Your Child’s Year Five Milestones
(4 Years – 5 Years)
By the time your child turns five, they’re ready to take on the world! At this age, your child will have achieved the basic developmental milestones they need for success in all areas of life. Now it’s just a matter of mastery. Whether they’re learning to ride a bike, making new friends, or exploring their creativity, five-year-olds are eager to tackle new challenges and continue their incredible growth.
On this page, you’ll find all of the developmental milestones your child should achieve by their fifth birthday. If you have any questions or concerns about your child’s development, reach out to us to schedule a free consultation today.
Your 5-Year-Old’s Developmental Milestones
By the time your child turns five, they’re growing into an independent, confident individual with so many new skills to show off. They’ll be engaging in more complex conversations, making friends, and achieving mastery of their developmental milestones as they make their way to their next big step in life—kindergarten!
Language & Communication Milestones
- Answers questions about a book correctly after you read it to them
- Tells a story with two or more separate events (example: the dog rolled around in the mud, and the family had to bathe it)
- Keeps a conversation going with multiple back-and-forth exchanges using questions and statements
- Uses or recognizes simple rhyming words like “bat” and “cat,” or “dog” and “frog”
Cognitive Milestones
- Counts to 10
- Recognizes some numbers
- Copies some letters in the alphabet
- Names some letters in the alphabet
- Uses words about time, like “tomorrow” or “night”
- Pays attention during non-screentime activities (like stories or crafts) for about 5 to 10 minutes at a time
Social & Emotional Milestones
- Follows rules like waiting their turn when playing with other kids
- Sings, dances, or puts on a play for you
- Does simple chores at home, like putting away clean laundry or putting their dishes in the sink after mealtime
Movement Milestones
- Hops on one foot without falling over
- Buttons some buttons on clothes easily
Activities Parents Can Do at Home to Support Your Toddler’s Development
As your child gets closer to their fifth birthday, they’ll be eager to tackle more complex challenges and assert their growing independence. You can support your child’s development while enjoying quality time together by using some of the suggestions given below.
Here are some fun and engaging activities to support their development:
- Language and Communication: Encourage your child’s growing vocabulary by reading together daily and asking them to predict what happens next in the story. Play storytelling games, where they create their own tales or retell you some of their favorite memories. These activities promote their language skills and help them express themselves with more clarity.
- Cognitive Skills: Play games like memory cards, Go Fish, simple board games, or puzzles. You can also do fun learning activities like sorting objects by color or shape, counting coins, or explaining what the different things in their environment are used for in order to strengthen their math and reasoning skills.
- Social and Emotional Skills: Play games like “house” or “store,” where your child can practice sharing, taking turns, and working as a team. Encourage them to express how they feel in different situations, and talk about how others might feel in stories you read together. This helps build their emotional intelligence and social understanding.
- Movement and Physical Skills: Encourage physical activity with games that involve running, jumping, or balancing. You can set up an obstacle course at home or go on nature walks to practice these skills. Additionally, activities like hopping, riding a bike, or dancing to music will improve coordination and strength.
- Creativity and Expression: Encourage creativity with activities like drawing, painting, or building with blocks. Provide opportunities for your child to experiment with art and express themselves through music, dance, or acting. These activities help children develop all kinds of developmental skills and ignite their imagination.
- Daily Life Skills: Allow your child to help with simple chores like setting the table, folding towels, or organizing their room. These tasks not only teach responsibility but also give them the chance to practice coordination and attention to detail.
- Feeding Skills: Continue encouraging independence with mealtime routines. Let your child practice cutting their own food into smaller pieces during meals. You can also let them help make meals with simple tasks like washing vegetables or adding ingredients to a pot or pan. Offer a variety of healthy foods and encourage your child to try new textures and flavors to build positive eating habits.
Schedule an Appointment Today
Empower your child to overcome the challenges of retained reflexes with Sensational Development. Give us a call at (516) 799-2900 to schedule an evaluation today and find out how we can help your child achieve a sensational future.