Child Developmental Milestone Progress - chart your child's development

The following page gives normal child developmental milestone progress during the period from 3 to 4 years (36 to 48 months).

To view other ages, click here

Like the other development pages, each age is divided into the main areas of development:

gross motor
fine motor
speech and language
personal/social

From 3 years of age, your toddler will be very talkative and inquisitive. Be prepared to hear a lot of "why"!

36 months
48 months
When to see your doctor

36 months child development progress

Motor Development

At 36 months, if your child is following normal development, she will be able to:

stand on one foot
go upstairs one foot per step
ride a tricycle

Fine Motor / Vision Development

At 36 months, your toddler will be able to:

build a 9 cube tower using 1 inch cube wooden bricks
build a 3 cube bridge using 1 inch cube wooden bricks
copy a circle
use a tripod grasp on a pencil
turn pages one page at a time

Your toddler will now have a hand preference

Speech and Language Development

At 36 months, your child, if she is following normal child developmental milestone progress, will be able to:

identify 3 colors if asked
name 8 pictures in a picture book
ask lots of questions - "what is ...?", "why..."
hold a good conversation
use plurals
count to 10
understand simple negatives

Personal / Social Development

At 36 months, your toddler will be able to:

dress and undress
play with other children
do up buttons
understand sharing with other children

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48 months normal child developmental milestone progress

Motor Development

At 48 months, your toddler will be able to:

hop on one leg
go downstairs one foot per step

Fine Motor / Vision Development

At 48 months, your toddler will be able to:

draw a person with 3 parts
build 6 cube step using 1 inch cube wooden bricks
copy a cross
use scissors

Speech and Language Development

At 48 months, your toddler will be able to:

use words like "but" and "and"
name 4 colors
discriminate size - so will know which is the small and which is the large object
follow a 2 step command, eg. get your doll and put her in the bath

Personal / Social Development

At 48 months, your toddler, if she is following normal child developmental milestone progress, will be able to:

toilet herself
play imaginatively
show concern for others

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When to be concerned

If your child has not followed the normal child developmental milestone progress or is demonstrating the following signs, see your doctor:

if your toddler is using a fisted grasp or grip at age 3 years
if your toddler is unable to make her needs known at age 3 years

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References

Martin Bellman and John Cash. Schedule of Growing Skills. NEFR-Nelson. ISBN 0 7005 1161 X
Mary Sheridan. From birth to five years. NFER-NELSON. ISBN 0 85633 074 4