How Many Years Is 60 Months? Understanding Child Development at 5 Years Old

Information on Children Ages: 4 to 5 Years (60 Months)

When we talk about children reaching 60 months, we’re referring to a significant milestone: 5 years old. This period, from 48 months (4 years) to 60 months (5 years), is a time of rapid development across all areas of a child’s life. Understanding what to expect during these crucial years can greatly benefit parents and educators in supporting children’s growth.

This article provides a comprehensive overview of child development for children aged between 4 and 5 years, or precisely, How Many Years Is 60 Months – which is five full years. We will delve into the key aspects of their development, offering insights and practical tips to nurture their potential.

SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

48 Months (4 Years) to 60 Months (5 Years)

How are children learning about feelings and relationships at this age?

Children between 4 and 5 years old are increasingly navigating the complex world of emotions and social interactions. This period is crucial for building the foundation of their social-emotional well-being.

Overview of Social-Emotional Development

Social-emotional development encompasses how children understand and manage themselves, their feelings, behaviors, and relationships with others. These skills are as vital to a child’s success in school and life as academic abilities like language, literacy, and mathematics.

During these formative five years, children are actively learning to:

• Manage their own behavior and actions.
• Recognize, express, and effectively manage their feelings.
• Understand and respond empathetically to the feelings of others.
• Interact positively with friends and peers.
• Participate constructively as a member of a group.
• Develop meaningful and close relationships with adults, including family and teachers.

These essential social-emotional skills are primarily learned through nurturing relationships with adults. Back-and-forth communication, shared experiences, and supportive guidance from adults play a pivotal role. Play is also fundamentally important. Through play, children practice social skills, explore a wide range of emotions, experiment with different behaviors, and receive feedback from their peers. Play allows children to learn about themselves and others, significantly enhancing their communication and interaction skills.

Social-Emotional Development in Detail

Introduction: Understanding Themselves and Their Feelings

What are my children learning about themselves and their feelings at this age?

• Independence and Family Connection: At this age, children often express a desire for independence, wanting to do things on their own, yet they still cherish time spent with parents and family.
• Enthusiasm for Self-Sufficiency: A five-year-old is typically very enthusiastic about doing things independently. They might even refuse help, even when facing frustration or difficulty.
• Pride in Accomplishments: Children at this stage have developed a range of skills and take pleasure in demonstrating their newly acquired abilities.
• Self-Description and Skill Awareness: They can describe themselves and their skills in detail. You might hear them say things like, “I’m five now, that’s bigger than four!” or “I know all the planet names!” or “I can ride a skateboard now, not like when I was a baby.”
• Initiative in Responsibilities: They start to clean up after themselves, sometimes even without being asked, showing increasing responsibility.
• Developing Self-Regulation: They are developing strategies to calm themselves when upset, though they still often need adult support and comfort to remember and use these calming techniques.
• Emotional Vocabulary and Expression: They can express and describe a broader range of feelings, such as “sad,” “mad,” “frustrated,” “confused,” and “afraid.” They can also articulate what caused these feelings and ask for specific comfort or help.
• Emotional Prediction: They begin to predict emotional responses in certain situations, for example, “If she hits me, I’ll feel sad and won’t want to play with her.”
• Empathy and Understanding Others’ Feelings: They can often describe the feelings of other children and sometimes understand the reasons behind those feelings, like “Theo is mad because Laurene knocked down his blocks.”
• Showing Empathy and Comfort: They can sometimes offer comfort and show empathy towards others, especially when they are not directly involved in the situation causing distress.

Learning About Others and Relationships

What are they learning about other people and relationships?

• Importance of Friendships: Friendships become increasingly important for children’s success, both in school and in life in general.
• Enhanced Play Through Communication: Their improved communication and negotiation skills allow them to engage in longer and more complex play scenarios with friends. They can collaboratively imagine elaborate scenarios, like building a spaceship from cardboard boxes and pretending to travel to outer space.
• Social Comparison: They start comparing themselves to their friends, noting differences and strengths, such as “Daniel is the fastest runner, but I can build the highest tower.”
• Emergence of “Best Friends”: They may begin to form special friendships and use terms like “best friend,” although their understanding of the depth of friendship is still developing.
• Developing Understanding of Friendship: They are still learning the true meaning of friendship. They might believe that being angry with someone means they are no longer friends.
• Play Initiation Skills: They have developed various ways to join in play with other children. They might observe for a while, play alongside others initially, or directly ask to join, for example, by suggesting a role in pretend play like “father” in a family game.
• Negotiation and Conflict Resolution: They are developing negotiation skills to resolve conflicts with friends. They are more capable of sharing toys and materials during play but may still argue about who had something first or how long turns should be.
• Giving and Following Directions: They can give directions to others in play, such as “You have to be the zookeeper, and we’ll be the animals,” and sometimes follow directions from others. However, they might still become upset and threaten to stop playing if others don’t comply with their wishes.
• Group Participation and Turn-Taking: They can participate in group activities with several children and are generally able to wait their turn to speak in group settings.
• Understanding and Adapting to Transitions: They appreciate knowing what will happen next. When informed about upcoming changes or transitions, they can often cooperate more readily.
• Seeking Adult Guidance Yet Testing Boundaries: Parents and teachers remain important sources of comfort and information. However, children at this age may start to resist adult direction or attempt to negotiate, for instance, “I’ll clean up my toys if I can watch a video.”
• Decision-Making and Boundary Testing: They show a growing eagerness to make decisions and may continue to test boundaries to see if adults will maintain their authority.
• Rule Following and Enforcement: They are beginning to follow rules and may even remind other children of the rules, even without adult supervision, though they still sometimes need reminders to follow the rules themselves.

