Developmental milestones for one-year-olds: Physical, cognitive, social, and language milestones

Physical development in one-year-olds: gross and fine motor skills

As a one-year-old, your child becomes much more mobile due to gross motor skills like walking. And they also 

Gross motor skills

Gross motor milestones at this age include:

• Standing independently: Your one-year-old may be able to stand independently, even for a few seconds. 
• Walking with support or taking first steps: While not all children walk at this age, some take their first steps by holding onto furniture or a caregiver’s hands (“cruising”). 
• Crawling or climbing: Even if they can’t walk, your one-year-old may be a good crawler and enjoy climbing over low obstacles, like cushions or soft furniture, with supervision. 
• Sitting up easily: By this age, your child may be able to move easily from lying down to seated. They can also sit for a while as they play.

Fine motor skills

Common fine motor milestones at this age include:

• Pincer grasp: When your child uses their thumb and forefinger — or pointer finger — to pick up small objects, like a small piece of food, that is the pincer grasp. It is foundational for later skills like holding a crayon or spoon.
• Pointing and grabbing: By this age, children often start pointing to things they want and grabbing items to explore them. 
• Banging and stacking: Children love exploring cause and effect, so your one-year-old may bang toys together, try to stack blocks, or knock things over. 
• Using utensils with assistance: Some one-year-olds may experiment with spoons, even if they’re not coordinated enough to use it yet. 

Language and communication milestones in one-year-olds

Understanding and responding to language

By one, children start to understand more words and phrases, even if they can’t say many of them yet. 

• Recognizing their name: Most one-year-olds respond to their name and may turn their head or look at the person speaking when they hear it.
• Following simple instructions: Many children this age follow basic one-step directions, especially when paired with gestures. For example, if you say, “give me the ball,” while extending your hand, they may hand you the ball.
• Understanding common words: Children around one often recognize familiar words like “mama,” “dada,” “no,” or “bye-bye.” They may also understand simple phrases such as “all done” or “come here.”

Expressive language: using sounds and words

Expressive language begins with gestures, babbling, and, eventually, first words.

• Babbling and sound imitation: Most one-year-olds experiment with different sounds and syllables, often combining them in playful ways (like “ba-ba” or “da-da”). This babbling is a building block for real words and helps them practice vocal sounds.
• Using gestures to communicate: Many children use gestures, such as waving bye-bye, nodding, or reaching for what they want. Gestures are a bridge to spoken language and help them communicate needs or preferences.
• Saying first words: Around their first birthday, many children begin to say one or two recognizable words, usually something simple like “mama,” “dada,” or “ball.” These first words may not be clear, but they’re meaningful.
• Attempting to copy words: You might notice your one-year-old trying to imitate simple words or sounds you make, even if they don’t get it exactly right. This imitation shows that they’re paying attention to language and practicing forming words.

Social communication skills

Communication at one also includes nonverbal cues that help children engage with the people around them. Here are some examples of early social communication skills:

• Making Eye Contact: Eye contact is a foundational part of communication, and many one-year-olds use it to connect with you, especially when they want to share an experience, like showing you a favorite toy.
• Pointing and Showing Objects: Around this age, children often point to objects they’re interested in or hand things to you to "show” them. This skill, called joint attention, helps them communicate what they’re noticing and share in an experience with you.
• Expressing Emotions with Sounds: You may notice your child becoming more expressive, using a happy squeal, a concerned “uh-oh,” or other vocalizations to show how they feel.

Social and emotional development in one-year-olds

Your child’s growing social and emotional skills are essential for building relationships, developing empathy, and expressing their feelings. 

Building connections and forming attachments

Your one-year-old may begin to show stronger preferences for people they know well and become anxious or quiet around strangers. Here are common ways attachments show up:

• Showing affection: Many one-year-olds begin to express affection toward their caregivers through hugs, snuggles, or requests to be held. 
• Separation anxiety: Some one-year-olds feel anxious when separated from parents or caregivers. They might cry when you leave or cling to you when you try to say goodbye.
• Preferring familiar people: One-year-olds often prefer the company of familiar faces and may show signs of discomfort with strangers, even if they smile at new people or seem interested. 

Expressing emotions

You may notice your child using body language, facial expressions, and sounds to communicate their feelings. Here are some examples:

• Joy and excitement: Many one-year-olds become visibly excited when they see a favorite person, toy, or activity. They might clap, bounce, or make happy sounds when excited.
• Frustration and tantrums: At this age, children can get frustrated when things don’t go their way, and they may express this by crying or with small tantrums. These emotional reactions can be challenging, but they’re a normal part of children learning to manage feelings.
• Curiosity and playfulness: One-year-olds are naturally curious and love to explore new things. They may watch your face carefully, mimic your expressions, or try to get your attention with playful sounds and actions.

Imitating and interacting with others

By watching the people around them, one-year-olds learn to interact and communicate. 

• Mimicking simple actions: Children this age may try to copy things you do, like clapping, waving, or smiling. 
• Playing “peek-a-boo” and other simple games: Social games like peek-a-boo, pat-a-cake, or hiding and finding a toy are other favorites at this age.
• Sharing attention: Around this age, children may start to show you objects they’re interested in, like a toy or something they found on the ground. 

Developing a sense of independence

As one-year-olds understand their place in the world and often seek more independence, which can sometimes seem like defiance. This desire for independence is a normal and positive sign of development. Your child may want to do things independently and test boundaries to observe your reactions.

Cognitive development in one-year-olds

Around age one, cognitive development involves learning in a variety of ways. 

• Exploring cause and effect: Your child will realize their actions can lead to predictable outcomes. They may experiment with dropping and throwing objects (or food), pressing buttons to make things move, or banging objects together to notice what happens.
• Building problem-solving skills: Your child may spend time figuring out how to make things happen. For example, they may reach or crawl to get out-of-reach objects, try to solve simple puzzles like fitting shapes into a shape sorter, or look for hidden objects.
• Early memory and recognition: At this age, your child may recognize familiar people and objects, respond to routine cues, and show preferences for their favorite books or songs.
• Imitating actions and exploring pretend play: Your one-year-old may mimic everyday activities they see you do, like brushing your hair or talking on the phone.
• Growing attention span and focus: While a one-year-old’s attention span is still short, your child may be able to concentrate for longer periods of time, especially with objects they enjoy or that allow them to explore and solve problems. Repetition is also how children learn at this age, so your child may want to play with the same toys or read the same books multiple times.

How you can support your one-year-old’s development

You can support your child’s development by showing affection, encouraging their curiosity, engaging in pretend play, and being present and engaged as they explore the world.

If you have any questions or concerns about your child’s development, speak to your local pediatrician or text a Summer Health pediatrician. Don’t wait until their scheduled screening if you see reason for concern, as identifying and addressing issues early is important.