What to expect - 4 to 5 years

What should my child be learning?

Gross motor skills- Big body movements
• Walk forward and backward on a line with hands on hips, toes touching heels. 
• Balance on tip toes with arms to sky.
• Walk on tip toes hands on hips. 
• Jumps over small objects with feet together.
• Jump forward with feet together without falling.
• Stand on 1 foot, count to 10. 
• Hop forward on 1 foot and then on the other foot.
• Walk up and down a flight of stairs with 1 foot on each step without rail or help. 
• Somersault forward.
• Skip (switching from one foot to the other) and gallop (one foot leads).
• Bounce and catch a tennis ball and a playground ball. 
• Throw a tennis ball and hit a target.
• Kick a ball through the air.

Fine motor skills- Play and Self Help
• Pick out their own clothes and get dressed.
• Zip and unzip coats and pants without help.
• Put shoes on the correct feet without help.
• Use a butter knife without help. 
• Brush teeth, comb hair, and wash hands without help.
• Begin to draw letters and print their own name. 
• Cut out a circle and a square following a line with child scissors.
• Build shapes with blocks like a pyramid or steps.
• Hold a pencil or marker like a grownup.
• Color in the lines.
• Color for longer periods of time, goal of 3-5 minutes at a time. 

Language and social skills
• Understand order words (first, next, last).
• Understand time words (yesterday, today, tomorrow).
• Understand opposites (up and down, big and little).
• Follow longer directions (put on your pajamas, brush your teeth, and pick out a book).
• Say ‘r’ ‘l’ ‘z’ ‘s’ ‘ch’ sounds.
• Begin to count to 10, name most letters of the alphabet, and know shapes.
• Use action words in sentences like jump, play, get, got.
• Tell short stories.
• Ask and answer questions.
• Other people can usually understand your child’s speech.
• Child can identify and name most familiar items in home.

What can I do to help?

Gross motor skills- Help your child:
• Swing, climb, balance and run on different playground equipment. 
• Practice running, skipping, galloping, hopping (on 2 feet and 1 foot), chasing and stopping on command. 
• Jump in the leaves, make a snow angel or snowman, or splash in the sprinkler. 
• Play catch, pitch and throw with different size balls.   Begin to practice dribbling a ball. 
• Play kickball. 
• Count taps while keeping a balloon or beach ball up in the air.
• Throw a tennis ball or a bean bag at a target. Tape an ‘X’ on a fence or a tree for a target, throw into a hoop or bucket, or draw a chalk circle on the ground.
• Have fun dancing and singing.  Move to the beat. Use ribbons or scarves to make the dance more fun.
• Act out animals. Crawl on hands and knees like a turtle, slide on the floor like a snake, hop like a bunny.
• Make an obstacle course.  Practice crawling, jumping, and walking over, under and through things. 
• Ride a balance bike, a bike with training wheels and without training wheels.  Always wear a helmet.

Fine motor skills- Help your child:
• Cut with child scissors. Draw lines that make simple paths and shapes. Have your child cut along the lines. 
• Cut and glue shapes, noodles and pictures onto paper to make pictures. Draw and color with crayons and markers.
• Make simple bracelets by putting beads on a string.
• Trace and draw shapes on different surfaces: chalkboards, sidewalks, mirrors, sandpaper, or paper hanging on the wall. Draw simple mazes they can complete, always moving from the left side of the paper to the right side. 
• Play with toys that need to be put together and taken apart. Build with toys like K’nex®, Lego®, and Cootie.
• Practice pouring and measuring with sand and water. Let your child help measure while cooking.

Language and social skills- Help your child:
• Play make believe, dress up, and play with dolls, dinosaurs and action figures. Prompt your child to use their imagination. Use clothes that encourage buttoning and zipping. 
• Play board games like Chutes and Ladders, Candyland, Go Fish, Memory, and Zingo®.
• Play ‘I spy’ and guessing games like “I spy with my little eye something green…..the grass!”
• Sort pictures and objects by color (blue or red), shape (circle or square), size (large or small), and groups (fruit or vegetable). 
• Notice their feelings like sad, happy, angry, frustrated, mad, and excited.  This helps prevent temper tantrums. 
• Ask your child to name animals, food items, family members, and other objects in the house (like table, chair, living room, bathroom, toothbrush, glass, shoes, animals.)
• Read books 10 minutes each day. Ask questions about the story. Have your child act out or tell you about the story.
• Have your child play with toys or books for 8 to 10 minutes on their own.

What can I do to help my child develop?

• Limit your child’s electronics and screen time (TV, phone, computer, and tablet). Limit electronics and screen time to a total of 60 minutes or 1 hour per day.  This includes tv, phone, and computer. Give screen breaks every 10-15 minutes. See above for ideas under ‘How can I help my child’.
• Do some movement and play together for at least 10 minutes every day.
• Let them pick what to play. It will show that you care about your child and want to spend time with them.
• Give your child structure and consistency to help them get ready to start school.
• Give your child praise and be patient.

Toys to have for your child:  

• Different sized balls for catch, baseball, soccer, volley ball.
• A bike and helmet. A balance bike or training wheels may be needed.
• Dress up clothes.
• Dolls or action figures for pretend play.
• Markers and coloring books or paper, safety scissors.
• Chalk for coloring on sidewalk or making lines to practice balance.
• Legos.
• Lacing cards.
• Board and card games like Uno, Jenga®, and Old Maid.