Tips to Support Social-Emotional Learning

Learning About Self as a Person

• Involve in Household Tasks: Include children in real household chores like folding laundry, washing the car, taking out recycling, loading the dishwasher, or feeding pets. Rotating tasks can maintain their interest and help them learn a variety of new skills.
• Show Interest in Their Learning: Take time to talk about what they are learning and show genuine interest in their new skills. This makes them feel valued as individuals. Be specific with praise: “You learned to ride that bike by balancing. I saw how much you practiced.” This is more impactful than general praise like “Great job,” which doesn’t show you were truly observing their effort.
• Prioritize Regular One-on-One Time: Despite their increasing engagement with friends, toys, and digital devices, it’s crucial to schedule regular quality time with your child. They still need to talk, read, engage in favorite activities, and cuddle with you.
• Value Their Opinions and Observations: They are full of questions and make insightful observations about the world. Besides offering your own views, ask for their opinions. (Child to Dad: “Dad, that person crossed when the light was red.” Dad to Child: “I noticed that too. What do you think about that?”) Asking for their opinions encourages them to formulate theories, express ideas, and practice reasoning skills.
• Discuss Values and Abstract Ideas: They can now understand more abstract concepts. Discuss family values like kindness, friendship, listening, and cooperation. Ask them questions about these values and share stories to illustrate them. These daily discussions teach family and cultural values and allow children to “think out loud” about their developing understanding.
• Acknowledge Feelings While Setting Limits: In their push for independence, they may resist instructions. Even when you need to set limits, acknowledge their perspective. If they resist cleaning up cars, even after warnings, communicate like this:
  • “It’s time to put your cars away now.” (positive limit)
  • “I know you love playing with them.” (acknowledging their feelings)
  • “We need to put them away so they don’t get broken or lost.” (offering information)
  • “Are you ready to put them away now, or would you like to play for 5 more minutes?” (choice)
  • “How should we do it? By color or type of car?” (invite their ideas)
  • “I know you love your cars, and they must be put away now. If you can’t, I’ll put them away for today, and we’ll try again tomorrow.” (final limit and follow-through if needed)

Learning About Own Feelings

• Regularly Talk About Feelings: Set aside time to discuss feelings daily. Ask about their day, “How was your day? What made you happy? Upset? Sad? What was your favorite part?” and “How do you think your friend felt when Derek wouldn’t play?” When they share feelings, listen and discuss them.
• Help Name Feelings: Assist them in understanding their feelings by naming them when they lack the words. “You seem sad.” “It can be frustrating when a tower keeps falling.” “You look excited about going to your friend’s.”
• Guide Safe Emotional Expression: Help them find safe ways to express feelings. “You seem angry with your friend. Can you tell her what you are angry about?” “Hitting is not safe when you’re mad. What else can you do safely?”
• Offer Comfort During Fear: When they are fearful, stay close and offer comfort. Sometimes they want you present in the situation, not to be removed from it. If afraid of monsters, ask about their fears. They might draw monsters and create a book of drawings and stories to manage their fear, gaining mastery over their feelings.
• Validate All Feelings: Reassure them that all feelings are valid and that you’re there to listen. This builds trust and encourages them to share feelings openly now and in the future.

Learning About Other People

• Provide Play Opportunities: Facilitate play with other children (parks, neighbors, family, childcare, community activities).
• Support Social Interactions: Periodically check in during playtime. They may need help negotiating, listening to friends, expressing their own ideas and feelings, and resolving conflicts. They might also need guidance on safety as they explore new activities.

LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT & LITERACY

48 Months (4 Years) to 60 Months (5 Years)

How are children learning language at this age?

This age range is marked by significant advancements in language and literacy skills. Children are becoming increasingly articulate and are starting to grasp the basics of reading and writing.

Overview of Language Development & Literacy

Children are born with an innate capacity to communicate and learn language. By listening to the language around them, especially from their families, they begin to differentiate sounds and build a vocabulary of understood words, even before they can speak fluently. This ability to understand language is known as “receptive language.”

