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Cognitive Development
Older Toddlers (18 to 36 months)

Components and Developmental Indicators

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COMPONENT 1:
Construction of Knowledge: Thinking and Reasoning

Developmental Indicators

CD Goal-1: Through their explorations, play, and social interactions, children use their senses to discover and construct knowledge about the world around them.
 
 
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Explore and experiment with objects and materials to learn about their properties.

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Experiment with safe tools to learn how they work (wooden hammer with pegs, sifter, funnel).

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Put together multiple combinations of actions and objects (put toothpaste on brush and brush teeth).

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Share simple concepts they have discovered with their senses through play (imitate something they have seen an adult do, show they understand how to sort by sorting toys as they are playing).

CD Goal-2: Through their explorations, play, and social interactions, children recall information and apply it to new situations and problems.
 
 
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Search for objects in several places, even when not seen recently.

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Show they remember people, objects, and events (talk about them, act them out, point out similar happenings).

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Show they remember the order of familiar events (finish a phrase in a story or song, get ready to go outdoors after snack).

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Try multiple times to cause an effect or solve challenging problems, combining actions and behaviors used before (ask another child to help remove a lid with them after trying unsuccessfully themselves).

 
 
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Repeat simple problem-solving strategies to find solutions to everyday problems.

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Choose objects to represent something else with similar features during play (block for cell phone, large sheet for tent).

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Perform more complex action after watching an adult (activate sound from toy, open a latch).

CD Goal-3: Through their explorations, play, and social interactions, children demonstrate the ability to think about their own thinking: reasoning, taking perspectives, and making decisions.
 
 
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Notice and respond to others’ feelings and behaviors (hand a toy to another child as a play invitation).

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Observe and imitate adult actions and adjusts interactions based on those observations (after seeing adult set table, put napkins on table).

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Use words like “think,” “remember,” and “pretend.”

 
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Talk about what they and other people want or like.

 
 
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COMPONENT 2:
Mathematical Thinking and Expression

Developmental Indicators

CD Goal-4: Through their explorations, play, and social interactions, children count with understanding and use numbers to tell how many, describe order, and compare.
 
 
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Use words or actions that show understanding of the concepts of “more,” “all,” as well as “none”. 

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Count to 5 with the support of an adult.

 
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Understand the meaning of “one.”

 
 
 
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Place items in one-to-one correspondence during play and daily routines (one spoon at each plate; one doll in each toy car).

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Make a small group (1-3) with the same number of items as another group of items (take 3 balls from a basket after the teacher shows the group that she has 3 balls and asks each person to take the same number of balls).

CD Goal-5: Through their explorations, play, and social interactions, children demonstrate concepts about position, as well as identify and describe simple geometric shapes.
 
 
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Respond to and begin to use words describing positions (in, on, over, under, etc.).

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Name or match a few shapes.

 
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Stack or line up blocks that are the same shape.

 
CD Goal-6: Through their explorations, play and social interactions, children compare, sort, group, organize, measure, and create simple patterns using concrete objects.
 
 
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Use size and amount words to label objects, people, and collections (big truck, a lot of cookies, little baby).

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Group objects into categories (cars with cars, plates separated from cups).

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Recognize objects that are different but go together (such as shovel and pail or cup and plate).

CD Goal-7: Through their explorations, play, and social interactions, children use mathematical thinking to ask questions and solve problems.
 
 
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Use observation and emerging counting skills (1, 2, 3) during play and other daily activities.

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Match objects by shape, color, or size.

 
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Match object to picture of object.

 
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Match objects that have the same function (a brush and a comb or a bowl and a plate).

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COMPONENT 3:
Scientific Exploration and Knowledge

Developmental Indicators

CD Goal-8: As a result of their explorations and participation in simple investigations through play, children observe, describe, and demonstrate respect for living things, the environment, and the physical world.
 
 
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Show curiosity and investigate the world of nature indoors and outdoors (roll in the grass, scratch frost on window).

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Help adult with the care of living things (water plants, feed classroom pet).

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Cause toys they are playing with to move and provide simple descriptions (“My train go fast!”).

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Collect items that may share an attribute.

 
 
 
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Classify things into groups but may overgeneralize (call all small animals “puppies”).

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Describe using one word (hot, soft, big).

 
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Observe and choose simple clothing for weather (mittens and boots when snowy).

CD Goal-9: As a result of their explorations and participation in simple investigations through play, children demonstrate their ability to use scientific inquiry by observing, manipulating objects, asking questions, making predictions, and developing generalizations.
 
 
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Make simple scribbles, sounds, or movements to describe what they are seeing and experiencing.

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Use simple tools to investigate objects (magnifying glass, ramps for rolling balls, spoons for digging) or to obtain a desired object (ruler to guide ball back from under shallow cabinet).

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Try out different materials to create a structure.

 
 
 
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Investigate differences between materials (sand, water, moving air).

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Notice and comment on changes in materials when mixing and manipulating (paint, playdough, food ingredients).

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Ask, “What’s that?”

 
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COMPONENT 4:
Social Studies, Family and Community Connections

Developmental Indicators

CD Goal-10: Through their explorations, play, and social interactions, children demonstrate an understanding of relationships, roles, and what it means to be a participating member of their families and the diverse groups/communities they belong to.
 
 
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Intently watch and imitate other children and adults (try to swing a plastic bat they have seen an older child use).

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Use play to show what they know about relationships and roles in families and other familiar contexts. 

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Talk about what others do during the day (“Mommy at work. Gramma at home.”)

 
 
 
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Help with daily routines (put napkins out for lunch).

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Seek out familiar playmates to sit next to when playing.

CD Goal-11: Through their explorations, play, and social interactions, children identify and demonstrate appreciation of similarities and differences between themselves and others.
 
 
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Describe people who are similar and different based on characteristics such as age, gender, and other physical characteristics.

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Show awareness of similarities and differences among people and families by taking on different roles during play.

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COMPONENT 5:
Creative Arts and Expression

Developmental Indicators

CD Goal-12: Children engage in a variety of creative activities for enjoyment and self-expression including play, visual arts, music, expressive movement, and drama.
 
 
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Experiment and create 2D and 3D art with clay, crayons, markers, paint, and collage materials.

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Create representations of familiar objects and scenes using play materials, language, scribbles and other actions.

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Make up simple nonsense songs, sign, chant, and move to music (twirl around and fall down, “march” by lifting knees high).

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Talk or sing to themselves for comfort or enjoyment and express ideas and feelings through music and movement.

CD Goal-13: Children demonstrate an appreciation for different forms of art including visual arts, music, expressive movement, and drama.
 
 
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Express delight in different forms of art (choose to look at a book with colorful photographs).

 
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Participate in and use simple words to describe art, music, movement, drama, or other aesthetic experiences (talk about colors in a painting).