Parent’s Guide to Developmental Milestones (Birth to Three Years Old)

It’s no secret that having a new baby turns your world upside down. As a parent, it’s important to help your child make progress, but monitoring their educational development can be overwhelming. How are you supposed to know if your child is on track for developmental milestones? What toys are appropriate at each age? How can they improve their motor skills?

Ideally, you want to let your baby explore at their own pace but also provide opportunities to learn as they engage with their environment. As an Occupational Therapist, I find it helpful to provide children with support in underlying motor and processing skills needed to play, learn, and be kids. Here are some developmental milestones to look for from birth to 3 and some toy suggestions to encourage your child’s growth and curiosity.

0-6 months

Welcome to the world! With a newborn, using visuals is one of the best ways for you to engage them when they’re awake. Objects are blurry at first so they should be held close to their face (within 12”) and consist of high contrast colors.  Within 3 months, eyes will follow and track objects first to the midline, then right and left sides, and then in a circular motion. Use toys that infants can reach for, suck on, start to hold, and that make noise. After a few months, they should begin to explore toys to reach, grasp, and hold as they start to use both hands and bring toys to midline, roll to and from tummy to back, and at around 6 months, they should begin to balance while sitting.

Try some of these toys:

• Rattles (or Rollin’ Rainstick Rattle which is easier for little hands to grasp)
• Squeeze toys
• Teething toys or this
• Textured balls
• Board books like these and this
• High contrast objects with colors and lights.

And some other play activities to consider:

• Read books with nursery rhymes and listen to lullabies.
• Use a mirror to look at your reflection as babies love to look at faces and expressions.
• Start tummy time early! Laying your child on his or her stomach, back, and even side while playing are important for future motor skills (be cautious not to lay on their side or tummy while sleeping).
• Using play mats (or this one for twins) are perfect to engage your baby with visual, auditory, and tactile input to see, hear, and touch.

6-12 months

Typically around this time, your baby will begin to scoot and crawl around to explore. Towards the end of this age range, you may see your little one pull up to a standing position and even cruise along furniture.

They will start to:

• Use their arms to move forward
• Pull up to sitting and begin to sit unsupported
• Bang objects together
• Hold and transfer a cube or small object to their other hand
• Rack multiple small objects, e.g., Cheerios or small food items (all fingers at the same time)
• Grab a cube using their thumb and 1^st finger (pincer grasp)
• Learn to grasp and release toys and even investigate shapes, sizes, and textures of toys and surroundings.

To work on these skills, consider trying:

• Toys to build with—large soft blocks and wooden cubes.
• Toys to use their large muscles with—large balls, push and pull toys, and even low, soft blankets, pillows, mats to crawl over.
• Marble game
• Shape sorter
• Simple Rock a Stack
• Poppin Pals
• Wonder Wheel
• Music Book
• Sit to Stand Walkers

1-2 years

At this age, they should begin to stand independently, walk, and play with objects more purpose including:

• Point with their index finger
• Hold something out for you to take
• Let go of objects and pick up again
• Try new ways to fit things together
• Use both hands to explore (bilateral coordination)
• Turn the cover of a few thick pages in a book
• Put in and remove objects from a container
• Hold crayons with fisted grasp
• Make small marks or scribbles on paper
• Simple ball skills – roll and throw
• Begin to have joint attention
• Engage in pretend play

Some toys to consider at this age include:

• Play Doh or TheraPutty to strengthen hands
• Large pegs and pegboards for motor skills and hand-eye coordination
• Finger paints and chalk on various surfaces (laying on their tummy propped up on their arms, sitting at a table, or using an easel or wall to encourage touching messy textures, proper hand positioning, and scribbling)
• Crayons: Egg, Triangular, Stackable, or just regular Crayola
• Blocks, rings, and cups to stack – grasping and stacking
• Building designs with blocks
• Bubbles and balloons – visual scanning and tracking
• Puzzles and shape sorters
• Use toys to teach reciprocal play (my turn, your turn)
• Pretend play – imitating the actions of adults such as cuddling a baby doll, using toy phone, making food, etc. Simple props household props can go a long way!
• Enjoy music and begin to develop a sense of rhythm – we love our echo for easy hands free music (connect with Spotify or Amazon Music, etc).

2-3 years

Between the ages of 2 and 3, your child’s fine motor skills will start to develop quickly and you will start to realize that your child can manipulate materials on their own.

Some tasks they will be able to do include:

• String large beads
• Build block towers
• Snip or cut paper in half using safety scissors (I know, it’s scary! But you can begin to practice with any of the scissors below)
• Use a digital-pronate grasp (index finger pointing towards the tip of the crayon with the other fingers wrapped around the crayon).
• Imitate then copy a vertical line, horizontal line, and circle
• Drink from a small cup
• Twist open a lid
• Open and turns pages of a book during story time

To encourage the above skills, try these toys:

• Tricycle
• Blue Horse Hopper
• Small broken crayons (yes, broken is better for a more refined grasp since you can’t use many fingers to hold it)
• Safety scissors come in a lot of forms including: scissors with no blade, Fiskars training scissors (blunt edges), Easi grip (easy to hold but can be sharp), Spring-loaded scissors spring up after squeezing. Begin to cut play dough and snipping paper.
• Nuts and Bolts activity
• Sorting Pie
• Potato head (a classic, but it’s still great!)
• Button Art
• Magnetic Tiles
• Paint, slime, shaving cream, Play Doh, foam, sand, or kinetic sand to introduce new textures for sensory play.

Conclusion

Phew! I know what you’re thinking… ALL OF THAT HAPPENS IN 3 YEARS? Yes, the first 3 years are a busy time in terms of development. Please remember that every child is individual and every baby will follow their own developmental timeline. Try not to get caught up in whether your child follows a development chart exactly because it isn’t always linear. The most important thing is that they make progress (it may occur without us even realizing it), so just focus on exposing them to a variety of toys and experiences.

Please use supervision with all toys or activities, especially if there is a risk of swallowing small items. This article is to be used as a helpful guide for informational purposes only and is not an inclusive list. If you truly are concerned about your child’s development, please contact your pediatrician or local Occupational Therapist.

If you enjoyed this article, please check out this article by Rachel.

Leah

Leah is a licensed Occupational Therapist in Los Angeles, California. She holds a Master of Science in Occupational Therapy from Virginia Commonwealth University and a Bachelor of Science in Child and Family Development from the University of Georgia. She has practiced in New York City and Los Angeles, primarily working with children in the school system. Leah has a passion for pediatrics. The best part of her job is watching a child’s face light up when they accomplish something new for the first time.