Childhood Milestones Year Four
Your child is starting to emerge from their toddler years. Are they meeting all of their feeding, speech and physical milestones? Take a look at this comprehensive list and see if you need to schedule a speech, occupational, or feeding therapy evaluation.
Preschool Readiness
Emotional Maturity
- Separates from parents without difficulty
- Maintains attention to classroom activities
- Makes eye contact with adults
- Independently chooses activities of interest
- Behavior is easily redirected
- Uses words to express wants and needs versus using actions/aggressive behavior
- Able to use words to tell stories, share ideas and express feelings
Social Maturity
- Plays by themselves
- Plays next to a peer
- Cooperates when playing in a group
- Takes turns
- Shows concern for friends
- Helps friends when needed
- Adapts easily to change in routine
Cognitive/Literacy Skills
- Recognizes first name when written
- Able to print first name
- Able to print last name
- Recite the ABC’s
- Able to name capital letters
- Able to name lowercase letters
- Knows letter sounds
- Identifies rhyming words
Math Skills
- Able to count to 10
- Identifies shapes and colors
- Understand concepts of over, under, above, below and through
Science Skills
- Identifies all body parts
- Identifies sense – sight, smell, taste, touch and hearing
Gross Motor Skills - 3 to 4 Year Olds
- Navigate a set of stairs with alternating pattern
- Catching a large ball with hands only from 5 feet away
- Jumps forward 2 or more feet
- Throws a ball overhand to hit target 5 feet away
- Hops 3-5x on each foot
Gross Motor Skills - 4 to 4.5 Year Olds
- Gallop 10 feet
- Skips 8 feet
- Rides a 2 wheeled bike with training wheels
- Catches a small ball with hands only from 5 feet away
- Pumps self on swing
- Jumps over 10-inch hurdle
- Imitates 4 positions
Gross Motor Skills - 5 Year Olds
- Stands on one foot for 10 seconds
- Performs 10 jumping jacks with coordination
- Rides a 2 wheeled bike without training wheels
Fine Motor Skills - 3 to 4 Year Olds
- Traces around the edges of basic shapes
- Copies a horizontal line and circle
- Makes continuous cuts with child-safe scissors
- Dresses self with help with fasteners
- Can put on/ take off coat
- Puts shoes on correct feet
- Fastens large buttons
- Brushes own teeth
- Draws a person with 3 different body parts
- Cuts a piece of paper in half with scissors
- Uses restroom independently
Fine Motor Skills - 4 to 4.5 Year Olds
- Puts socks on correctly
- Traces, draws and cuts out simple shapes
- Cuts on a line
- Holds scissors correctly
- Zips most zippers
Fine Motor Skills - 5 Year Olds
- Prints first name
- Draws a person with 6 or more different body parts
- Cuts well with scissors
- Uses pincer grasp with pencil
- Shows hand preference
Language Skills - 3-4 Year Olds
- Follows simple 3-step related commands
- Begins to use adjectives for color and size
- Asks many questions
- Uses most speech sounds correctly
- Will put toys away when asked
Language Skills - 5 Year Olds
- Appropriate eye contact
- Pretend plays
- Initiates simple greetings
- Does well with sharing and taking turns
- Asks for permission
- Understands time concepts like yesterday, today, first, next, etc.
3 to 3.5 Years
Gross Motor Skills
- Walk upstairs with alternating feet and without a rail
- Ride a tricycle
- Climb up a rock wall independently
- Run 4 feet in under 10 seconds
- Jump forward 2+ feet
- Throw ball overhand with coordination
- Throw ball underhand to hit a target from 5 feet
Fine Motor Skills/Visual Motor Skills
- Build a tower of 9-10 small blocks
- Make continuous cuts with child-safe scissors
- Copy a horizontal line and a circle
- Use fingers to show age
- Make a fist and wiggle thumb
- Roll play dough on table
- Trace around the edges of basic shapes
- Lace 3 holes or more on a lace board
- Cut a piece of paper in half with scissors on a more or less straight line
Self-Care
- Dries hands
- Brushing teeth with help from an adult
Speech & Communication
- Can be understood by all listeners 75% of the time
- Converse in 3 to 4 word sentences
- Follow simple 3-step related commands
- Ask and respond to “what,” “where,” “when,” “how,” and “whose” questions
- Use regular plural -s
- Use possessive -s
Oral Motor Skills & Feeding
- Child’s feeding is mature and sophisticated
Sensory & Sleeping
- Able to calm self to sleep at night
- Sleeps 10-13 hours a day (including naps)
- Expresses emotions
- Tolerates different clothing textures
Understanding & Thinking Skills
- Complete an easy puzzle
- Sort objects
- Counting from 1-5
- Understands common dangers (stairs, hot surfaces, etc)
Best Toys at This Age
- Tricycle
- 3 wheeled scooters
- Play-Doh
- Toys that encourage imaginative play
- Building blocks
- Simple puzzles
- Sorting cups
- Matching games
- Toys with various textures (sand, slime, etc.)