North Carolina Early Learning and Development Progressions: Birth to Five

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

Subdomain: Self-Care

Goal: Children develop independence in caring for themselves and their environment.

Skill Progression: Self-care

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List of Skills by Age

1-2 Months

No observable skills

2-4 Months

No observable skills

4-6 Months

No observable skills

6-8 Months

No observable skills

8-10 Months

No observable skills

10-12 Months

Throws clothes in hamper with a prompt

Cleans face and hands with damp cloth

12-15 Months

Opens mouth for teeth to be brushed

Holds out hands to be washed and dried

Holds head in position for combing

15-18 Months

Holds toothbrush with help

Washes hands with soap with help and direction

Dries hands with help

Brings comb to hair

18-21 Months

Moves toothbrush independently

Needs help with toothpaste

Washes and dries own hands

Allows wiping of nose

21-24 Months

Attempts to blow nose

Puts trash in trash can

24-27 Months

: Cleans up spills

Turns faucet on and off

27-30 Months

Adequately blows and wipes nose upon request

Puts pajamas and other folded clothing in a drawer

30-33 Months

Helps make bed

Chooses clothing for the weather

33-36 Months

Blows and wipes own nose with some help

Washes down front of body

36-42 Months

Wipes nose without request

Brushes own hair with supervision

Helps set the table with prompting

42-48 Months

Completes all steps in brushing teeth independently

Washes and dries hands thoroughly

48-54 Months

Sets table and clears own dishes

Soaps cloth for washing

Thoroughly brushes teeth

54-60 Months

Showers independently, but may need help with washing hair

 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/.