Children Development 3-5 Years

3 – 5 Years Physical Development

Buttons/unbuttons own clothing, cut out simple shapes, draw a person with head, trunk and legs, walk on a line, aim and throw ball, hop on one foot, form letters; write own name, colour in pictures, completes 20-piece jigsaw, skip with a rope, run quickly and able to avoid obstacles, throw large ball to a partner and catch it. Run, jump, begin to climb ladders; can start to ride tricycles; try anything; is very active.

Intellectual Development

Understand concepts like grouping and matching, identify parts of a whole, draw, name, and briefly explain pictures, actively seek information. Tell their full name and age, show awareness of past and present, play with words, mimicking and creating sounds, and make rhymes, point to and name many colors, understand order and process, draw a person with detail, learn both by observing and listening to adults’ explanations. Begins to notice differences in the way men and women act. Imitate adults. Continue to learn through senses. Begin to see cause-and-effect relationships.

Are curious and inquisitive.

Language Development

Retell a story (but may confuse facts) Combine thoughts into one sentence Ask “when? “, “how? ” and “why? ” questions. Use words like “can,” “will,” “shall,” “should,” and “might”. Combine thoughts into one sentence. Refer to causality by using “because” and “so” Follow three unrelated commands. Understand comparatives like loud, louder, loudest. Understand sequencing of events when clearly explained. Listen to a long story.

Emotional Development

Seem sure of self. May not obey limits, tests rules, and often says no.

Need freedom with limits. Self-assured, stable and well-adjusted. Like to be around mother and like to be at home. Like to follow rules. Like being given jobs to do. Can wait for their needs to be met, can feel secure when in a strange place away from their main carers, are less rebellious and use language rather then physical outbursts to express themselves. May have imaginary fears and anxieties. Project their own experiences onto dolls and toys. Show awareness of their own feelings and those of others, and talk about feeling.