Initially, babies communicate through sounds like crying and gestures. As they become toddlers, they start using a few familiar words. By 4 and 5 years old, their vocabularies expand significantly, and they begin to follow grammatical rules when speaking. The ability to use language to express thoughts, ideas, and feelings is termed “expressive language.”

Concurrently with spoken language development, they are introduced to written language through books, signs, and notes. Before reading actual words, they learn that print represents words. Similarly, before formal writing, they make marks and draw pictures. By age 5, they typically understand that letters form words and words can create stories they will learn to read. Many 5-year-olds can also recognize, read, and write their own names.

Language Development & Literacy in Detail

Introduction: Understanding Language, Reading, and Writing

How do children learn language and begin to understand reading and writing?

• Communication Skills: Around 5 years old, children can effectively communicate ideas and feelings, ask and answer questions, and understand spoken language. They can discuss past and future events in detail.
• Conversational Skills: They can engage in extended conversations, responding appropriately and staying on topic most of the time.
• Narrative Skills: They can tell stories and sequence events, usually distinguishing between real and imaginary events in their narratives.
• Phonological Awareness: Around 5, children enjoy playing with word sounds, creating silly rhymes and nonsense words, and experimenting with playful language.
• Early Literacy Skills: Many 5-year-olds can recognize letters and start copying or writing them. Many learn to write their names and recognize familiar words. They show interest in drawing and writing and can often copy words written for them.
• Pretend Reading: They pretend to read books, recognize some words, and memorize stories and familiar songs.

Bilingual Language Development

How do children in bilingual or non-English-speaking families learn language?

• Language Learning Capacity: Young children are highly adept at language learning and can learn two or more languages before starting school.
• Home Language Priority: Families speaking a language other than English at home can use their native language as the primary language with their children. This connection to their home language supports their family and cultural identity. They can learn English simultaneously if the family is bilingual or when they begin childcare or school.
• Family Support for Language Learning: Families support language learning by talking, reading, and singing to children in their home language. This builds a strong linguistic foundation that helps when learning English.
• Resources in Home Language: Local libraries are valuable resources for finding books in various languages.
• Benefits of Bilingualism: Early bilingualism offers lifelong cognitive and social benefits.

Listening and Speaking

How do speaking and listening help a child learn language?

Verbal communication and conversation are crucial first steps toward reading and academic success. A larger vocabulary, gained through listening and speaking, directly correlates with better school performance. Children are natural language learners, fascinated by its power:

• To express needs, feelings, and ideas.
• To share experiences.
• To influence events.
• To acquire and share information.
• To solve problems and explore concepts.
• To connect with others.
• To create and tell stories.
• To plan activities.
• To persuade others.

Language learning happens through listening, speaking, practicing new words, and receiving attentive responses. Vocabulary grows when new words are introduced and used in context. Everyday family life offers countless opportunities to support language development.

Tips for Supporting Language Development

• Incorporate Language into Daily Routines: Language learning doesn’t require special lessons; it naturally occurs in daily interactions. Talking with children is the key. The more language exposure, the more they learn.
• Use Everyday Situations: In the car, store, during walks, chores, playtime, meals, or bedtime—use these moments for language interaction. Talking about immediate, familiar things helps understanding, as children have visual cues and experiences to connect words to.
• Talk About:
  • What you and they are seeing.
  • What they are doing.
  • What you are doing.
  • Past events you shared.
  • Future plans.
• Introduce New Words: Expand vocabulary by adding descriptive words. Introduce new words alongside familiar ones, with visual aids for easier understanding. Example: “There is a dog.” becomes “There is a big, bouncy dog.” then “There is a big, bouncy, curly-haired dog sniffing a rock and wagging its tail.”
• Share Stories:
  • Stories are opportunities to share values and perspectives. They help children feel connected and engaged in language learning.
  • Childhood stories from your past are especially engaging and teach about history, family, and culture.
  • Stories can be about your day or interests. Use stories to reflect on your child’s day.
  • Stories don’t need to be long, focusing on events, feelings, problem-solving, or childhood experiences.
  • Use stories to demonstrate values like persistence, creativity, compassion, generosity, bravery, and teamwork.
• Ask Questions: Asking questions encourages reflection and word articulation, showing you value their ideas.
• Ask About:
  • What they observe.
  • Their current activities.
  • Their thoughts.
  • Their feelings.
  • Preferences.
  • Past events.
  • Future predictions.
• Use Follow-Up Questions: When they share, ask for more details. This challenges them to think deeply and find words to describe their thoughts, stretching their language abilities. “Wow, you played dragons with Rigo? What did the dragons do? Tell me more. How do dragons breathe fire?” “You drew a spaceship? What’s inside? What makes it fly? Where’s it going? Tell me more.”
• Ask Open-Ended Questions: Questions prompting creative answers (not just yes/no) encourage thoughtful responses.
  • “What was the funnest thing today?” (open-ended, more conversation) vs. “Did you have fun today?” (closed, less conversation).
  • “Tell me about Theo.” (open-ended) vs. “Do you like Theo?” (closed).
• Ask Questions You Don’t Know Answers To: This shows genuine interest in their thinking and values their perspective. “What do you notice on this page?” (unknown answer, supports thinking) vs. “What color is the dog?” (known answer, less supportive).
• Invite Them to Answer Their Own Questions: Often, children have guesses when they ask questions. Asking their opinion encourages verbalizing thoughts and participation in conversation. “Interesting question. How do you think stars get in the sky?”
• Listen Attentively: Children talk more when they feel heard. Active listening gives them language practice.
• Show You’re Listening By:
  • Making eye contact.
  • Allowing silence for them to speak fully.
  • Turning off distractions like TV.
  • Creating regular “talking time” (e.g., couch time, walks, bedtime snuggles).
  • Repeating/rephrasing to show you understand.
  • Asking questions.
  • Thanking them for sharing.
• Use Technology to Support Language:
  • Record their words and stories, then play back and discuss.
  • Take photos of daily activities; review and discuss them together.

