Developmental Milestones of a 5-Year Child
25th March 2022
With time, as your child continues to grow, you will notice some new exciting abilities that your child progresses. Nevertheless, kids grow and develop at their own pace but there are certain important developmental milestones that usually, children may reach in this age group. What are those? Let’s discuss!
The age group can be really fun and comes with its ups and downs. Let’s take a closer look at what to expect in terms of growth as you parent your 5-year-old. We will also discuss some of the important “red flags”.
What do most children do by this age?
Even though every child nurtures speech at his or her rate, here are some of the common milestones kids may reach in this age group:
Language & Cognitive
Generally, 5 year old children may -
- Know four or more colours
- Know the days of the week and months
- Put together 6 to 8 words into a sentence, if taught
- Can name coins and money, if taught
- Talk regularly
- Understand instructions with multiple orders
- Can count to 10
- Write the first name
- Start to help with responsibilities around the house
- Jump rope
- Use scissors
- Draw a triangle, a circle, a square, a diamond, etc., if taught
- Recognize and recite the alphabet
- Start to lose their baby teeth
- Start learning how to tie shoes, if taught
- Recognize familiar word signs, such as "STOP"
Usually, 5-year-olds have a vocabulary of about 2000 and speak in sentences with at least five words. They will ask a lot of questions and their speech is more easily understood by others.
Movement Milestones and Hand and Finger Skills
Important movement milestones and hand and finger skills that a 5year child may achieve may include:
- Pedal a tricycle
- Your child will gain about 4-5 pounds a year
- Grow about 5-8 centimetres
- They will be more coordinated
- They will do more complex movements like gymnastics and swimming real strokes if taught
- Feed themselves easily, if taught
- Uses the toilet independently, if taught
- Swings and climbs, if taught
- Dress and undress and brush teeth
Regular physical activity encourages healthy growth as well as development by learning new skills builds self-confidence.
The sensory diet consists of a sequence of various physical activities a child can do at home.
Feelings
Usually, at this age, kids can express feelings, though they might require additional help and time to identify some of the tricky emotions like frustration or jealousy. You might see more patience in your child but they still need your love and attention.
How to help in child development at 5-6 years?
You can try some simple things that you can do to aid your child’s growth at this age:
- Try to encourage moving. Try to play various sports and do recreational activities.
- Always include your child in simple household chores like helping you to put clean clothes away, helping you in the kitchen, and so on.
- Play with your child each day, even it’s for 5 minutes.
- Talk about feelings and emotions.
- Talk with your kid about treating boys and girls equally and respecting girls and women.
- Try to read together.
- Limit both the time and content of television and computer viewing.
- Visit local areas of interest.
So, you can see there’s a ton you can do every day to help your child learn and grow!
Developmental Red Flags
As a parent, you should know these "red flags" -
- Doesn't respond well to people outside the family
- Ignores other children
- Cannot copy a circle
- Has difficulty writing
- Shows no interest in interactive games
- Doesn’t draw pictures
- Doesn’t show emotions
- Easily distracted
- Unusually withdrawn
If you have alarms about your child's development and think that he/she might need extra help to learn and grow…consult an expert immediately!
Conclusion
We understand that as a parent, you may feel overwhelmed by the fact that your kid still has irregular tantrums at 5-years-old. As a parent, you’re always learning and it’s the fact. Consider Online Special Education Courses for Parents program. You will be able to learn the red flags as well. And…remember, It’s OK to take some time out until you feel calmer.
