List of Skills by Age
1-2 Months
2-4 Months
Opens and closes hand to “scratch” material or objects
4-6 Months
Hand carries object to mouth to suck both object and hand
Shakes objects, first with shoulder, then with shoulder and elbow
Retains one object in each hand
6-8 Months
Drops, throws, pushes, and pulls objects
Manipulates two objects at a time
8-10 Months
Tries to poke object with all fingers extended - may poke with thumb
Dumps objects out of container
10-12 Months
Combines two objects, for example puts one object on another
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.)
12-15 Months
Uses tools such as a spoon, fork, comb, washcloth, etc.
15-18 Months
Small objects transferred from hand to hand, rather than palm to fingers
18-21 Months
Beginning to string large beads or put chips in a slot
21-24 Months
Grasps crayon in palm and turns hand thumb up or down
Moves one or two objects from palm to fingers
24-27 Months
Lines up objects, such as blocks or dolls
27-30 Months
Makes random snips with scissors on paper with no forward movement of scissors
30-33 Months
Snips with scissors on a line across a 1” strip of heavy paper
33-36 Months
Manipulates clay to make a snake, small balls, a pancake
Completes simple puzzles (separate pieces or interlocking)
36-42 Months
42-48 Months
Rotates pencil or marker into writing position
Begins cutting on straight line with greater control, producing a smoother cut
48-54 Months
Begins to cut simple curves and angles
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/.