Cognitive Development: Infants and Toddlers

Infants and toddlers usually follow predictable patterns in how they grow and learn. This lesson
will help you understand typical cognitive development, or how infants and toddlers develop
thinking skills. You will learn about developmental milestones and what to do if you are
concerned about a child’s development.

💡Know
Infants and toddlers are born ready to learn. They learn through cuddling with a caregiver,
listening to language, experimenting with sounds, moving their bodies, reaching for objects,
tasting foods, and exploring their environments. Their brains go through amazing changes
during the first three years of life. This lesson will highlight cognitive developmental milestones
for infants and toddlers.

Chart: Cognitive Developmental Milestones

2 months

● Pays attention to faces

● Begins to follow things with eyes and recognize people at a distance
● Begins to act bored (cries, fussy) if activity does not change

6 months

● Looks around at things nearby

● Brings things to mouth
● Shows curiosity about things and tries to get things that are out of reach
● Begins to pass things from one hand to another

12 months

● Explores things in different ways, like shaking, banging, throwing

● Finds hidden things easily
● Looks at the right picture or thing when it is named
● Copies gestures
● Starts to use things correctly (like drinks from a cup, brushes hair)
● Bangs two things together
 ● Puts things in a container, takes things out of a container
● Lets things go without help
● Pokes with index (pointer) finger
● Follows simple directions like "pick up the toy"

18 months

● Knows what ordinary things are; for example, telephone, brush, spoon
● Points to get the attention of others
● Shows interest in a doll or stuffed animal by pretending to feed
● Point to one body part
● Scribbles on his own
● Can follow one-step verbal commands without any gestures; for example, sits when you
say "sit down"

24 months

● Finds things even when hidden under two or three covers

● Begins to sort shapes and colors
● Completes sentences and rhymes in familiar books
● Plays simple make-believe games
● Builds towers of four or more blocks
● Might use one hand more than the other
● Follows two-step directions like, "Pick up your shoes and put them in the closet"

36 months

● Can work toys with buttons, levers, and moving parts

● Plays make-believe with dolls, animals, and people
● Does puzzles with three or four pieces
● Understands what "two" means
● Copies a circle with a pencil or crayon
● Turns book pages one at a time
● Builds towers of more than six blocks
● Screws and unscrews jar lids or turns door handles

💡 Important Reminder 💡
It is important to know that how infants and toddlers are assigned to classrooms may not reflect
the age spans listed above. There are programs that regroup children every six months and
those that use multi-age or family-style groupings, which keep children and their teachers
together for a longer period of time. It is best practice to minimize the number of times infants
and toddlers must transition from one age group to the next.

Cognitive development is a unique process specific to each infant, toddler, and family. Many
factors influence cognitive development, including genes, events during pregnancy or birth, and
aspects of the child’s environment. A family may wonder about their young child’s cognitive
development and feel uncertain about what they are observing and what to expect. As an infant
and toddler caregiver, take the opportunity to first learn from a family, and then to consider
offering additional developmental information, including possible warning signs.