Month by Month Cognitive Development Characteristics in Children
cognitive development; It covers many areas such as thought processes, memory capacity and problem-solving skills, as well as language, vision, hearing, smell and taste. Mental development is the child’s observing and experiencing the world with his sense organs and making sense of these experiences and learning.
Cognitive development begins in the womb and accelerates after birth and continues until adulthood. Cognitive development, which is very fast especially in the first year, depends on interaction with the outside world, stimuli and practice as much as any other development area.
For this reason, knowing the cognitive development steps and being aware of what should be expected from the baby and child at what age is very critical to support cognitive development and to notice and intervene in possible problems.
You can follow the cognitive development steps of 0-6 years old from the table below.
Cognitive Development Characteristics of 0 Month Old Baby
– Can see objects and people 15-20 cm from the face.
– It can smell and taste.
– It is sensitive to touch.
– It can make a sound.
Cognitive Development Characteristics of 1 Month Old Baby
– Turns head towards the sound at a distance of 15-20 cm.
– Can look at the face of the person standing nearby and communicating with him, can make eye contact.
Cognitive Development Characteristics of 2 Months Old Baby
– Looks at the moving and still objects and people nearby and can follow them.
– Reacts to sounds.
Cognitive Development Characteristics of 3 Month Old Baby
– Recognizes frequently used objects such as bottles and pacifiers.
– He starts to see colors more clearly.
– He watches the hands and feet he moves, and in this way he begins to explore his body.
– He takes his hands, fingers and objects to his mouth and discovers it in this way.
– It can turn its head towards the sounds coming from 20-25 cm away.
– Makes sounds like “a, u, agu”.
– He can react to the sounds he hears by making a sound.
– He starts to explain himself by crying in a different way according to his needs.
Cognitive Development Characteristics of 4 Month Old Baby
– He can follow the moving people and objects in his field of vision for a long time with his eyes.
– Perception of images and sounds increases.
– Begins to examine and react to objects shown to him.
– Recognizes the voice of the person who is constantly caring for him, such as a parent or caregiver.
– Begins to smile at the person in front of him.
Cognitive Development Characteristics of 5 Month Old Baby
– His field of vision widens, he can follow and look at objects falling on the ground.
– He looks at his image in the mirror.
– He enjoys hearing and making sounds.
– He searches for the source of the sound he hears.
– Makes sounds like “d, b, l, m, k” and “ba, da”, screams.
– Imitates the sounds it hears.
– When he hears the parents who are not at home, he understands that they are coming and gives reactions showing that he understands.
Cognitive Development Characteristics of 6 Month Old Baby
– He can get excited when “Mom/dad has come, it’s bath time, it’s dinner time” and it can be understood from his facial expression that he understands what is being said.
– He examines the objects placed in front of him for a long time, and the discovery by taking it to his mouth continues in these months.
– Begins to distinguish between acquaintances and doers.
Cognitive Development Characteristics of 7 Months Old Baby
– Makes sounds like “ba-ba-ba, na-na-na, da-da” by repeating syllables, repeating them for a long time.
– Begins to listen more carefully to the sounds around him.
– May start looking when his name is called.
– He/she starts to understand some sentences such as “Let’s atta”, “Let’s play a game” and “Bıcı bcı, it’s time for a bath” and gives reactions that show that he/she understands.
– He starts to express his wishes with his movements, such as raising his arms when he wants to be held.
Cognitive Development Characteristics of 8 Month Old Baby
– He watches his surroundings curiously.
– When a toy he wants to play with is hidden with a cover, he looks for the toy, he can remove the cover and find the toy.
– Begins to use the index finger to express requests.
– Recognizes all members of the family.
Cognitive Development Characteristics of 9 Months Old Baby
– When one of the toys he plays with is hidden, he looks for it and can find it.
– Understands simple instructions such as “buy-give”.
– Knows his name, can turn his head when called.
– He can do the “head-to-head” gesture when he is going or seeing someone off.
– Remembers a game played before.
– Imitates the hand clapping gesture of the parents.
Cognitive Development Characteristics of 10 Months Old Baby
– He can play for a while by himself.
– Wants to do things like eating, getting off the couch, picking up the distant toy on their own, and can succeed.
Cognitive Development Characteristics of 11 Months Old Baby
– Observes and imitates what parents do. He tries to hold the spoon like them, tries to use the glass like them, tries to play with the toys as they show.
– They can sit across from each other and play ball throwing game.
– He is ready to learn concepts such as small-big and colors with the game.
– Begins to produce solutions to reach a goal such as pulling the cover to reach the toy on the coffee table.
– While it was enough to search for the hidden object in the previous month, it is expected to find the hidden object this month.
