48-60 Months Development Details
Physical Development
Milestones: By 60 Months, Most Children Can:
- Button some buttons.
- Hop on one foot.
Physical Development: Your child will naturally learn new skills and likely move from one skill to the next without being “taught” how to do the next thing. By the time they are 60 months of age, your child has learned to do many physical tasks, including running, climbing, jumping, throwing, kicking, turning, carrying, and pedaling. Your child also has more control of their body, climbing up and down stairs without holding onto your hand. They can combine activities in social settings by playing games like Duck, Duck, Goose, and Freeze Tag.
Body Awareness and Control:
- Your child shows a developed sense of balance.
- Your child can balance while standing on one foot for several seconds.
- Your child can balance when they come to a stop after running.
- Your child can balance a bean bag on top of their head.
- Your child can walk forward and backward, “balancing” on a wide line pattern on the rug.
- Your child can walk along a zigzag pattern on the carpet.
- Your child can walk down steps using alternating feet without holding the railing.
- Your child can balance while walking on the edge of the sandbox.
Muscle Development and Coordination:
- Your child can play games using their new skills, including hopscotch.
- Your child can run and stop with control at a desired spot.
- Your child will move from running hard on their flat feet to lightly running on their toes.
- They can run, sometimes moving around obstacles without falling.
- They can jump over a block using both feet.
- They can jump forward 3 feet, using both feet together.
- Your child can gallop (running, leading with one foot) in a rhythmic way.
- Your child can hop on one foot for several feet and change direction to land on different spots.
- Your child can easily use tools like eating utensils, crayons, keyboards, paint brushes, and scissors.
- They enjoy carrying heavy things and building with blocks and other natural materials.
Nutrition:
- Your child knows the name of the food and will eat various healthy foods.
Safety:
- Your child will take action to keep themselves safe by reaching for your hand when they are in a parking lot or looking before crossing a street.
Self-care:
- Your child can do basic skills like blowing their nose or washing their hands.
Language & Literacy Development
Milestones: By 60 Months, Most Children Can:
- Tell a story they heard or make up a story with at least two events, such as “A cat was stuck in a tree, and the firefighter saved it.”
- Answer simple questions about a book after you read it to them.
- Keep a conversation going with more than three back-and-forth exchanges that follow the topic of discussion.
- Rhyme words like bat-cat or ball-tall.
Communication: At five years old, children can communicate their ideas and feelings, ask and answer questions, and understand what is said to them. They can talk in some detail about things that happened in the past and will happen in the future. They can communicate information, ask questions, and converse with friends and people outside their family.
Expressive Communication/ Expressive Language:
- Your child can speak enough to be understood by people, not in their family.
- Your child will ask questions about what others are saying.
- Your child will respond in conversations with others about the topic being discussed.
- They will tell you stories with multiple characters and events.
- Your child will use words and phrases learned through conversations and being read to, such as saying “The end” when they finish a snack or “Once upon a time…” when they start telling a story.
- They can participate in extended conversations with others, responding appropriately and staying on topic most of the time.
- Your child may experiment with “potty” language and say words they know they cannot.
Receptive Communication/Receptive Language:
- Your child will understand gestures, facial expressions, and body language during conversations.
- Your child can listen and understand stories, directions, and conversations.
- Follow instructions that include a two or three-step sequence of actions, such as setting up a game or following a recipe.
Emergent Reading: Participation in literacy activities
- Your child will ask for a story to be read to them.
- They will respond to your questions about a book after reading it.
- They will ask questions about a book or story that is read to them.
- They will connect a book or story to personal experiences, such as pointing to a dog’s picture and saying, “I have a dog like this, only bigger, and my dog never chews shoes.”
- They will guess what will happen next in a story using pictures as a guide.
- They may have favorite books, authors, or illustrators.
- They may request or respond to informational books on favorite topics
- They can usually distinguish between imaginary and actual events in their stories.
- They may recognize specific words, including their name.
