S-O-S Research

Earlier in the week I looked at play skills in children less than a year old. Play is critical for a child as it helps the development of many skills, such as fine and gross motor skills, cognitive and language skills, and social and emotional skills. Play helps a child to learn and generalize these new skills and concepts.

Today I want to look at play skills in children older than one year old. I know these lists are everywhere, but they are so important for parents to understand. Many parents never look for these lists, because they don’t see a need.  Often parents are not even aware that something is wrong or if they do suspect something, they don’t understand the seriousness.

Of those parents who do look at these developmental lists, I think the individual items are often misunderstood. I believe it is all to common for a parent to think their child is doing something that they are not actually doing, because  the parent didn’t understand what was  meant. This last statement definitely describes me 11 years ago. I needed a professional to point things out and explain them so that I could really grasp the delays in my child.

These play skills are for children from 13 months of age to beyond 5 years of age. This list is certainly not comprehensive and many skills will vary from child to child. But the list may help you decide if your child is on track. If she isn’t doing many of these things, talk with your pediatrician.

13 to 24 months of age

• Enjoys listening to rhymes and jingles
• Usually plays alone or next to another child
• Watches other children play
• Plays with balls, stackable cups, dolls, and board books
• Uses from 3 to 20 single words meaningfully
• Fills containers with water, sand, or toys and then dumps them out
• Imitates animal sounds and other sounds in play
• Asks questions by raising pitch of voice at the end of a word or phrase

I’ve included a few language and motor skills, just because it is hard to think about play without these. Also, language can be a good indicator of development. You can’t give a 2-year-old an IQ test, so one thing professionals will look at is language development. Notice that by the time a child reaches the age of 2, she should have up to 20 words that she uses in a meaningful way.

Using words in a “meaningful” way is where some parents get confused. Here’s an example on one parent misinterpreting their child’s behaviors.  I know a mother of three who when her fourth was born, the family thought he was a genius. He appeared to have an incredible vocabulary and was constantly talking. This boy was eventually diagnosed with autism. Looking back, this mother realized that her son never really had any meaningful speech. In reality, her son had echolalia.Echolalia is “the involuntary parrotlike repetition (echoing) of a word or phrase just spoken by another person.”  (MedTerms Online Medical Dictionary, Medicine.net) It is common in those on the autism spectrum and can be a feature of schizophrenia.

We’ve all been around people who speak in monotone. There is no pitch in their voice. Their emotion or affect appears to be flat.  Remember, this did not happen over night. As early as 2 years of age children start to use pitch to indicate they are asking a question.

2 to 3 years of age

• Likes to listen to short stories
• Uses I, me, mine, you
• Talks about something that has just happened
• Speech is understood by others 70% to 80% of the time
• Might cooperate with other children in a shared play activity for a brief amount of time
• Might play chase with other children for a brief amount of time
• Uses their imagination in play, e.g., might pretend to feed a doll
• Sharing and turn-taking is still difficult

As children approach 3 years-of-age their speech is readily understood by the majority of people. At this age children will talk about an event that just happened and you will see the beginning of imagination in their play.

3 to 4 years of age

• Asks many who, what, where, why questions
• Uses language in imaginative play
• Imitates whispering
• Catches a large ball
• Rides a tricycle
• Alternates her feet when climbing stairs
• Stacks blocks up to 9 in height
• Copies simple shapes, e.g., cross or circle
• Assembles simple puzzles

As children approach 4 years of age their play is expanding. Both their fine and gross motor skills are continuing to develop, allowing them to now climb stairs by alternating their feet and stacking up to nine blocks without knocking it over.

4 to 5 years of age

• Follows a series of three unrelated commands
• Cuts on a line
• Catches, throws, and bounces a ball
• Enjoys re-telling stories
• Understands (for the most part) the difference between fantasy and reality
• Takes turns sharing and cooperates with other children
• Enjoys playing pretend and has a vivid imagination

By this age most children can follow three unrelated commands. They like to share stories and will readily tell you what they did at preschool or while visiting grandma. Their imaginative play is becoming more complex, but they understand the difference between fantasy and reality.

5+ years of age

• Has a vocabulary of about 2,000 words
• Can skate and jump rope
• Colors within the line
• Plays make-believe and dress-up
• Prefers to play with friend rather than playing alone
• Plays with both boys and girls, but prefers same sex
• Stays with one activity for 12 -13 minutes

From the age of 5 and older the skills continue to develop in complexity. Children are acquiring vocabulary at a rapid rate and friends have become very important.

This list is not comprehensive, but it provides a good picture of what children are doing at each age. If you’re not seeing this kind of development, you should first talk with your child’s pediatrician. Don’t take the “wait and see” approach. It doesn’t hurt to ask questions and if it is agreed that your child may be delayed, early intervention is the key.