
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, physical therapy or occupational therapy.
Childhood Milestones Year Four Pre-School
3 - 3.5 Years
Gross Motor Skills
- Walk upstairs without a rail alternating feet
- Ride a tricycle
- Climb up a rock wall independently
- Run 45 feet in 6 seconds
- Jump forward 26 inches
- 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
- Copy a circle
- Imitate making a 3-block bridge
- Can complete in-hand manipulation with stabilization
- Use fingers to show age
- Make a fist and wiggle thumb
- Roll clay or play dough on table to make ropes
- Trace around the edges of basic shape templates
- 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
- Copy a vertical-horizontal cross
Self-Care
- Dries hands
- Brushing teeth with assistance from an adult
Tip: Give your child simple choices, such as what to wear or what snack to eat
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 one-word “why” questions
- Use “what,” “where,” “when,” “how,” and “whose,” when asking questions
- Respond to “wh- “questions (who, what, when, where, why)
- Use regular plural –s (example: socks, shoes)
- Use possessive –s (example: baby’s bottle)
Oral Motor Skills & Feeding
- Can be understood by all listeners 75% of the time
- Converse in 3 to4 word sentences
- Follow simple 3-step related commands
- Ask one-word “why” questions
- Use “what,” “where,” “when,” “how,” and “whose,” when asking questions
- Respond to “wh- “questions (who, what, when, where, why)
- Use regular plural –s (example: socks, shoes)
- Use possessive –s (example: baby’s bottle)
Sensory & Sleeping
- Able to calm self to sleep at night
- Expresses emotions
- Tolerates different clothing textures
- Copes in a noisy environment
Interesting fact: Did you know that it is recommended for your child to get 10-13 hours of sleep per day (including naps) at this age?
Understanding & Thinking Skills
- Complete an easy puzzle
- Sort objects
- Counting 1-5
- Understands common dangers, such as hot surface, stairs, etc
Social/Play
- Cooperative play: play by rules and in groups with increase in dramatic and imitative play
Best Toys at This Age
- Tricycle
- 3 wheeled scooters
- Play dough
- Toys that encourage imaginative play such as baby doll, cars, toy kitchen
- Building blocks
- Simple puzzles
- Sorting cups
- Matching games
- Toys with various textures, such as kinetic sand, slime, etc.
3.5 - 4 Years
Gross Motor Skills
- Stand on one foot with hands on hips for 5 seconds
- Walk 4 feet on a line with hands on hips
- Run with appropriate form
- Walk 8 feet on a line with hands on hips
- Catch a large ball with hands only from 5 feet
- Climb down rock wall independently
- Stand on tiptoes with arms overhead for 3 seconds
- Walk downstairs without a rail using an alternating pattern
- Hop forward 6 inches on 1 foot
- Throw ball overhand to hit target from 5 feet
- Run and stop within 2 steps
- Walk backwards on a line 4 feet with hands on hips
- Jump forward 30 inches
- Hop 3-5 times on each foot
- Throw ball underhand 10 feet while stepping
Tip: Talk through solutions to a problem with your child to help them develop their problem solving skills
Fine Motor Skills/Visual Motor Skills
- Imitate drawing an oblique cross
- Build a tower of more than 9 blocks without help
- Button and unbutton large buttons
- Cut on a line within ½ inch
- Fork held in standard position
- Button and unbutton quarter-inch buttons
- Make a flat, round cake by pressing and patting dough on table with fingers
- Put 3 things in order, such as hard to soft or full to empty
- Trace and stay on a 3-inch, pencil-thick, horizontal line most of the time
Self-Care
- Put shoes on completely, on correct feet
- Brush teeth with horizontal and vertical motions
- Take off tops and bottoms
- Put on t-shirts or sweaters with a bit of help
- Put on pants, but need help doing them up
- Do up large buttons and pull up zipper once it is started
- Wash herself in the tub with supervision (except washing hair)
- Wash his hands and face at the sink by himself
- Help with brushing hair
- Wipe her own nose
Speech & Communication Skills
- Consistently use 4 to 5 word sentences, with correct sentence structure
- Can be understood by all listeners 80% of the time
- Verbally relate a personal experience/story
- Ask many questions including “who?” and “why?”
- Use regular and irregular past tense verbs consistently and regular 3rd person (He sits)
- Use most pronouns (our, theirs, hers, myself)
- Has 1500+ words in vocabulary
- Use contractions (can’t, don’t, I’ve)
- Identify colors
- Begin Serve self with a large spoon or fork from a jar
- Able to chew all textures
- to use complex sentences (+ prepositional phrase)
- Use most speech sounds correctly (exceptions: th, r, r-blends)
- Follow 2-step related directions without cues
Tip: Talk to your child in full sentences to help improve their use of longer and more complex sentences
Oral Motor Skills & Feeding
- Serve self with a large spoon or fork from a jar
- Able to chew all textures
Sensory & Sleeping
- Able to calm self to sleep at night
- Expresses emotions
- Tolerates different clothing textures
- Copes in a noisy environment
Understanding & Thinking Skills
- Be able to sort and match objects
- Organize objects by size
- Identify parts of a whole, such as a wheel on a car
- Draw a simple picture and tell you what it is
- Tell you their full name and age
- Have a basic understanding of time, such as knowing the difference between past and present
Tip: Allow your child to begin helping with simple chores around the house
Social/Play
- Share toys, taking turns with help
- Might be bossy and defiant
- Show more independence
- Experience a broad range of emotions (ie: jealousy, excitement, fear, happiness, anger)
- Become less egocentric
- Be more even-tempered and cooperative with parents
- May show attachment to one friend
Best Toys at This Age
- Tricycle
- 3 wheeled scooters
- Play dough
- Toys that encourage imaginative play such as baby doll, cars, toy kitchen
- Building blocks
- Simple puzzles
- Sorting cups
- Matching games
- Toys with various textures, such as kinetic sand, slime, etc
Red Flags
- Walks on toes all the time
- Persistent pain or fatigue
- Skills are regressing
- Not able to cut across a piece of paper with scissors
- Cannot copy a cross or draw a circle
- Cannot use a fork and spoon well
- Not able to put on own pants, socks or shoes
- Sentences are not growing in length or complexity
- Poor sorting or matching skills
- Difficulty asking and answering questions
- Not easily understood by family members or familiar people
- Regular coughing or choking during eating
- Lots of leakage of food or liquid from the mouth
- Holding food inside pockets in mouth for long periods
- Difficulty accepting new textures of food
- Not able to complete a simple 4-6 piece puzzle
- Not able to recognize at least 3 colors or shapes
- Not able to initiate or join in play with other children
- Is extremely rigid with routines and becomes upset if there is a change in routine
- Extreme difficulty separating from parent or caregiver
- Has extreme fears that interfere with daily activities