A baby’s cognitive development at this stage is very rapid and many changes take place over this time. They’re learning new things each day and spend their time observing others to learn how to act. Babies become more curious as they begin to discover their surroundings and begin to engage in a wide variety of experiences.
Cognitive Development Milestones
From 12 to 18 months
Babies begin to develop an ability to remember experiences that occurred a few hours or days earlier. By repeating an experience they did previously such as stacking blocks shows that a baby is recalling on a past experience.
Milestones Achieved
- starts to find hidden objects within the room
- selects games and begins to put them away
- stacks and knocks over items
- recognises self in photo or mirror
- repeats actions that lead to interesting results
- spends a lot of time exploring and manipulating objects, putting in their mouth, shaking and banging them
From 18 to 24 months
Babies understanding have increased, during this period, as they begin to identify common objects and become more creative in exploring the world. Babies also start to think and reason in complex ways and pretend play emerges.
Milestones Achieved
- sorts according to shapes and colours
- engages in make-believe play
- mimics household activities, e.g. bathing baby, sweeping floor
- calls self by name, uses ‘I’, ‘mine’, ‘I do it myself’
- points to objects when named
- knows some body parts
- points to body parts in a game
Babies develop a greater understanding of the outside world. They have the ability to see themselves as one and develop a sense of self. Babies become more involved in play as they have more control over their responses to sights and sounds.