- Identify parts of books such as the cover, first page, and title
- Understand that print carries a message
Comprehension
- Your child will recreate stories read to them by acting them out with toys, drawing pictures, or retelling the story to you.
- They can use their own words to retell a simple, familiar story while looking at a book.
Phonological awareness
- Your child will listen to and recognize different sounds in rhymes, songs, and familiar words.
- They can distinguish the beginning sounds of some words.
Writing:
- Your child can recognize some letters in the alphabet, especially those in their name.
- Your child can understand that specific symbols are used to communicate in writing.
- Your child may recognize letters and be able to copy or write them.
- They may be able to write their name
- They can copy words if you write them first.
- They can understand that writing is a way of communicating
- They can use scribbles, shapes, and drawings to represent thoughts or ideas
- They may draw letter-like symbols to make letters or words
- Your child may start writing some letters. They might be big and take up the whole page; they might be backward and upside down, but these are the beginning stages of actually writing words.
Cognitive Development
Young children between 48-60 months acquire various skills that aid learning and problem-solving. Your child is also ready to learn to apply math concepts such as numbers, shapes, and sizes when tackling problems. They use all their senses to gather information, notice differences and similarities, and often make comparisons. By closely observing people and objects, they form hypotheses and make predictions based on their observations. They might also conduct simple experiments and assess the results.
- Your child might notice that there are only four cookies left for five people and suggest
- Your child might guess how many blocks are in a container and then count them with you to see if the guess was correct.
- Your child building a tower might run out of large blocks and decide to stack two smaller blocks to make up for the missing large one.
- Your child might notice the steam rising from hot soup and ask, “Why does the soup have smoke coming out?”
- During a bath, your child might observe how bubbles form and pop, saying, “Look, the bubbles are shiny and round. They disappear when I touch them!”
- When playing with leaves, your child might describe them: “This leaf is big and green, with tiny lines all over it. This other leaf is small and brown.”
Tips to promote cognitive skills:
- Using open-ended materials like blocks, cars, shells, stones, toy animals, and cardboard boxes allows your child to use their imagination and creativity during play. These materials don’t have a set purpose, so your child can explore and invent new ways to use them, which helps develop problem-solving skills and cognitive abilities.
- Involving your child in household tasks like cooking, setting the table, sorting laundry, and gardening offers practical learning experiences. These activities teach responsibility, fine motor skills, and basic life skills. Additionally, asking your child to solve problems during these tasks encourages critical thinking and decision-making, essential for their development.
- “How does the soup smell? What does it feel like when you taste it?”
- “Can you find any other crunchy foods like this broccoli?”
- “We are having company tonight: Grandma, Poppy, and Uncle Stu. How many plates, forks, glasses, and napkins do we need on the table to have a place for each of us?”
- “Where do you think the water goes after it goes down the drain?”
- “We are having company tonight: Grandma, Poppy, and Uncle Stu. How many plates, forks, glasses, and napkins do we need on the table to have a place for each of us?”
- “What do you notice about the sand when you dig deeper?”
Cognitive Numbers
Your child starts learning math skills long before they enter elementary school. From a young age, they begin to count, recognize shapes and patterns, compare sizes and amounts, and see similarities and differences. They develop these skills through play and everyday interactions with you. For example, when you count their fingers and toes, give them two pieces of banana, or sort socks into different piles, your child is learning math concepts.
As they grow, your child learns to count a few numbers and understand quantities through activities like setting the table with plates and cups. They notice how you use counting in daily life and learn by imitating you. Most children are naturally interested in numbers, and fun activities involving numbers can strengthen this interest and help them learn more about math.
- Your child learns counting skills through everyday interactions such as putting spoons in the drawer, counting their toes to tell you how many they have, and counting the carrots needed so each person at the table can have one.
- They recognize some written numbers: “Look, the numbers are on the clock. That is a 3. That is a 9.”
