List of Skills by Age
1-2 Months
Smiles at interesting sensory stimuli
2-4 Months
Smiles at desired object and becomes angry when it is taken away
4-6 Months
Smiles at own actions and results
6-8 Months
Derives pleasure from attaining goals (smiles and laughs)
8-10 Months
Shows anticipation and excitement when causes expected result to occur
10-12 Months
Chooses toys and people that elicit positive emotions
12-15 Months
Repeats actions known to get a positive response (i.e., “Shows off”)
15-18 Months
Seeks adult’s praise when accomplishes a task
18-21 Months
Communicates needs, wishes, feelings with words and gestures
21-24 Months
Displays sense of pride in accomplishment (smiles and shows others, “Me do it”)
24-27 Months
Talks about own body parts, functions, gender, and what he can do
27-30 Months
30-33 Months
Tells adult she wants to do things herself
33-36 Months
Performs (e.g., songs, finger plays, and rhymes)
36-42 Months
Describes what he likes about himself
42-48 Months
Expresses own beliefs with conviction; states what she wants to “be”
48-54 Months
Tells others how to do things, gives instructions
54-60 Months
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/.