Stages of Development

WHAT TOYS
AGE DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES
ARE BEST
0–3 • Arms and legs move but baby can’t • Toys that play • Dancing with baby
months control them music • Sing movement songs
• Can see adults’ faces and follows • Mobiles with baby
them with eyes • Unbreakable mirror • Massage baby
• Lifts head when in tummy position • Rattle • Dangle objects in front of
• Reacts to sounds • Black and white baby to touch and follow
• Can bring closed fists to mouth patterns, faces with eyes
• Intentionally smiles (around • Toys to chew • Talk about what baby is
6 weeks) • Floor gym doing 
• Talk about what you are
doing
• Reading to baby
• Skin-to-skin cuddling
• Lots of eye contact
• Placing baby on tummy
during playtime
• Putting toys in front of
baby
3–6 • Discovering hands and feet, • Rattle • Placing toys a little out of
months learning to control them • Unbreakable mirror your baby’s reach
(e.g. kicking) • Floor gym • Moving toys from one side
• Exploring objects with their mouth  • Blocks to the other side of your
• Can hold head steady when • Textured toys baby’s head
supported in a sitting position • Gummable objects • Putting baby in places
• Can hold and shake a rattle where they can see
• Rolls from tummy to back what’s going on
• Accurately aims for a dangled toy • Tickling games
and learns to reach it with one hand • Peek-a-boo
• Blows bubbles, shapes mouth to
change sounds: Ah-oh
• Smiling at themself in the mirror
6–9 • Crawling on hands and knees • Bubbles • Bouncing to music
months • Sitting unsupported • Toy telephone • Peek-a-boo
• Pulls self up to standing position • Plastic cups, • Words and rhyming
• Picks up small items, such as spoons, pot lids games
crumbs, with thumb and forefinger • Reaction/pop-up • Action songs
• Consistently responds to own toys (e.g. jack-in- • Reading stories
name the-box) • Play sound games to
• Can use non-verbal signals such as • A soft, inflatable convey meaning (e.g.
raising arms to signal ‘pick me up’ ball ‘quiet’ whisper or ‘loud’
• Babbling (Ah-da-ba-ma-di-mu) • Mirrors shout)
• Learns to associate words with
mental images (e.g. cat)
• Stranger anxiety
 WHAT TOYS
AGE DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES
ARE BEST
9–12 • Can go from crawling to sitting • Different size • Water play
months • Climbing furniture containers to use • Read stories
• Crawls up stairs for filling, pouring, • Naming parts of the body
• Two syllable sounds (ma-ma, da-da) dumping • Demonstrate social rituals
• Can stand without holding on • Lids, pots, pans such as kissing and saying
• Might take first steps (stiff, • Different size goodbye
unsteady, wide-based, falls containers that fit • Use association Dada has
frequently) into each other gone to work
• Pointing with finger to objects • Balls • Rolling a ball
• Can stack blocks • Toys that • Dropping and recovering
• Some memory of recent events encourage fantasy objects
• Separation anxiety play (tea set, doll, • Feeding themself
• Words trigger mental pictures of plastic truck etc.) • Drinking from cup
action (e.g. Go — looking towards • Blocks
the door) • Bath toys
• Imitates sounds • Crayons
• Understands gestures such as
waving goodbye
• Wanting to feed themself
• Might say first word with meaning
• Laughs