Child Development: Preschoolers Ages and Stages

Child Development Preschoolers

Child development by end of 36 months

Social

• Imitates adults and playmates
• Spontaneously shows affection for familiar playmates
• Can take turns in games
• Understands concept of "mine" and "his/hers"

Emotional

• Shows affection openly
• Shows a wide range of emotions
• By 3, separates easily from parents
• Objects to major changes in routine

Cognitive

• Makes mechanical toys work
• Matches an object in her hand or room to a picture in a book
• Plays make-believe with dolls, animals, and people
• Sorts objects by shape and color
• Completes puzzles with three or four pieces
• Understands concept of "two"

Language

• Follows a two- or three-part command
• Recognizes and identifies almost all common objects and pictures
• Understands most sentences
• Understands placement in space ("on," "in," "under")
• Uses 4- to 5-word sentences
• Can say name, age, and sex
• Uses pronouns (I, you, me, we, they) and some plurals (cars, dogs, cats)
• Strangers can understand most of her words

Movement

• Climbs well
• Walks up and down stairs, alternating feet (one foot per stair step)
• Kicks ball
• Runs easily
• Pedals tricycle
• Bends over easily without falling

Hand and Finger Skills

• Makes up-and-down, side-to-side, and circular lines with pencil or crayon
• Turns book pages one at a time
• Builds a tower of more than six blocks
• Holds a pencil in writing position
• Screws and unscrews jar lids, nuts, and bolts
• Turns rotating handles

• Developmental Health Watch
  Alert your child's doctor or nurse if your child displays any of the following signs of possible developmental delay for this age range.

  • Frequent falling and difficulty with stairs
  • Persistent drooling or very unclear speech
  • Cannot build a tower of more than four blocks
  • Difficulty manipulating small objects
  • Cannot copy a circle by age 3
  • Cannot communicate in short phrases
  • No involvement in "pretend" play
  • Does not understand simple instructions
  • Little interest in other children
  • Extreme difficulty separating from mother or primary caregiver
  • Poor eye contact
  • Limited interest in toys

By the end of 4 years (48 months)

Social

• Interested in new experiences
• Cooperates with other children
• Plays "Mom" or "Dad"
• Increasingly inventive in fantasy play
• Dresses and undresses
• Negotiates solutions to conflicts
• More independent

Emotional

• Imagines that many unfamiliar images may be "monsters"
• Views self as a whole person involving body, mind, and feelings
• Often cannot tell the difference between fantasy and reality

Cognitive

• Correctly names some colors
• Understands the concept of counting and may know a few numbers
• Tries to solve problems from a single point of view
• Begins to have a clearer sense of time
• Follows three-part commands
• Recalls parts of a story
• Understands the concepts of "same" and "different"
• Engages in fantasy play

Language

• Has mastered some basic rules of grammar
• Speaks in sentences of five to six words
• Speaks clearly enough for strangers to understand
• Tells stories

Movement

• Hops and stands on one foot up to five seconds
• Goes upstairs and downstairs without support
• Kicks ball forward
• Throws ball overhand
• Catches bounced ball most of the time
• Moves forward and backward with agility

Hand and Finger Skills

• Copies square shapes
• Draws a person with two to four body parts
• Uses scissors
• Draws circles and squares
• Begins to copy some capital letters

Developmental Health Watch
Alert your child's doctor or nurse if your child displays any of the following signs of possible developmental delay for this age range.

• Cannot throw a ball overhand
• Cannot jump in place
• Cannot ride a tricycle
• Cannot grasp a crayon between thumb and fingers
• Has difficulty scribbling
• Cannot stack four blocks
• Still clings or cries whenever parents leave
• Shows no interest in interactive games
• Ignores other children
• Doesn't respond to people outside the family
• Doesn't engage in fantasy play
• Resists dressing, sleeping, using the toilet
• Lashes out without any self-control when angry or upset
• Cannot copy a circle
• Doesn't use sentences of more than three words
• Doesn't use "me" and "you" correctly