Let's look at the main developmental milestones for 4 to 5 year olds. 

Developmental Milestones: 4 - 5 year olds

You've probably noticed that your preschooler loves to be around people and can often display a myriad of emotions in any one given day! 

Between the ages of 4-5 years old, these are the milestones you should expect to see:

• By this age, your child will have started playing more with others and may even have a best friend. They understand how to share and take turns, and will enjoy being social.
• Four-year-olds have a better understanding of rules and structure, especially those who've started pre-school. They have a good sense of right and wrong but might still be uncooperative and demanding at times.
• Preschoolers have a better understanding of the concept of time and the order of daily activities, such as breakfast in the morning, lunch in the afternoon, and dinner in the evening.
• They’ll use one hand consistently for fine motor tasks and cut along a straight line with scissors.
• Your budding artists will have begun to draw diagonal lines, like a triangle, and draw pictures that are recognizable, such as a person with a body.
• They can print some letters and numbers and may recognize their name in print.
• They’ll have graduated to using smaller blocks and bricks for builds.
• Your child can probably spread butter or cut soft food with a small table knife (with supervision)
• Physically, they should be able to leap and bound, stand for longer periods of time on one leg, climb a ladder or a tree, hop, skip, and even do somersaults. They can ride a tricycle, walk backwards and forwards with confidence and go up and down the stairs without help.
• No need to push them on the swing anymore, as they've now got the coordination and strength to do it on their own.
• By now, they’ll be able to correctly name and match at least four colors and three shapes, can count ten or more objects as well as recognize some letters and possibly write their name.
• As they become more numerate, they can understand the concept of "2 cookies" and "3 books".
• They’ll now be speaking in more complex sentences and use different tenses such as “yesterday I went to the park” and “tomorrow grandma is coming.”
• Most kids at this age will be dry during the day (out of diapers) but may not be dry at night still. 
• On the whole, they'll speak pretty clearly but may still have some difficulty with certain sounds like; ‘th’ for ‘s’, or ‘w’ for ‘r’.
• Their nose might not grow like Pinocchio's, but their penchant for telling tall stories might be similar! Some of their tales might be partly true and partly made up or exaggerated. Don't stress, it is normal and they'll grow out of it!
• They're more expressive than ever and can now vocalize their own opinions and ideas.

The Best Activities for Kids: 4 to 5 year olds  

Reading Stories

Kids love being read to and you can foster their love of reading early on by reading to your child on a regular basis. Find a book that they enjoy and you'll soon find your child being able to "read" along with you (mostly, by rote). They'll love hearing stories and looking at the pictures while snuggling up with you.

 

Playing in Sandboxes

Your preschooler will love the feeling of sand running through their fingers. They can build castles or make funny shapes and just enjoy the freedom of playing with sand. You can even hide things in the sand for them to discover!

 

Using Chalk Boards/Dry-Erase Boards

A fantastic opportunity for them to let their imagination run wild and develop their fine motor skills as they play with colors, shapes, patterns and magnets!

 

Finger Painting

Kids this age love to get messy and work with their hands. Protect your floor and their clothes and give them an opportunity to get colorful.

 

Skoolzy's Recommendations 

Skoolzy's Cleaning Toy Set

Our cleaning set allows children to mimic everyday chores and be just like Mom and Dad! It has real working tools for a hands-on pretend play experience which encourages them to get up and moving. Playing house is a great way for kids to develop creative confidence and responsibility in a fun way!

 

Skoolzy's Learning Tree

 

 

Learning how to count is an important milestone in any child's life, and now your toddler can have fun while learning with this popular number button and tree set.  The set contains 10 pairs of colorful shapes to help preschoolers learn to count, sort, and match! This toddler toy can be used for competitive or cooperative play and has three levels of play to grow with your child. 

 

Skoolzy's Activity Cube Set

This awesome 7 in 1 activity cube grows with your child. This is more than just a classical toy with a modern twist on a shape sorter toy. This on-the-go activity center is a Shape Sorter, a Shape Peg Board Set, a Foam Puzzle Play Mat, a Counting Stacking Mat, a Shape Matching Mat and A Shape Recognition Activity. The 6 pegboards early developmental toys are baby and toddler friendly for occupational therapy and fine motor skills games.

 

Skoolzy's Doctor Kit for Kids

Your budding medic will love playing pretend with this pretend-play doctor kit for kids with real sounds and lights. A great way to highlight empathy and unleash their imaginations as they seek to heal you, their toys, and their friends! 

 

Download and share our Developmental Milestones Checklist for 4 - 5 year olds

Other Milestones you might want to look at:

DEVELOPMENTAL MILESTONES: Birth to 4 months old
 
DEVELOPMENTAL MILESTONES: 4 to 8 months old
 
DEVELOPMENTAL MILESTONES: 8 to 12 months old
 
DEVELOPMENTAL MILESTONES: 12 to 18 months old
 
DEVELOPMENTAL MILESTONES: 18 months to 2 years old
 
DEVELOPMENTAL MILESTONES: 2 to 3 years old
 
DEVELOPMENTAL MILESTONES: 3 to 4 years old

DEVELOPMENTAL MILESTONES: 5 to 6 years old