Reading

How do children learn to read?

Reading opens new worlds and introduces powerful communication and information access. Sharing books is a crucial way to help children learn to read and succeed academically.

Reading isn’t just books; it includes signs, labels, instructions, notes, and emails. Recognizing reading’s many uses motivates children to learn.

• Early Reading Experiences: Start with recognizing photos and pictures. They learn that pictures have names and stories. They then learn that book pictures tell stories and that letters on pages also tell stories or describe pictures. They start to connect pictures (apple) with letters (“a-p-p-l-e”).
• Becoming Familiar with Books: They learn:
  • Books are important (because you value them) and informative.
  • How to handle books: holding, page-turning, discussion.
  • Books can be used alone or with others.
  • Story location: pictures, letters, reader’s memory.
  • Book organization: title, author on front, story inside.

Tips for Pre-Reading Activities

• Look at Pictures Together: Observe photos and pictures, ask what they see, and discuss. This develops observation skills and vocabulary, simulating reading.
• Ask About Picture Stories: Ask what they think is happening in pictures. This encourages storytelling and self-identification as storytellers/writers.
• Point Out Environmental Print: Notice and point out words in the environment. Highlighting real-world word use demonstrates the importance of written words and motivates reading. Road signs and grocery labels are good examples.
• Read Aloud Your Writing: Show them writing in process and read it aloud. This clarifies the letter-message connection. “I’m making a grocery list. ‘Cheese,’ ‘rice.’ What fruit should we add?” “I’m writing a note to your teacher about our trip next week.”
• Read Notes and Letters Aloud: “Here’s a note from your teacher: ‘Dear Families…'”
• Point to Words While Reading: This links spoken and written words. “Note from Grandma: ‘I love you,’ ‘Visiting soon.'”
• Read Emails and Texts: Show words on screens to demonstrate that technology also carries written communication.
• Write Down Their Words: Writing down their words shows the power of writing and reading. If they’re sad saying goodbye, suggest a note. They draw, you write their words; then read it back. For birthdays, make cards by drawing and dictating words for you to write. For creations they want to save, make signs with their words.
• Provide Drawing Materials: Offer pencils, pens, markers, chalk. When they draw, ask about it and write their story on a sticky note, then read it back. Drawing practices line and shape skills needed for writing and allows them to express ideas and feel like “authors.”
• Read Books Regularly: Reading books provides reading skill practice and shows the importance of reading to you.
  • Provide accessible books on shelves or in baskets.
  • Make library/bookstore trips.
  • Schedule daily reading time, turning off TV to make time.
  • Re-read favorite books multiple times.
  • Discuss books: “What do you see? Why did the boy climb the tree? What would you do on that horse?”
  • Before reading a familiar book, ask them to tell the story first.
  • Sometimes point to words as you read.
  • Explain book cover words: title, author, illustrator.
  • Talk about letters and sounds.
  • Point out letters in special words like their name. “Your name starts with ‘S,’ Sergio. Any other ‘S’ words? Let’s find ‘S’ words and list them.”
  • Play with sounds and rhymes using songs, poems, and rhyming games to help hear and compare word sounds. Rhyming games in the car are fun: “Bear has hair. Words like ‘bear’ and ‘hair’?”

Writing

How do children learn to write?

By 5, children may write some letters, possibly large, reversed, or upside down—early writing stages.

They’re interested in writing names, including friends’. Motivation to write comes from things important to them, like wanting “triceratops” written to copy, rather than simpler words.

