For many children language ignites in this six months. Ten words become a hundred, single words become two-word sentences, and suddenly your child is narrating the world. The first big emotional outbursts arrive at the same time — and for the same reason. Your child now knows exactly what they want, and still lacks the means to get it.
The skills most children pick up somewhere inside this age range, grouped the way development actually happens rather than as one long checklist.
Motor
Jumps with both feet
Lifts both feet off the ground at once.
Throws an object
Throws an object in a direction.
Runs a few steps
Runs short stretches, still a little wobbly.
Fine motor
Makes first marks
Holds a crayon and makes first marks.
Drinks from a cup
Drinks without help from a cup.
Stacks objects
Stacks objects precisely on top of each other.
Opens and closes containers
Takes a lid off a box and puts it back on.
Language
Forms simple sentences
Combines two or more words into a sentence.
Answers questions
Responds verbally or with gestures to questions.
Vocabulary ~50 words
Knows around 50 words.
Names everyday objects
Names familiar household objects.
Imitates sounds
Imitates sounds like animal noises.
Social
Mirrors emotions
Imitates others' emotions, e.g. laughs when others laugh.
Cognitive
Symbolic play
Uses objects as symbols, e.g. a block as a phone.
Names body parts
Points to or names body parts when asked.
Points to pictures in a book
Finds a named picture on the page.
Self-care
Down to one nap
Needs only one sleep during the day.
Asserts their own will
Says no and stands by their own choice.
Firsts
Plays alongside others
Plays next to other children with similar materials.
First haircut
First day at nursery
First plane ride
Every range below is a window, not a deadline. Children arrive at these in their own order, and a skill that comes late says far less than one that disappears.
The vocabulary explosion is the most visible jump. Many children pick up several words a day in these months and start combining two around twenty to twenty-four months: more milk, mummy gone, daddy car. The two-word sentence is the real milestone, not the word count.
Physically, everything gets climbed. Sofas, chairs, shelves, playground equipment — anything with height gets tested. Add running, stairs with a hand held, and first attempts at kicking a ball. The balance is not finished; the appetite for risk is.
Socially, children play alongside each other rather than with each other. They play in parallel and watch each other closely. They cannot share yet, and it is not the right expectation either — understanding that another child wants something different develops considerably later.
And the tantrums. They belong to this age, they are not a parenting failure, and they cannot be reasoned away, because the part of the brain that regulates feeling is simply not finished. What helps is closeness and few words.
Expand rather than correct. When your child says car gone, the best answer is Yes, the car drove away — not an instruction to say it properly. Children adopt the expanded form on their own once they have heard it enough.
Offer real choices between two options. At an age where almost everything is decided for them, choosing between two jumpers defuses more conflict than any amount of explaining.
Raise it if, by twenty-four months, your child uses fewer than roughly fifty words, does not combine two words, does not respond to their name, or shows little interest in other people. Lost skills are always a reason to ask promptly.
Two-year check-ups look closely at language. That is the right place for these questions — including the ones that feel too small to mention.
This page is general information, not medical advice. Your paediatrician or health visitor knows your child; a chart never will. If something worries you, ask them — that is what the appointment is for.
How we built this
The milestone windows follow the developmental ranges used in routine child health checks, cross-checked against the WHO motor development study and the CDC's milestone guidance. They describe when most children reach a skill, not when yours has to.
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