0 to 5 years

0-6 months

Children develop skills at different rates, but by 6 months, usually children will:

Turn towards a sound when they hear it
Be startled by loud noises
Watch your face when you talk to them
Recognise your voice
Smile and laugh when other people smile and laugh
Make sounds to themselves, like cooing, gurgling and babbling
Make noises, like coos or squeals, to get your attention
Have different cries for different needs. For example one cry for hunger, another when they are tired

(Information from I CAN, the children’s communication charity, (UK Registered charity 21003) I CAN, the children's communication charity

If you are concerned about your baby, speak to your Health Visitor. We run ‘Baby Babble’ groups for babies aged 3-6 months.

Watch this video for more information about ‘Baby Babble’:

6-12 months

Children develop skills at different rates, but by 1 year, usually children will:

Listen carefully, and turn to someone talking on the other side of the room
Look at you when you speak and when their name is called
Babble strings of sounds, like ‘no-no’ and ‘go-go’
Make noises, point and look at you to get your attention
Smile at people who are smiling at them
Start to understand words like 'bye-bye' and 'up' especially when a gesture is used at the same time
Recognise the names of familiar objects, things like ‘car’ and ‘daddy’
Enjoy action songs and rhymes and get excited when sung to
Take turns in conversations, babbling back to an adult

(Information from I CAN, the children’s communication charity, (UK Registered charity 21003) www.icancharity.org.uk)

If you are concerned about your baby, speak to your Health Visitor. We run ‘Small Talk’ groups for babies aged 8-12 months.

Watch this video for more information about ‘Small Talk’:

12-18 months

At this stage, children will start to use language in a more recognisable way. They will also become more sociable.

Children develop skills at different rates, but by 18 months, usually children will:

Enjoy games like peek-a-boo and pat-a-cake and toys that make a noise
Start to understand a few simple words, like ‘drink’, ‘shoe’ and ‘car’. Also simple instructions like 'kiss mummy', 'kick ball' and 'give me'
Point to things when asked, like familiar people and objects such as ‘book’ and ‘car’
Use up to 20 simple words, such as 'cup', 'daddy' and 'dog'. These words may not always be easily recognised by unfamiliar adults
Gesture or point, often with words or sounds to show what they want
Copy lots of things that adults say and gestures that they make
Start to enjoy simple pretend play, for example pretending to talk on the phone

(Information from I CAN, the children’s communication charity, (UK Registered charity 21003) www.icancharity.org.uk)

If you are concerned about your toddler, speak to your Health Visitor.

18-24 months

At this stage, children try out new things and explore the world around them more actively. They will often choose their own activities and may not always like being told what to do.

Children develop skills at different rates, but by 2 years, usually children will:

Concentrate on activities for longer, like playing with a particular toy
Sit and listen to simple stories with pictures
Understand between 200 and 500 words
Understand more simple questions and instructions. For example 'where is your shoe?' and 'show me your nose'
Copy sounds and words a lot
Use 50 or more single words. These will also become more recognisable to others
Start to put short sentences together with 2-3 words, such as ‘more juice’ or ‘bye nanny’
Enjoy pretend play with their toys, such as feeding dolly
Use a limited number of sounds in their words – often these are p, b, t, d, m and w. Children will also often miss the ends off words at this stage. They can usually be understood about half of the time.

(Information from I CAN, the children’s communication charity, (UK Registered charity 21003) www.icancharity.org.uk)

If you are concerned about your toddler, speak to your Health Visitor. We run ‘Toddler Talk’ groups for toddlers aged 18-30 months.

Watch this video for more information about ‘Toddler Talk’:

2-3 years

Children develop skills at different rates, but by 3 years usually children will:

Listen to and remember simple stories with pictures
Understand longer instructions, such as 'make teddy jump' or 'where's mummy's coat?'
Understand simple 'who', 'what' and 'where' questions
Use up to 300 words
Put 4 or 5 words together to make short sentences, such as 'want more juice' or ‘he took my ball’
Ask lots of questions. They will want to find out the name of things and learn new words
Use action words as well as nouns, such as ‘run’ and ‘fall’
Start to use simple plurals by adding ‘s’, for example ‘shoes’ or ‘cars’
Use a wider range of speech sounds. However, many children will shorten longer words, such as saying ‘nana’ instead of ‘banana’. They may also have difficulty where lots of sounds happen together in a word, e.g. they may say ‘pider’ instead of 'spider'
Often have problems saying more difficult sounds like sh, ch, th and r. However, people that know them can mostly understand them
Now play more with other children and share things
Sometimes sound as if they are stammering or stuttering. They are usually trying to share their ideas before their language skills are ready. This is perfectly normal, just show you are listening and give them plenty of time

(Information from I CAN, the children’s communication charity, (UK Registered charity 21003) www.icancharity.org.uk)

If you are concerned about your child, speak to your Health Visitor or your child’s nursery. They will be able to refer you to our services. You will typically be invited to an appointment at your local clinic where we will decide on the best intervention for your child. This might include attending one of our parent courses.

3-4 years

Children at 3 to 4 years will usually be actively learning language and asking many questions.

Children develop skills at different rates, but by 4 years usually children will:

Listen to longer stories and answer questions about a storybook they have just read
Understand and often use colour, number and time related words, for example, 'red' car, 'three' fingers and 'yesterday / tomorrow'
Be able to answer questions about ‘why’ something has happened
Use longer sentences and link sentences together
Describe events that have already happened e.g. 'we went park'
Enjoy make-believe play
Start to like simple jokes
Ask many questions using words like ‘what’ ‘where’ and ‘why’
Still make mistakes with tense such as say 'runned' for ‘ran’ and 'swimmed' for ‘swam’
Have difficulties with a small number of sounds – for example r, w, l, f, th, sh, ch and dz
Start to be able to plan games with others

(Information from I CAN, the children’s communication charity, (UK Registered charity 21003) www.icancharity.org.uk)

If you are concerned about your child, speak to your child’s nursery. They will be able to refer you to our services. You will typically be invited to an appointment at your local clinic where we will decide on the best intervention for your child. This might include attending one of our parent courses or group sessions with your child.

4-5 years

At this stage, they need to listen, understand more and share their ideas within the classroom. They will use their language skills to help them learn to read.

Children develop skills at different rates, but by 5 years usually children will:

Understand spoken instructions without stopping what they are doing to look at the speaker.
Choose their own friends and play mates.
Take turns in much longer conversations.
Understand more complicated language such as ‘first’, ‘last’, ‘might’, ‘may be’, ‘above’ and ‘in between’.
Understand words that describe sequences such as “first we are going to the shop, next we will play in the park”.
Use sentences that are well formed. However, they may still have some difficulties with grammar. For example, saying 'sheeps' instead of 'sheep' or 'goed' instead of 'went'.
Think more about the meanings of words, such as describing the meaning of simple words or asking what a new word means.
Use most sounds effectively. However, they may have some difficulties with more difficult words such as 'scribble' or 'elephant'.

(Information from I CAN, the children’s communication charity, (UK Registered charity 21003) www.icancharity.org.uk)

If you are concerned about you child, speak to their class teacher. They will be able to refer you to our services. You will typically be invited to an appointment at your local clinic where we will decide on the best intervention for your child. This might include attending group sessions with your child.