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Preschool 

3 - 5 years

Gross Motor

3 years:​

  • Pedals trike short distance

  • Catches large ball arms/hands extended 

  • Walks up stairs; one foot on each step

  • Hops on one foot for 5 seconds

  • Jumps from small step with both feet

  • Kicks ball forward 6 ft

  • Climbs jungle gym/ladders

 

4 years: 

  • Pedals trike long distances; turning corners; U-turns

  • Walks down stairs; one foot at a time

  • Briefly stands on one foot

  • Walks on tip toes with arms above head for 3 seconds

  • Throws ball overhand 10 ft with trunk rotation

  • Gallops 5 ft

 

5 years:​​

  • Runs while pumping arms

  • Hops 8 times consecutively on one foot, then other

  • Catches tennis ball with hands only from 5 ft

  • Hits a target from 12 ft away

  • Gallops 10 ft

  • Skips 8 steps with opposing arm and leg movement

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Fine/Visual motor

3 years:

  • Snips with scissors

  • Draw a circle

  • Copies cross

  • Color on large pictures

  • Builds an 8 block tower

  • Completes simple puzzles

  • Plays with toys with moving parts

  • Turns pages in a book one at a time

 

4 years: 

  • Tripod grasp of pencil 

  • Shows hand preference 

  • Colors within the lines

  • Copies a square

  • Begins to copy capital letters

  • Draws person with 2-4 body parts

  • Cuts small square and triangle

  • Constructs 3 dimensional designs

 

5 years:

  • Refined tripod grasp

  • Copies triangle

  • Draws person with at least 6 body parts

  • Prints own name 

  • String small beads

  • Completes puzzles up to 10 pieces

  • Uses two hands together well

Social/Play

3 years:​

  • Parallel play: playing alongside others, sharing materials and/or play space

  • Shows wide range of emotions

  • Imitating adults in play

  • Proud of own achievements/success

  • Shows affection to family and friends

  • Cooperative play, begins to take turns

  • Links themes and sequences for pretend 

  • Uses objects for pretend play

  • Makes messes

  • Enjoys rough/tumble play

 

4 years: 

  • Associative play: play with other kids; sharing and talking about play goals

  • Prefers to play with peers, groups of peers

  • Follows turn taking

  • Engages in circle time

  • More complex pretend play scripts/themes

  • Shows comfort to playmates in distress

  • Prefers same-sex playmates

  • Participates in singing/dancing group play

 

5 years:

  • Cooperative/reciprocal play with friends

  • Wants to please friends

  • Expresses feelings

  • Can be demanding and cooperative at times

  • Group games with simple rules

  • Engages in organized play with prescribed roles (i.e house, mom, dad)

  • Organized gross motor games such as tag, kickball, etc.

  • Role playing with other children

  • Tells stories

  • More advanced pretend play that involved scripts and imaginary characters

  • Can determine difference of real and pretend

Self-cares

3 years:​

  • Feeds self with little to no spilling

  • Uses a fork

  • Needs some help with pull over clothing

  • Puts socks and shoes on

  • Buttons large buttons

  • Unzips zippers

  • Has few accidents, identifies when needing to go to the bathroom

  • May/may not need assistance with wiping

  • Picks up/cleans up toys 

  • Helps set/clear table

  • Feeds pets

  • Places clothes in a hamper

 

4 years: 

  • Uses eating spoon and fork efficiently; needs help managing knife

  • Dressing independently, may need help with fasteners

  • Consistently identifies front and back of clothing correctly

  • Bathes self independently, needs help with hair washing

  • Make their own bed

  • Empty trashcans

  • Clear table 

  • Help pull weeds/garden/water plants

  • Clear table 

  • Unload utensils from dishwasher

 

5 years:

  • Use a knife (spreading and cutting)

  • Independent with dressing

  • Tie and untie knots

  • Independent with toileting

  • Supervision with grooming tasks for quality

  • Make the bed

  • Put away clean laundry

  • Bring in mail/newspaper

  • Use hand held vacuum to clean up spills 

  • Fix a simple snack/bowl of cereal 

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Please note: Milestones/skill sets are not all encompassing. These are to give you an idea of what skills you may see your child be able to accomplish at each age. All children develop at different rates, so your child may or may not be able to do all skills listed. 

Information gathered from:

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