The Growing Child: Preschool (4 to 5 Years)

As your child grows, you’ll notice them developing new and exciting abilities.

A child age 4:

• Serves their own food or pours water, with adult supervision

• Catches a large ball

• Holds crayon or pencil between fingers and thumb (not a fist)

• Unbuttons some buttons

• Understands the difference between fantasy and reality

• Draws a person with three or more body parts

 A child age 5:

• Sings, dances, or acts

• Hops on one foot

• Buttons some buttons

• Dresses themselves

• Writes some letters in their name

• Names some letters when you point to them

• May start to learn to ride a bicycle with training wheels

Speech development in children is very exciting for parents. They can watch their children become social beings who can interact with others.

Most children at age 4:

• May put 4 or more words together into a sentence

• Says some words from a song, story, or nursery rhyme

• Will answer simple questions like “What is a marker for?”

• Knows a few colors

• Talks about at least one thing that happened during the day, like “I played soccer.”

 A child age 5:

• May put 6 to 8 words together into a sentence

• May know 4 or more colors

• Counts to 10

• Uses or recognizes simple rhymes (bat-cat, ball-tall)

• Tells a story they heard or made up with at least 2 events. For example, a cat was stuck in a tree and a firefighter saved it.

• Answers simple questions about a book or story after you read or tell it to them

• Keeps a conversation going with more than 3 back-and-forth exchanges

As a child's vocabulary gets larger, so does their understanding of the world around them. Children at this age begin to understand concepts and can compare abstract ideas.

A child age 4:

• Begins to understand time

• Begins to become more aware of people around them

• May obey parent's rules, but doesn’t understand right from wrong

A child age 5:

• Has more understanding of time. Uses words about time, like “yesterday,” “tomorrow,” “morning,” or “night.”

• Is curious about real facts about the world

An important part of growing up is learning to interact and socialize with others. This can be a frustrating transition for the parent. Children go through different stages. Some of these are not always easy to handle.

A child age 4:

• Is very independent, wants to do things on their own

• Doesn’t like to share

• Is moody. Mood swings are common.

• May be aggressive during mood swings and become aggressive to family members

• Has many fears

• May have imaginary friends

• Likes to explore the body and may play doctor

• Might "run away" or threaten to do so

• Fights with siblings

• Will often play with others in groups

A child age 5:

• Is generally more cooperative than a 4-year-old

• Is generally more responsible than a 4-year-old

• Is eager to please others and make them happy

• Has good manners

• Dresses themselves completely without help

• Gets along well with parents

• Likes to cook and play sports

• May become more attached to a parent as they start attending school

You can help boost your preschool child's social abilities by:

• Offering compliments for good behavior and achievements

• Encouraging your child to talk to you and be open with their feelings

• Reading to your child, singing songs, and talking with them

• Spending quality time with your child and showing them new experiences

• Encouraging your child to ask questions and explore

• Encouraging physical activity with supervision

• Arranging times for your child to be with other children, such as in playgroups

• Giving your child the chance to make choices, when appropriate

• Using time-out for behavior that isn’t acceptable

• Encouraging your child to express their anger in an appropriate manner

• Limiting TV time (or other screen time) to 1 to 2 hours a day. Encourage free time to be used for other activities.