Language Development

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Developmental Milestones Infants & Toddlers Play & Learning Activities Preschool Age Children

The Power of Language

Talking and listening to your child is one of the best ways to support them during the critical brain-building years. Because language is foundational to all other areas of development, simple conversations (talking and listening to your child), reading, and labeling things in your child’s environment are some of the best ways to support their developing brain.

Language Benchmarks

Highlighted below are certain language milestones or benchmarks that young children should meet at every age and how to help your child reach those goals. Like all developmental milestones, every child is different and hits these benchmarks at different times. Remember that every child develops at their own pace.

Developmental MilestonesLanguage Concerns

From the earliest moments of life, children begin to learn the fundamentals of language. The most powerful influence of effective language development are the verbal interactions with caregivers.

Dr. David Perlmutter

Neurologist

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Look Who’s Talking!

Language is the ability to communicate clearly and understand what others are saying. The development of language skills supports a child’s ability to learn and acquire knowledge, while delays in language can create additional learning challenges for young children. Join us to learn more about language milestones and proactive strategies to accelerate your child’s learning and development.

¿Qué debe de estar haciendo mi hijo/a?: Su Guía a los Hitos del Desarrollo

What Should My Child Be Doing? A Parent's Guide to Developmental Milestones

Language Benchmarks

How many words should I expect?

Even before their first words they will develop their own unique ways of communicating with you. Learn more about how language development unfolds and your role in supporting communication skills.

Infants

Six to 12 Months

Babbles (says "ba-ba-ba") and may say their first words

Toddlers

12-24 Months

Imitates language and may say four to 50 words

Twos

24-36 Months

Combining words into two- to three- word sentences and has 200+ words

Preschoolers

Three-Year-Olds

Vocabulary becomes much more complex and vocabulary increases to nearly 1,000 words

Preschoolers

Four-Year-Olds

Understands more complex questions and concepts and may ask a million "why" questions as they try to figure out how the world around them works

Kindergarten

Five-Year-Olds

Expect more compound and complex sentences with eight or more words in length

Developmental Milestones

Speech & Language Concerns

Some children struggle with understanding and speaking and may need help. They may not master the language milestones at the same time as other children, and it may be a sign of a language or speech delay or disorder.

Utilize the CDC milestones checklists
Talk with your pediatrician
For children under 3, connect with First Steps for an evaluation
For children over 3, connect with your local school system
Utilize the parenting strategies detailed on this page to continue exposing your child to language

Diving Deeper

What does language and literacy development look like?

Dive deeper into each stage of development to learn more about skills to support and look for in your developing child.

Infants

Babbles (says “ba-ba-ba”)
Says “ma-ma” or “da-da” without meaning
Tries to communicate using actions or gestures
Tries to repeat your sounds
Says first words, often those things that hold the most meaning, like a pet or favorite toy

Toddlers

12-18 Months

Tries to imitate simple words and answers questions non-verbally
Vocabulary of four to six words
Pronunciation may not be clear

18-24 Months

Asks for common foods by name and makes animal sounds
Starting to combine words, such as “more milk”
Begins to use pronouns, such as “mine”

Two-Year-Olds

Combining words into 2-3 word sentences
Speech is becoming more accurate, but may still leave off ending sounds
Answers simple questions
Knows and uses some descriptive words, including emotions, spacial concepts (such as “in” or “on”), and pronouns, such as “you,” “me” or “her”

Three-Year-Olds

Groups objects, such as foods or clothes
Uses most speech sounds, but may distort some of the more difficult sounds, such as l, r, s, sh, ch, y, v, z, th. These sounds may not be fully mastered until age 7 or 8.
Able to describe the use of objects, such as “fork” or “car”
Has fun with language; enjoys poems and recognizes language absurdities, such as, “Is that an elephant on your head?”
Expresses ideas and feelings rather than just talking about the world around them
Uses verbs that end in “ing,” such as “walking” or “talking”
Answers simple questions, such as “What do you do when you are hungry?”

Four-Year-Olds

Understands spatial concepts, such as “behind” or “next to”
Understands complex questions
Speech is understandable, but makes mistakes pronouncing long, difficult, or complex words, such as “hippopotamus”
Uses some irregular past tense verbs, such as “ran” or “fell”
Describes how to do things, such as painting a picture
Lists items that belong in a category, such as animals or vehicles
Answers “why” questions

Five-Year-Olds

Understands time sequences (for example, what happened first, second, or third)
Carries out 3-step directions
Understands rhyming
Engages in back and forth conversation
Describes objects
Uses imagination to create stories

Sign Language

Using baby signs and/or gestures, along with words, has been proven to support language development.

Baby Sign Language

Chat

Research has found that the more parents talk with their children, the larger vocabularies those children develop.

Expand and Extend

Model bigger and better sentences, use new words, and expand their words and gestures as they communicate. For example, when your child points to something, tell them what it is. If your child says, “Two cat,” you can say, “You have two cats on your shirt!”

Ask Questions

Ask your child open-ended questions while you read and play, such as "What do you think is going to happen next?" and "I wonder..." Rather than asking "What is this?", ask your child questions like "Where did the dog go?" or "Can you find the blue car?" to gauge their interest and understanding.

Be a Translator

If other adults have difficulty understanding your child’s speech, you can “translate” what they are saying. Give your child a chance to speak first, and then explain: “Ben is telling you that this is his new truck.” Be sure not to joke or belittle your child for errors in pronunciation or grammar. Encourage them every step of the way!

Read & Sing

Reading together helps your child develop a love of reading while also nurturing language and listening skills. Recognize that not all books are winners - it's okay to make up words as you go or just talk about the pictures!

The Power of Language

Language Benchmarks

Look Who’s Talking!

¿Qué debe de estar haciendo mi hijo/a?: Su Guía a los Hitos del Desarrollo

What Should My Child Be Doing? A Parent's Guide to Developmental Milestones

How many words should I expect?

Six to 12 Months

12-24 Months

24-36 Months

Three-Year-Olds

Four-Year-Olds

Five-Year-Olds

Speech & Language Concerns

What does language and literacy development look like?

Infants

Toddlers

12-18 Months

18-24 Months

Two-Year-Olds

Three-Year-Olds

Four-Year-Olds

Five-Year-Olds

Sign Language

Chat

Expand and Extend

Ask Questions

Be a Translator

Read & Sing

Read more about your child's development

Can My Two-Year Old Read?

Literacy Development

Hearing Loss and Language Development in Young Children

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