How to read a milestone list
A milestone is something most children — about three in four — can do by a certain age. That definition matters: it means one healthy child in four cannot do it yet. So a milestone list is a map of what is coming, not a test your child passes or fails. Read the page for your child's age, enjoy the things they can do, try one idea from "what helps", and look honestly at the short "when to ask" list.
Four areas, not one
Development is usually described in four strands: how a child moves (big movements and small hand skills), how they communicate (understanding and talking), how they think (play, problem solving, early number and letters) and how they relate (feelings, other people, independence). Children are nearly always ahead in one strand and behind in another; a very early walker is often a later talker, and the other way round. It evens out.
If you are worried, ask early
The one firm piece of advice on these pages is this: do not "wait and see" on a real worry. Hearing, vision, speech and movement difficulties are all far easier to help at two than at five, and most checks are quick and painless. You do not need to be sure before you ask. And the clearest single sign at any age is a child losing a skill they used to have — that always deserves a prompt visit.
Babies born early
For a baby born before 37 weeks, count from the due date rather than the birth date until about two years old. A baby born two months early is "on time" if they smile at around four months from birth.
Age by age, in one paragraph each
Birth to one: from a baby who can only look and cry to one who sits, crawls, pulls up to stand, babbles, waves and plays peekaboo. Your voice and your face are the whole curriculum. One to two: walking, first words, pointing at everything, and the first fierce "me do it". Name what they point at and offer two choices. Two to three: words join into sentences, pretend play begins, and feelings are much bigger than the words for them — the peak years for tantrums, which fade as language arrives. Three to four: endless "why?", real conversations, first friends, drawing a person, counting a few things properly. Four to five: stories with a beginning and an end, rules and turn-taking, letters and sounds, counting to ten and beyond, hopping and catching. Five to six: blending sounds into words, adding small numbers, writing a name, sitting to a task, and caring a great deal about fairness and friends.
Nursery, LKG, UKG and the rest of the world
The names change — nursery, LKG and UKG in India; preschool, pre-K and kindergarten in the United States; nursery and reception in England; yochien in Japan — but the ages and the expectations are close to identical everywhere, because children are. If you have moved country, your child has not fallen behind or jumped ahead; the labels have simply shifted by a few months.
What milestone lists miss
Curiosity, kindness, a sense of humour, persistence with a hard puzzle, the ability to play alone for ten minutes: none of these appear on any checklist, and all of them matter at least as much as the items that do. If your child is happy, sleeping, playing and making steady progress in their own direction, the lists are doing their job by being boring.
Keep a light record
Once every few months, write three lines on your phone: new things your child can do, new words, and anything you are wondering about. It takes two minutes, it is a lovely thing to read later, and if you ever do see a doctor or a therapist it turns a vague worry into useful, dated information. Short videos of your child playing or talking are even better than notes.
Who to ask
Start with your paediatrician or family doctor, or the health worker who does your child's vaccinations — milestone questions are a normal part of those visits. A playschool or kindergarten teacher sees many children of the same age and is often the first to notice a pattern. For speech, hearing, vision or movement, your doctor can refer you to a specialist; in most places you can also ask for a hearing test directly, and it is usually the first thing worth ruling out when speech is late.
What really helps, at every age
The research is unusually consistent, across countries and decades. Talk with your child, a lot, in the language you speak best. Read together every day. Let them play, outdoors when possible, and with other children. Protect their sleep. Keep screens short and shared. And be the calm place they come back to. None of it costs anything, and none of it can be replaced by an app — including this one, which is why every page here ends by sending you off the screen.
Now do it for real
When the screen goes off, do something with your hands. Try 🧊 Which ice melts first? — an easy science experiment for ages 3-6, with every step read aloud in your language. You will need three ice cubes, three plates; nothing that needs a trip to a shop.
There are 56 more on the things to do at home page, and free printable worksheets if you would rather have something on paper. Ten minutes on a screen and twenty minutes off it is a good shape for a day at this age.