– Imitates housework related to cleaning.
– His understanding of signs and sounds increases.
– Understands “no”.
– Can follow simple directions.
– Can say one more word with words such as “mom”, “dad”. You can use these words appropriately.
– Makes new sounds every day. Understands more words than he can say.
– Expresses what they want with unique sounds and facial expressions.
Cognitive Development of a 1 Year Old Child
– Can make up words to express objects.
– Indicates what he wants by pointing with his finger or making sounds.
– Tries to repeat what people do and say.
– Can begin to learn face and body parts.
– Knows where his toys are, looks for a toy where he left it last.
– Begins to take care of his peers.
Cognitive Development of a 13-15 Month Child
– Language development accelerates, the ability to understand increases.
– Begins to make more meaningful sounds.
– Knows the names of animals, knows the names of the people he knows, can show the animals and people he knows when asked.
– Can find what is called among many objects.
– Can recognize face or body parts.
– He often repeats the words he hears very close to the truth.
– Can express their wishes with sounds.
Cognitive Development of a 16-18 Month Child
– Attention span and hand-eye coordination are developed. can put the cubes on top of each other, throw the geometric shapes from the appropriate holes, look at the pictures of the book for a while.
– Imitates adults in eating, drinking water, hand washing, brushing teeth.
– Knows and imitates the sounds of animals.
– Knows the face parts and body parts. When he says the names, he can show 1-2 of them.
– Knows the name and location of many items in the kitchen, bathroom and room, and can show them when asked.
– He talks to himself at length. Most of the sounds it makes resemble words, with a few correct words in between.
– He hums the songs he knows to himself with the right melodies.
Cognitive Development of a 19-21 Month Child
– The symbolic game begins. He starts playing with things in the house like a toy. Pots become drums, a basket turns into a baby bed, a wooden spoon turns into a telephone.
– He starts saying “no” to things he doesn’t want to do.
– Curiosity increases, constantly asking “What is this?” he asks.
– He knows more words than he can say.
– Can carry out 2-3 word instructions given.
– Can form two-word sentences.
Cognitive Development of a 2-Year-Old Child
– Can show the four parts of their dolls/animals’ bodies. Can name some body part when asked by showing.
– Knows the location of the items in the house.
– Knows more words than previous months.
– Can memorize and carry out two instructions given in quick succession.
– Uses words to indicate needs and wants.
– Begins to understand better what is being said.
– Begins to produce solutions.
– Shows pictures whose names are mentioned, can name some of them.
– Can name body parts when shown.
– Can repeat 1-2 words or numbers repeatedly said by mom/dad/caregiver.
Cognitive Development Characteristics of a 3-Year-Old Child
– Imitates what they see in daily life.
– Knows colors and opposite concepts.
– Can tell little stories.
– Can begin to group objects according to their properties.
– He is more aware of the events around him.
– His curiosity continues to increase. Asks too many questions about everyday events.
– Can count to 10.
– Begins to understand concepts such as big-small, long-short.
– Begins to realize his own abilities. He begins to discover that he is an individual independent of his parents.
– He can meet his basic needs by himself.
– Can form a few meaningful sentences.
– Knows name, surname and age.
Cognitive Development of a 4-Year-Old Child
– He begins to look at his surroundings from a wider perspective, asks more questions about the world.
– Can tell long stories.
– He expresses his own opinions.
– Begins to establish relationships between objects, can talk about the properties of objects and match them.
– Begins to make inferences and judgments.
– Makes puzzles with few pieces.
– Know the concepts of yesterday-today-tomorrow, morning-evening and before-after-now.
– Can tell the events in order of occurrence.
– Often “Why? When? Why?” he asks.
– Compares previously learned information with new information, thinks about problem solving.
Cognitive Development of a 5 Year Old Child
– Can establish a relationship between events.
– Begins to learn the concept of time.
– Develops abstract thinking skills.
– Begins to distinguish between reality and fantasy.
– Can play games to find the missing picture.
– Can examine things carefully.
– Increases awareness of one’s own personality.
– Begin to learn traffic rules.
– Can take small responsibilities when going to the market.
– Begins to want to act independently from parents.
– Can establish cause-effect relationship.
– Knows the answers to questions such as “His date of birth, where he lives, the name of his school, his favorite outfit, food”.
– Can introduce himself/herself to others.
– Has a short attention span and is easily distracted.
Cognitive Development Characteristics of the 6 Year Old Child
– Learns the seasons.
– Can do simple addition-subtraction operations.
– Can learn right-left and ground direction concepts.
– Can play simple games with few rules.
– Can take responsibilities related to the house.
– Can express their thoughts with pictures and words.
– He can talk about a movie he watched or a book he read.