18 Month Child Development: Stages Of Development Of Your 18 Month Old Child

...At 18 months old, your child is developing a real personality. He is still growing rapidly, but not as dramatically as in the first year.

As he begins to walk, run and climb, he gains confidence and a greater sense of independence. At this stage, he needs encouragement and freedom to explore, as well as clear boundaries and limits to feel safe.

Remember that every child develops at a different pace. So, not every child will be able to perform all of the following skills.

• His Physical Development
• His Sensory/Intellectual Development
• His Language Development
• His Emotional and Social Development
• Promoting His Development
• Safety Awareness
• Activities For Him
• How To Encourage His Aesthetic and Spiritual Development

His Physical Development…Motor Skills

Your 18 month old child...

• Is able to walk regularly and stop safely, without sitting down
  quickly
• Can climb forward into an adult chair and then turn round and sit
• Is able to kneel upright without help
• Squats to pick up a toy
• Moves without support from a squatting position to standing
• Uses a delicate pincer grasp to pick up very small objects
• Uses spoon when feeding himself
• Holds a pencil in his whole hand or between the thumb and the first two fingers... primitive tri-pod grasp
• Is able to scribble to and fro with a pencil on paper
• Can thread large beads onto a lace or string
• Can control his wrist movement to manipulate objects
• Moves small objects from a bottle by turning it upside-down
• Points to familiar objects
• Builds a tower of three or more bricks.

His Sensory/Intellectual Development

• Can identify known people at a distance
• Is aware that he is looking at himself in the mirror
• No longer explore things in his mouth.

His Language Development

• Is aware of the names of parts of his body, and can point to them when asked
• Uses 6-40 recognisable words and understand many more... but the word mostly used is 'no'
• Uses signs and gestures beside words
• Indicates desire by pointing
• Obeys simple instructions such as 'shut the door', and responds to simple questions such as 'Where's the cat?'
• Refers to himself by name
• Begins to wave his arms up and down, meaning 'start again', 'more', or 'I like it'
• Can identify that people may have desires…thinks that everyone feels the same as he does.

His Emotional and Social Development

• Knows where objects are kept... this reflects an increase in long-term memory
• Plays continuously alone... solitary play... but may like to be near a familiar adult or sibling
• Most likely to be independent, for example to dress himself
• Has the knowledge that others are fearful or anxious for him as he climbs on or off chairs
• Is likely to become frustrated, with occasional temper tantrums
• May show a sign of toilet needs by restless or words
• Is able to follow stories, enjoy stories and rhymes that include repetition.

Promoting His Development

• Make walker trucks available, pull-along animals which he enjoys to play with
• Encourage play with messy materials, such as sand, water, play dough and painting
• Make available of low firmly fixed furniture to climb on
• Provide him with pop-up toys, stacking toys and hammer-and-peg to develop hand–eye co-ordination skills
• Encourage imaginative play and language skills with toys such as simple puppets, dressing-up clothes or toy telephones
• Provide balls to roll, kick or throw
• Use action rhymes and singing games to promote conversation and confidence
• Allow him to play with other children... this is a key factor of building up his confidence and conversation
• Make available of both toys, such as simple beakers, sprinkling toys and waterproof books
• Use finger paints and wax crayons to encourage creative skills
• Make available of picture books to attract him to identify details in the picture.

Safety Awareness

• You should never leave him alone in the bath even for few minutes
• You should supervise him when in the bath
• Be aware of dangers such as sharp objects, broken bottles, litter or unfenced walls when he is playing outdoors.

Activities For Him

• Have a strong, shallow cardboard box or a wicker basket
• Ensure that there are no staples, splinters or jagged edges
• Choose a variety of interesting objects…10-15 in numbers…to stimulate his 5 senses of objects with different shapes, textures, colours and weights
• You may also include objects with distinctive smell such as a small empty perfume bottle or a lavender bag.

How To Encourage His Aesthetic and Spiritual Development

• Make available of some nicely-crafted wooden toys stimulus painting and drawing, which from an early years permit him to show emotions in his creativity
• Have well and interesting illustrated picture books
• Make available of an introduction to music and outings that will bring him pleasure of the wonders of the natural world.

See Also Related Articles To 18 Month Child Development...

• Child Development 6 Months
• Child Development 12 Months
• Child Development 2 Years
• Child Development 3 Years
• Child Development 5 Years
• Child Development 6 Years
• Developmental Milestones

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