Milestones

What are Milestones? Milestones are specific skills which are mastered along a specific developmental sequence. These benchmarks help to tell if a child is developing as expected. Milestones are behaviors that emerge over time, forming the building blocks for growth and continued learning. Although there is developmental variation amongst children, milestones should be met within a specific time frame. Failure to meet one or more milestones may be a “red flag” for a motor delay or disorder.

Expected Milestones (by age) – able to:

Birth to 6 Months

• Closes fingers in tight grasp around finger
• Brief grasp and release of rattle
• Head alignment
• Mutual finger play
• Hands to mouth
• Feet to mouth

6-10 Months

• Grasping cube first with palm then fingers and thumb opposed
• Pincer grasp (10 months)
• Pokes
• Claps
• Holds a bottle at midline
• Holds a rattle/shakes
• Pushes up on arms while lying on tummy and shifts weight from one arm to the other
• Starts to roll over (both directions)
• Sits independently
• Creeps/crawls on hands hand knees with reciprocal movements

By 12 Months

• Removes socks by pulling
• Releases cube voluntarily
• Easily grasps small cubes
• Transfers cube from one hand to another
• Starting to turn pages in a hard cover book
• Drops and picks up a toy

1-1.5 Years

• Fisted grasp on crayon
• Arm moves as a unit
• Rolling and then throwing a ball
• Stacks 2-3 cubes
• Putting toys in a container and dumping
• Scribbles

2-3 Years

• Pronated grasp (palm down)
• Forearm moves as a unit
• Imitates vertical lines then horizontal lines
• By 3 years can draw a circle
• Feeding self with spoon and then fork
• Snipping with scissors
• Drink from an open cup
• Opens a screw on lid

3-4 Years

• Static tripod grasp
• Hand moves as a unit
• Traces
• Coloring simple pictures
• Developing skill to manipulate toys
• Puts on socks and shoes
• Finger isolation and opposition
• Copies a cross
• Stacks 10 cubes
• Build a train or bridge with cubes
• Strings beads
• Lacing
• Cutting

4-5 Years

• Develops dynamic tripod grasp
• More precise finger skills
• Copying a square and drawing a person
• Buttoning
• Copies diagonal lines
• Tracing capital letters
• Writing some letters in name
• Cutting on a line and some shapes
• Hand dominance established
• Holds fork with standard position

RED FLAGS
Fine Motor/Visual Perceptual/Visual Motor Skills

• Keeps hand or hands fisted, thumb in palm
• Unable to prop self up on hands
• Unable to pick up toys
• Keeps head turned to one side
• Not exploring/reaching
• Grasp seems weak
• Difficulty with puzzles
• Consistently ignores or has difficulty using one side of body; or uses one hand exclusively
• Trouble manipulating scissors (at 2-3 years of age, a child should be able to hold scissors and make snips)
• Difficulty with their grasp on writing utensils. At 3  years of age a child should be utilizing a tripod grasp
• Stringing medium beads is difficult by 3 years of age
• Dressing skills are delayed-by age 3 a child should be attempting buttons
• Frequently switches hands (at 5 years of age)

Possible Signs of Sensory Integration Dysfunction
Children usually display more than one of the following characteristics:

• Unusual movements/arching
• Extended crying
• Difficulty standing in line
• Laying on the floor during circle time
• Overly sensitive or under-reactive to touch, movement, sights or sounds
• Easily distracted/ poor attention
• Activity level that is unusually high or low
• Inability to "unwind" or calm self down (self-regulation)
• Clumsy or uncoordinated
• Picky eater
• Does not tolerate teeth being brushed; Oral sensitivity
• Low tone
• Walks on toes

Follow Us!