North Carolina Early Learning and Development Progressions: Birth to Five

Domain: NC Foundations for Early Learning: Health and Physical Development (HPD)

Subdomain: Motor Development

Goal: Children develop the large muscle control and abilities needed to move through and explore their environment.

Skill Progression: Standing

You may choose a different domain, visit the page for this domain, or click on a skill below for more information.

List of Skills by Age

1-2 Months

No observable skill

2-4 Months

When put into stand and supported under the arms, extends legs and keeps the body in the same plane from shoulders to feet

4-6 Months

Takes full weight on legs when supported under the arms; bounces up and down

6-8 Months

May pull to stand on a support surface

8-10 Months

Stands with little support

Sits down from standing without falling

May get to stand from half kneel

10-12 Months

May stand without support briefly

12-15 Months

Stands, squats, stoops, and then moves back to stand

15-18 Months

Picks up a toy from the floor while standing by squatting down at the knees, getting the toy, then standing back up

18-21 Months

Picks up a toy from the floor by bending over at the waist, getting the toy, then standing back up

21-24 Months

Rocks back-and-forth from one leg to another when dancing

Stands briefly on one foot when dancing

24-27 Months

Plays standing, such as at a small table (plays, then moves away)

27-30 Months

Stands on one foot for several seconds

Standing: Briefly stands on tip toes

30-33 Months

Standing established

33-36 Months

Standing established

36-42 Months

Standing established

42-48 Months

Standing established

48-54 Months

Standing established

54-60 Months

Standing established

 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/.