A bit of theory

Babies develop in a whole bunch of different areas at a time: motor skills (fine and gross motor skills), perception, language, intellect, emotions, and social skills. They can do things that become more and more complex with time. When they play, they learn the tasks that eventually will be important for daily living – walk, run, eat, dress, wash, shop, do all kinds of household things, make friends, have relationships, study, work.

Daffy definitions

Gross motor skills: muscle movements that allow you to change positions, turn, sit, walk, run, jump, lie down, get up.

Fine motor skills: small muscle movements that allow you to write, eat, and manipulate objects. Fine motor skills involve mostly the fingers and hands, but the term can also apply to eye movement for trackingand tongue movement for talking.

Language skills: communication through the spoken word. Two types of skills are involved: expressive language skills (making sounds, words, sentences to get the message across) and receptive language skills (hearing and understanding what is being said).

Perception: making sense of your surroundings, using hearing, seeing, touch, taste, smell, sense of self (proprioception)

Intelligence: problem-solving abilities, the ways that one discovers, processes and understands situations

Psychosocial development: capacity to feel and control emotions, connect with others, and form secure attachment bonds; social interactions

Developmental milestones

In this module, you will find milestones for fine and gross motor development, perception, and communication skills, grouped according to corrected age.

On the table below, just click on the age you’re interested in (column), and all the developmental milestones for that age group will appear. Alternatively, click on the skill you’re interested in (row) in the first column on the left, and watch that skill mature throughout the child’s lifetime.