Before toddlers ever use spoken words to communicate, they use their hands. Early physical imitation skills are the literal foundation for verbal speech. If a child can copy a physical gesture, they are building the neurological pathways needed to eventually imitate a spoken word.
16 Gestures by 16 Months
Developed by the FIRST WORDS Project, the “16 by 16” milestone is a critical benchmark for early language development. It shows that a child’s social communication and imitation skills are right on track.
The Milestone Trajectory:
9–10 Months (Early Intentionality): Giving items to adults, shaking their head “no”, and reaching to be picked up.
11–12 Months (Showing & Pointing): Flashing an object to show you, pointing to objects of interest, and waving “bye-bye.”
13–14 Months (Symbolic Gestures): Clapping to show excitement, blowing a kiss, or putting a finger to their lips to say “shh.”
15–16 Months (Functional Play): High-fives, nodding “yes”, shrugging shoulders (“where did it go?”), and using symbolic gestures like a thumbs up.
Developmental research shows that the number of gestures a child uses at 14 months directly predicts their vocabulary size at 24 months. Furthermore, around this age, toddlers start combining a gesture with a word (like pointing to a cup and saying "juice"). The appearance of these gesture-plus-word combinations directly predicts the onset of two-word spoken sentences ("want juice") about 4 to 5 months later.
Words come from gestures. If you want to increase a toddler’s verbal imitation, start by matching, validating, and expanding their physical imitation!