Interest in writing varies from age 3 to 6. Don’t force writing. With materials available (pens, paper), most children will start when ready.

Early writing doesn’t require correct spelling. Children often use letter sounds to “write.” Practice using letters is more important than perfect spelling initially.

Tips for Supporting Writing Development

• Provide Writing Tools: Keep various writing tools and paper accessible (pencils, pens, markers, different paper sizes). This encourages drawing and sign-making during play.
• Include Sign-Making Supplies: Add tape and paper strips for signs, envelopes, letters, notes. Some children prefer lined paper.
• Create a “Word Pouch”: A pouch for words children ask you to write. Revisiting these words helps them recognize and “read” them.
• Use an Alphabet Chart: Have an alphabet chart for reference when they ask about spelling. This helps them reference letters independently and feel capable of writing.
• Offer Letter Sets: Provide letter sets (magnetic, paper cutouts). Familiarity with letter shapes helps them arrange and start forming words, even before writing.
• Write Together: Invite them to write with you for notes or lists. Children love helping and participating in adult tasks, sparking writing interest. “Shopping list? Help me? ‘Apples’ starts with ‘A’ like your name. Write ‘A’?”
• Offer to Write Their Stories/Words: Help write notes to friends, or capture their stories about drawings.

NUMBER SENSE

48 Months (4 Years) to 60 Months (5 Years)

How are children learning about numbers?

Preschoolers are developing crucial mathematical skills through play and everyday interactions, setting the stage for future math learning.

Overview of Number Sense

Young children explore and practice math skills long before formal schooling. In their early years, they learn to count, recognize shapes and patterns, compare sizes and quantities, and notice similarities and differences. These skills develop through self-initiated exploration, play, and simple adult interactions. Everyday moments like counting fingers and toes, offering two banana pieces, or sorting socks by color all contribute. Children start using words like “more” and “bigger” to describe quantities.

As they grow, they learn to count more numbers and build quantity understanding through activities like setting tables. They become aware of how adults use counting daily and learn by imitation. Most young children are naturally interested in numbers. Fun, number-based activities strengthen this interest and encourage further math concept learning.

Number Sense in Detail

Introduction: Preschool Math Skills

What are preschool children learning about numbers?

Preschoolers begin practicing arithmetic and math skills well before elementary school, primarily through play and simple adult interactions.

• Counting Skills in Daily Life: They learn to count through everyday actions like setting plates, counting fingers to state age, and counting apples needed for each person.
• Rote Counting vs. Meaning: Children often learn to say number sequences (“1-2-3-4-5”) before understanding each number’s value. They might count three strawberries as “1-2-3-4-5” because they don’t yet assign one number per object. As they grasp this, you might see them lining up animals and giving each a leaf, learning one-to-one correspondence.
• Understanding “More” and “Less”: They begin to understand “more” and “less,” noticing if someone has more cookies, but quantity understanding is still developing. If a friend’s cookie is split in two, they might think the friend has more. Their “more” and “less” concepts help compare multiple items, leading to sorting sticks from shortest to longest or balls from smallest to biggest.
• Counting to Twenty: Around 5, they can count to twenty, possibly skipping numbers (“1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-13-14-16-17-19-20”). They might count while hopping, waiting, or just showing off their counting ability.
• Recognizing Written Numbers: They recognize some written numbers, noticing them on pages and identifying them: “Numbers on page corners. That’s a 6. That’s a 7.”
• Subitizing Small Quantities: Five-year-olds can instantly recognize quantities up to 4 without counting. In books, they might say, “Now there are 4 ducks.” At snack, “I have 4 crackers.”
• Counting Up to Ten Objects: They can count up to 10 objects, pointing to each while counting, like counting 10 potatoes into a grocery bag.
• Cardinality: When counting, they understand the last number spoken is the total quantity. “One, two, three, four, five, six. Six pinecones!” They can count family members or napkins needed for everyone.
• Comparison and Quantity: They understand adding dolls to a bed increases the number. Comparing stick counts (8 vs. 6), they know they have more or their friend has fewer. If both have five blocks, they know it’s the same.
• Simple Addition and Subtraction: Five-year-olds handle simple addition and subtraction. Starting with 6 strawberries, asking for one more, they can say they have 7. From 5 crackers, eating two, they announce, “Now three. Eat two more, only one left!” They might recount to confirm new totals.
• Part-Whole Relationships: They understand combining small groups makes a larger group. “3 boats + 3 boats = 6 boats.” And dividing a larger group into smaller ones. “4 cookies = 2 for you, 2 for me.”

