When it comes to communication development in children,
there is a wide range of things that classify “normal
development”
These standards are set in order to track your
child’s progress and know what to expect of your
child at certain ages
If your child is significantly behind in
their age group category, it would be
wise to talk with your child’s doctor
Child responds to their name
Responds to human voices without visual cues
by turning head and opening eyes
Responds appropriately to friendly and angry
tones
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBy8iNYIML4
Uses one or more words with meaning
Understands simple instructions, especially if
vocal or physical cues are given
Practices grammar
Aware of social value of speech
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vxgs9rbaG4
Has a vocabulary of 5-20 words
Vocab made up mostly of nouns
Some phrases
Jargon with emotional content
Able to follow simple commands
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBuy4Q81SeI
Can name a number of objects common to their
surroundings
Begins to combine words into short sentences
Vocabulary reaches approximately 150-300 words
Controlled volume and pitch of voice
Responds to commands such as “Show me your
eyes (noes, mouth, hair)”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCPzRr5XQV8
Correctly uses I, you, me
Begins using both plural and past tenses
Knows chief parts of body and can name/find them
on their body
Vocabulary up to 900-1000 words
Can give their name, sex and age
Understands routine activities (what to do when
it’s time to sleep, eat, go to school)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8mF23NaE6c
Knows names of familiar animals
Names objects in picture books or magazines
Knows one or more colors
Can repeat numbers
Begins to play more ‘make believe’ games
Can begin to use descriptive words
Can typically count to ten
Should be able to repeat sentences as long as nine
words
Defines common objects
Knows age
Knows tomorrow, yesterday and today
Speech is grammatically correct
There are different types as
well as different forms of play
Types of play concentrate on
categories where forms of play
focus more on what is happening in
the situation
Motor/Physical Play
This type of play allows children to begin to exercise
their fine motor skills through more active activities
Example: A child beginning to move around the house
in a walker or a toy bike
Social Play
This type of play comes into action when a child is involved
with other children
Example: Children playing together in the sandbox
Here, children begin to develop their social skills as well as
learn social rules such as give and take
Constructive Play
Constructive play is when children manipulate their environment
to create things
Example: Children building towers and cities with blocks, build
things in the sand or draw murals on the sidewalk with chalk
Fantasy Play
Similar to Constructive play; here, children begin to try out new
roles and possible situations. This is where children really
stretch their imagination and almost create their own world
Example: Playing a game of ‘Lava Monster’ on the playground
Games with Rules
Here, children begin to play games that follow certain rules in
order to be played. This teaches children that rules must be
followed in order for things to work properly
Example: Follow the leader, Simon Says
As children develop more and more, they
will move from solitary play to group play.
The different forms a child chooses to
participate in may vary from day to day
Solitary Play
Babies usually like to spend much of their
time playing on their own where they can
explore their new world
Older children will sometimes prefer to play on their own as
well where they will learn how to draw, paint, build, create
stories with dolls or explore more on their own
Parallel Play
From ages 2-3 children move alongside other children
without much interaction with each other
The children may be engaged in similar or totally different
activities but they enjoy being surrounded by children their
own age
It may seem as though they don’t care about the presence
of the other children around them but remove them from
that environment and you will see a drastic change!
Group Play
By the age of 3 or 4 (depending on where you live) children
are ready for preschool
Children are able to communicate and socialize with other
children and share ideas and toys with one another
Here, through interactive play, children begin to learn social
skills such as sharing and taking turns
Children are also able to follow a “theme” of a group activity
as well
Example: A game like hide and go seek calls for children to
be quiet and still where most other games have to do with
interacting with everyone and moving around much more