Speech & Language Milestones by Age
All children develop skills at different paces. These are average milestones at ages up to 5 years old:
By 12 Months:
- Says first Meaningful word (usually coincides with a clear index finger point)
- Begins to associate a word with a meaningful object like “mama”, “bye bye”
- Starts to point at objects and people
- Imitates sounds and some words
By 18 months:
- 20 word vocabulary
- Can refer to himself by name
- Uses items with its intended function (ex. Tries to talk on the telephone or bang a drum)
- Begins to use words like “mine” and “hi”
By 24 months:
- Has a 200-300 word vocabulary
- Can name common objects
- Uses 2 word sentences (ex. Want juice)
- Roll plays and imitates (ex. May pretend to be mommy vacuuming)
- Likes to have attention on him
- Can feed himself with a spoon
- Gives a toy when asked
By 3 years:
- Can use 3 word phrases
- Has 900-1000 word vocabulary
- Plays make-believe
- Talks about events happening in the present
- Takes turns
- Will bring toys to adults and peers to play with
- Asking questions like “What’s that?”
- Matches some colors and understands concepts such as “big” and “little”
By 4 years:
- Has 1500 word vocabulary
- Uses more complex sentences
- Can name colors and numbers up to 5 with relative ease
- Can follow some directions with prepositions
- Can tell a recounting story
By 5 years:
- Can talk about feelings
- Has over 2000 word vocabulary
- Can follow multistep directions
- Has very accurate grammar
- Enjoys playing with peers in groups
- Asks higher level wh- questions like “why” and “who”
- Is able to make up imaginative stories