Tips for Fostering Number Sense

Many natural family activities help develop math and number skills. Everyday life offers many opportunities for adults to count and children to practice numbers through play. Here are some suggestions:

• Count Out Loud: Count aloud frequently, letting children hear number sequences and how often counting is used daily. Count kisses, trees, dog barks.
• Point While Counting: Point to objects while counting to show each number represents one object.
• Use Shopping, Cooking, Eating: These activities provide counting opportunities. “4 or 5 apples? Count as I bag them.” “3 yellow + 3 red apples = ? Let’s count.” “Bigger tortilla bag for cousins’ dinner? Can you reach the bigger one?” “3 grocery bags. Fit in car?” “How many bags to carry? How many for me?” “Wash hands, then get 5 tortillas from bag.” “Need 4 potatoes washed. Get from fridge, scrub in sink?” “Get plates for table. Family members? Plates needed? Enough chairs too?”
• Ask for Guesses/Predictions: Before counting, ask children to guess how many. Predictions, even if wrong, encourage thinking about numbers and increase counting interest. “How many buses before ours?” “How many strawberries in this basket?”
• Ask Simple Addition/Subtraction Questions: “5 cookies, eat 2, how many left?” “4 pennies, get one more, how many total?” Use actual objects for these games initially. Once comfortable, ask without objects.
• Invite Number Questions: Encourage children to ask you number questions.
• Correct Gently, Not as “Wrong”: When they make number mistakes, avoid saying “wrong.” Gently suggest counting again together, or say, “You counted five ducks, but I see four.”
• Keep it Fun: Number conversations should be enjoyable. If stressed or uninterested, stop and try later or with a different game. Most young children are naturally curious about numbers. Fun activities strengthen this and encourage further learning.

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

48 Months (4 Years) to 60 Months (5 Years)

How are children becoming skillful at moving their bodies?

Preschoolers are refining their gross motor skills, gaining balance, coordination, and control over their movements.

Overview of Physical Development

• Physical development and activity are vital for lifelong health, protecting against heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. It also supports mental health, happiness, and psychological well-being.
• Movement skills are foundational for other learning, enabling social interaction, exploration, learning, and play.
• Physical activity prepares children for future fitness, sports, and recreation.
• Infants, toddlers, and preschoolers are ready and motivated to learn movement skills. Preschool is a prime time to learn fundamental movement skills. If not learned now, later learning may be harder, and long-term physical activity participation may be affected.
• Preschool years are when children develop essential movement skills, building on infant and toddler physical development.
• Outdoor physical activity in nature is highly beneficial. Adults should facilitate such play, as many children spend excessive time with screens instead of physical activity.
• More physical activity experience builds confidence and willingness to try new things and develop skills. Screen time may reduce willingness to try physical challenges and hinder skill development.
• Research shows nature benefits children, who prefer natural settings. Green outdoor spaces improve thinking skills, well-being, and relationships.

Physical Development in Detail

Some physical milestones you might see in five-year-olds:

• Developed Balance: Showing a good sense of balance in various activities.
• Single Leg Balance: Maintaining balance standing on one foot for several seconds.
• Stopping Balance: Maintaining balance when stopping after running.
• Object Balance: Balancing a beanbag on their head.
• Line Walking: Walking forward and backward on a wide line pattern.
• Zigzag Walking: Walking along a zigzag pattern.
• Alternating Feet Stairs: Walking down stairs using alternating feet without holding the railing.
• Edge Walking: Balancing while walking on the sandbox edge.
• “Freeze” Games: Playing “freeze”—moving and stopping, holding a pose for seconds.
• Walking with Object Balance: Balancing a beanbag on head or body while walking a line.
• Controlled Running Stops: Running and stopping precisely at a chosen spot with control.
• Toe Running: Running lightly on toes.
• Obstacle Running: Running, sometimes navigating around obstacles without falling.
• Two-Footed Jump Over Object: Jumping over a block using both feet.
• Forward Two-Footed Jump: Jumping forward 3 feet using both feet together.
• Galloping: Galloping (leading with one foot) rhythmically.
• Hopping with Direction Change: Hopping on one foot for several feet, changing direction to land on targets.

