cup

Pulls off socks

Throws clothes in hamper with a prompt

Decrease in up-and-down jaw movement in cup drinking

Grabs spoon in fist

Uses graded, controlled bite

Tips bottle to drink and self-feeds whole bottle

Holds foot out for shoe and socks

Removes second arm from coat

Cleans face and hands with damp cloth

Cognitive Development

Uses both fine and gross motor skills to explore and experiment with dropping, throwing, and other cause-and effect actions

Remembers a strategy that worked on one object and tries it on another

Remembers label for an object without the object being present

Knows how to get objects to do what he wants

Participates in games of give-and-take and turn-taking

Imitates others actions and sounds

Moves from one toy to another to explore actions

Bounces to rhythm while standing

Looks at pictures for up to 1 minute

Vocalizes to music and tries to sing

Bounces to rhythm while standing

Makes random scribbles with crayon or marker using fisted grasp

Pretends to feed and bathe baby

Moves away from the parent, but maintains eye contact

Exhibits separation distress

Recognizes friends and relatives seen frequently

Demonstrates separation distress

Demonstrates stranger anxiety

Gender stereotyping not evident in toy preferences

Identification with the same gender (recognizes similarity)

Nests smaller container in a larger one

Amount: Puts as many small objects in a cup as possible, showing interest in adding “more”

Determines what the whole image is based on seeing part of the image

Uses cross-modal (vision, taste, touch, sound, etc.) approaches to determine object's properties

Categorizes and distinguishes objects by function or behavior

Adjusts grasp and reach to size and distance

Puts things on and in/out

Unwraps and finds hidden toys under and in cloths, continues to search if not found the first try

Explores materials indoors and outside to compare characteristics

Uses names for objects

 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/.