Age 3 Milestones: Speech, Language, Literacy, Play, and Executive Functioning Skills
Below you will find milestones for speech, language, literacy, play, pragmatics and executive functioning skills.
Language refers to the whole system of words and sentences used to communicate meaning. Speech refers to the sounds in words, also known as articulation. Literacy skills are phonological awareness, reading and writing skills. Play milestones are used as predictors for later language development. Pragmatics is how language is used. Executive functioning is a set of mental skills that include working memory, flexible thinking, and self-control.
These milestones represent the skills that are typically developed by the time a child turns 3 years old. If you have any questions or concerns about your child’s development please contact a speech-language pathologist or discuss your concerns with your child’s pediatrician.
Language
Understands 500-900 words including body parts (e.g., eyes, nose, feet), opposites (e.g., in vs. on, big vs. little, go vs. stop, up vs. down), and basic spatial terms (e.g., in, on, under)
Answers simple wh- questions (e.g., who, what, where, what doing, why) (i.e., what is the baby doing? Where are you going? Who helps us when we are sick?)
Understands Follows simple two step directions (e.g., get the book and put it on the table)
Uses at least 50-200 words
Uses 2-4 words in phrases (e.g., daddy go, pick me up)
Uses pronouns I, me, you, mine
Stories are sequences with a central theme, character, topic, or setting but no plot (e.g., “She lives with her dad. She lives with her mother. Grandma and Grandpa live together. And these three children live with their grandma. And these two animals live with them.”)
Pragmatics
Uses “please”
Verbally changes topic in conversations
Initiates and maintains eye contact throughout conversations
Expresses emotions
Uses attention-getting words such as, “hey” or “look”
Cognition/Executive Functioning
Can work toys with buttons, levers, and moving parts
Plays make-believe with dolls, animals, and people
Does puzzles with 3 or 4 pieces
Understands what “two” means
Copies a circle with pencil or crayon
Turns book pages one at a time
Builds towers of more than 6 blocks
Play
Emergence of symbolic play (e.g., feeding a teddy bear with a spoon)
Sequence evolves (e.g., the child pretends to mix a cake, bake it, serve it, and wash the dishes)
Children engage in more associative play with one another (e.g., a form of play in which a group of children participate in similar or identical activities without formal organization, group direction, group interaction, or a definite goal.)
Children will re-enact events with different outcome (e.g., the child took the doll to the Dr. but the doll hid from the doctor under a blanket)
Parallel play (e.g., children play adjacent to each other, but do not try to influence one another's behavior. Children usually play alone during parallel play but are interested in what other children are doing.)
Speech Sounds
Understood by others 75% of the time
Literacy
The following skills emerge at age 3 and are mastered by age 5:
Phonological Awareness (skills necessary to learn to read and write e.g., blending, segmenting, and rhyming)
Begins to segment sentences into words
Begins to segment words into syllables
Begins to recognize and produce rhymes (e.g., Do mop and top rhyme?, What rhymes with mat?)
Begins to recognize and produce words with the same beginning sound.
Reading
Learns to recognize his/her own name in print
May recognize environmental print (e.g., McDonald’s)
Learns alphabet song
Learns to recognize and name letters
Learns letters have sounds
Writing
Begins to distinguish drawing from writing
Learns to write some letters
Sources:
Applebee, A. (1978). The child’s concept of a story: Ages 2 to 17. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
ASHA. Two to Three Years. Retrieved from https://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/23/ on January 2, 2021.
Bowen, C. (2011). Table 1: Intelligibility. Retrieved from http://www.speech-language-therapy.com/ on January 2, 2022.
CDC. (July 27, 2021). Important Milestones: Your Child By Three Years Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/milestones/milestones-3yr.html. on January 2, 2022
Forbes & G LoGrande (2012). Speech and language development chart (Pro-Ed 2nd edition).
Paul, Rhea. Language Disorders from Infancy through Adolescence : Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing, and Communicating. St. Louis, Mo. :Elsevier, 2012.
Shipley, K. G., & McAfee, J. G. (2009). Assessment in speech-language pathology: A resource manual. Clifton Park, NY: Delmar Cengage Learning.
Westby, C.E. (2000). A scale for assessing development of children’s play. In Gitlin-Weiner, K., Sandgund, A., Schaefer, C. (Eds.), Play diagnosis and assessment (pp. 15-57) New York: Wiley.