Tips for Supporting Physical Development

• Provide Movement Opportunities: Preschoolers need ample chances to move, run, climb, jump, build, and throw. They enjoy carrying heavy items and building with blocks and natural materials.
• Encourage Transporting: They love transporting things, pushing carts, boxes, or trucks and carrying baskets, purses, recycled bottles, or found objects.
• Support Building: Preschoolers love building structures—towers, houses, roads, zoos, stores, bridges—from anything available: cans, boxes, sticks, leaves, wood scraps, cardboard boxes, building blocks, snap-together blocks.
• Allow Climbing: Preschoolers love to climb chairs, tables, shelves, couches, benches.
  • Identify safe climbing areas and redirect them there when they climb unsafe items.
  • Use mattresses, cushions, and low platforms for climbing and fort building.
  • Playgrounds and natural areas with logs, boulders, and hills offer climbing opportunities. Explore your neighborhood for safe climbing spots.
  • Falls during climbing are common and usually result in minor scrapes. These falls are learning experiences. They often try again, succeeding due to lessons learned from previous attempts.
  • When children climb, ensure the area is safe.
• Promote Outdoor Time: Outdoor time is essential. Short walks let them experience different walking/running surfaces, galloping, hopping, jumping, and observing seasons and community. Children naturally put lots of energy into play and are motivated to try physical challenges and skills.
• Create Challenges: On sidewalks, create challenges: “Run to the big tree? Hop to the corner? Hop 3 steps, walk 3, hop 3? Walk backward, forward, backward? Walk on the sidewalk line? Squiggly crack?”
• Encourage Throwing: Provide soft balls for throwing. They may also start hitting balls with bats, sticks, or cardboard tubes.
• Incorporate Heavy Lifting: Preschoolers like stretching muscles by carrying heavy things. Sealed detergent bottles or boxes are fun to carry. They enjoy moving stools to reach shelves. They can help with groceries or pushing laundry baskets. Helping with “grown-up” tasks develops physical, emotional, and social skills.
• Offer Wheel Toys: Around 5, they love wheel toys: tricycles, bikes, wagons, carts, trucks, which provide physical activity and can be part of pretend play.

APPROACHES TO LEARNING

48 Months (4 Years) to 60 Months (5 Years)

What skills help children learn effectively?

Preschoolers develop essential learning skills like problem-solving, observation, questioning, and exploration, setting a strong foundation for lifelong learning.

Overview of Approaches to Learning

Young children develop skills that aid learning and problem-solving, including attention, observation, questioning, information gathering, and exploring problem-solving methods. These are called approaches to learning.

They use math concepts like numbers, shapes, and sizes in problem-solving. They use all senses to gather information, notice differences and similarities, and make comparisons. They observe people and things closely, forming hypotheses and predictions. They conduct simple experiments and evaluate outcomes.

Young children are naturally curious. Adults can foster curiosity and initiative by asking open-ended questions, responding to their questions, and providing diverse materials for exploration. This support builds learner confidence and persistence in challenging problems.

Approaches to Learning in Detail

Introduction: Problem-Solving Skills

What skills do preschool-aged children use to solve problems?

• Math Reasoning: Math reasoning is a key problem-solving skill.
• Math Concepts in Problem Solving: Math concepts like numbers, counting, shapes, and sizes help solve problems. Children use these to choose plate sizes, count cars for friends, or find blankets of suitable size.
• Trial and Error: Younger preschoolers might try one idea that doesn’t work. Older ones may test multiple strategies to find a solution. The process of trying, testing, and adjusting is more important than immediate success. These strategies are useful for everyday problem-solving and broader math skill development.
• Observation and Investigation: Children also use observation and investigation to solve problems.
• Sensory Information Gathering: They use all senses to gather information, construct meaning, and build knowledge.
• Natural Observers: They are naturally curious and notice small details adults often miss, like ants from sidewalk cracks.
• Using Tools for Observation: With adult guidance, they may use tools for measurement and observation. For example, magnifying glasses to see leaf “lines” or rulers/unit blocks to measure leaf length. Observation helps them recognize and describe similarities and differences between objects.
• Classification Skills: They use observation to compare, contrast, and classify objects and events by attributes. They might separate “pointy” leaves from round leaves, or big leaves from small ones.
• Experimentation: They investigate by trying things to see what happens. They might test car rolling on smooth vs. bumpy ramps, plant growth in light vs. dark, or using pipes to move water up and down.
• Prediction and Testing: They predict changes in materials and objects based on knowledge and experience and test predictions through observation or experiments.
• Scientific Inquiry Skills: They use observation and investigation to ask questions, describe observations, use scientific tools, compare/contrast, predict, and infer.

Mathematical Thinking in Daily Life

Children use expanded mathematical thinking daily:

• Chair Counting: Setting table, noticing not enough chairs, getting an extra stool.
• Non-Standard Measurement: Measuring bed length with books placed end-to-end.
• Prediction and Counting: Predicting grapes in a bunch, then counting to check.
• Substitution in Building: Building a road with long blocks, using two small blocks when long ones run out.
• Quantity Calculation: Cutting paper money for friends, announcing, “Need two more dollars for Ziya and Dylan.”
• Sorting and Matching: Sorting animals into big/small groups, then getting matching leaf sizes for each group.

Curiosity and Questioning

Children show curiosity and increased questioning:

• Ramp Experimentation: Using a board as a ramp for toy cars, testing which car goes farthest.
• Worm Observation: Digging in mud, seeing a worm, wondering, “Live in ground? Another one. Is it their home?”
• Daytime Moon Question: Outside, looking at the moon, asking, “Why moon in daytime?”
• Rock Examination: Sorting rocks, washing one with soap, using a magnifying glass for closer look.

Detailed Observation and Description

Children observe and describe objects/events in detail:

• Sweet Potato Growth: Observing a sweet potato in a jar, identifying buds and roots, describing, “White roots down, small leaves.” Photographing growth with help to document.
• Raindrop Senses: Describing raindrops after a rainy walk—look, feel, sound, smell, taste.
• Seashell Description (Visual Impairment): Feeling seashells, describing touch: “Bumpy and round,” “Smooth and flat.”
• Snail Observation: Observing a snail closely: “Hard like rock. Soft body. Moves slow. Two pointy things [antennas].”
• Caterpillar Drawing: Observing a caterpillar (or picture), drawing it in a journal, describing stripes: “Yellow, white, black—like a pattern.”

Tool Use for Observation and Measurement

Children identify and use various tools:

• Magnifying Glass for Worms: Asking for a magnifying glass to see a worm closely, saying, “Need magnifying glass to look close.”
• Ruler for Bean Growth: Measuring green bean growth with a ruler, “Want to see how big.”
• Measuring Cup for Cooking: Using a measuring cup to pour flour while making dough.
• Block Height Measurement: Stacking blocks to their height, counting blocks to measure height.

Detailed Comparison and Contrast

Children compare and contrast objects/events in detail:

• Plant Comparison (Water vs. No Water): “Watered plants bigger, green leaves. Unwatered one yellow leaves, looks dead.”
• Squash Comparison: Exploring different squash by sight and touch, describing: “Rounder, this long one. Yellow and green, smooth. That one bumpy.”
• Rolling vs. Non-Rolling Objects: Comparing objects that roll down ramps (balls, toys, cans) with non-rolling objects (shovel, block, book), noting, “These round and have wheels” for rollers.
• Butterfly vs. Caterpillar: Comparing butterfly/caterpillar (pictures or real), noting butterfly flies, caterpillar doesn’t, different shapes/colors.
• Foggy vs. Sunny Sky: Observing and describing sky difference on foggy vs. sunny days.
• Real vs. Toy Shovel: Using a real shovel in the garden, comparing it to a toy shovel in sandbox—similarities and differences.

Prediction and Checking

Children show increased ability to predict and check predictions:

• Sunflower Seed Prediction: After planting seeds, “Seeds will grow, sunflowers will come.” Observing daily for changes.
• Flour and Water Prediction: “Water to flour? Flour sticky, not flour anymore. Water and flour mix.”
• Tomato Seed Discovery: Cutting a tomato, observing inside, “Thought no seeds, but tiny seeds inside.”
• Sink or Float Prediction: Bringing object to bathtub, predicting sink or float. Testing, observing, then, “Yes, knew it! Floating.”

Observation-Based Conclusions

Children increasingly draw conclusions from observations:

• Fruit and Vegetable Seeds: Observing fruits and vegetables, concluding fruits have seeds, vegetables don’t.
• Ramp Steepness and Car Speed: Observing toy cars on ramps, concluding steeper ramps make cars go faster.
• Animal Identification by Features: Seeing an unfamiliar animal picture, noting wings, concluding, “It’s a bird. Wings.”
• Weather Inference from Clothing: Observing a picture of a child in jacket, scarf, mittens, hat, concluding, “Must be very cold outside.”

Tips for Mathematical Thinking, Observation, and Investigation

• Offer Open-Ended Materials: Provide blocks, cars, shells, stones, toy animals, small/large boxes. These encourage creativity, imagination, and self-motivated learning.
• Involve in Household Tasks: Include in cooking, setting table, laundry, gardening. Ask children to solve problems. Real problems challenge thinking and make them feel like contributing family members. “Company tonight: Grandma, Poppy, Uncle Stu. Plates, forks, glasses, napkins needed for everyone?” “Help sort clothes: lights in this basket, darks in that?” “Fruit salad: two apples, four kiwis, one orange. Total fruit?” “Eight tomato plants, two rows. How to plant same number per row?”
• Suggest Measuring Tasks: “Line up rocks, how many to sidewalk?”
• Provide Measuring Tools: Offer rulers, scales, measuring cups. Help them learn to use them. “Two cups flour needed. Cup measurer here. Help fill 2 times, put flour in bowl?” “Uncle Stu tall. Measuring tape to see how tall?” “Heavier: rock or 5 leaves? Balance scale to check.”
• Involve in Grocery Shopping: “Get 6 bananas?” “Potatoes in bag? How many fit? Count them?” “Peaches for dessert tonight, one now. Peaches needed for family tonight, plus one now?”
• Observe Outdoors: Outside or park, stop, observe surroundings carefully. Notice child’s interests, ask questions to encourage observation and reasoning. “Oh, a leaf. Same as this one? Any different leaves?” “Earthworms! Yesterday, none. Why today?” “Snail from where?” “Flower petals? How many?”