- Your child can look at a group of things—up to 4—and tell you the number without counting. They can look at a pile when playing with blocks and say, “There are four blocks.”
- A child can look at her bowl during breakfast and announce, “I have four strawberries in my bowl.”
- At this age, when counting, your child may be able to tell you how many things they have because they understand that the last number they use in counting is the total number they have. “One, two, three, four, five, six. I have six leaves!” They can also count the number of chairs needed for everyone at the table and the number of cups so each person can have one.
- They can think about two small groups and make a larger one together. “I have two cars, and you have four cars. If we put them all in the garage, there will be six cars.” They can also imagine that a bigger group will be smaller if separated into two groups. “There are six candies. That means 3 for you and 3 for me.”
- Children at this age can also understand the concept of taking away. For instance, if they have five marbles and they lose one, they might say, “Now I have four marbles. If I lose another one, I’ll only have three left!”
- Your five-year-old can do simple addition and subtraction. If they have eight grapes, they can ask for two more and tell you they have 10. If they have four cookies and they eat one, they might announce, “Now I have three. If I eat one more, I’ll only have two left!” Sometimes, they may need to re-count the new group to confirm how many are there.
Social-Emotional Development
Self-Concept and Social Identity:
- Continues to seek adult attention and recognition of what they know and can do
- They have developed many skills and like to show you and tell you what they have recently learned how to do. (E.g., Quinn says, “I am really good at drawing rainbows.”)
- Your child is confident, self-directed, purposeful, and inventive in play.
- Your five-year-old is enthusiastic about doing things themselves. They may refuse your help, even if they are struggling and frustrated.
- They can start cleaning up by themselves, sometimes without being asked.
- Notice differences and make comparisons between their physical characteristics and others’ and the way things are done in different settings (E.g., Consuela says, “My Abuela talks Spanish and my grandma talks English.”)
- Express or describe their characteristics and preferences (E.g., Jacob only chooses brown sweatpants when clothes shopping with his mother.)
- They like to feel “independent” but still like to spend time with their parents and family.
- They have lots of ways to describe themselves and their skills. “I’m five now! That is older than four!” “I know all the names of the planets!” “I know how to ride a skateboard! I couldn’t do that when I was a baby.”
Tips to support self-concept and social identity:
- Talk to your child about what they are learning and show interest in their new skills. This lets them know that you are interested in them as a person. Be specific: “You learned how to ride that bike using your balance. I saw how long you practiced to get it.” This is more helpful to your child than praise like “Great job,” which doesn’t let her know that you were really observing her.
- Include children in real household work like folding laundry, washing the car, taking out the recycling, loading the dishwasher, or feeding the dog. If you rotate the tasks so that he regularly learns to do something new, he may stay more interested and learn different skills.
- Your child is full of questions and makes interesting observations about the world. As well as offering her your opinion, it is also important to ask her opinion. (child to dad) “Dad, that person just walked across the street, but the light was red.” (dad to child). “I noticed that too. What do you think about that?”
Attachment:
- Interact easily with familiar adults but may be hesitant to approach or respond to less familiar adults.
- Seek adult help when needed for emotional support, physical assistance, social interaction, and approval.
- Imitate familiar adults in culturally appropriate ways in everyday situations.
- They have developed some ways to help themselves calm down when distressed, but sometimes need the support and comfort of their adults to help remind them of strategies they can use.
- Parents and teachers are very important to them as sources of comfort and information. Still, they may resist adult direction or try to negotiate, saying, “I’ll clean up my toys if I can watch a video.”
- They seem eager to make decisions and continue to do some “testing” to see if the adult is still in charge of a decision.
Tips to support young children’s attachment:
- Now that your child is busier with friends, toys, and electronic toys, it is even more important to plan regular time together with them. They still need to talk with you, read with you, do your favorite activities together, and cuddle with you.
- When your child is fearful, stay close and offer comfort. Sometimes, your child doesn’t want to be taken away from the scary situation but wants you to be there to help. If they are afraid of monsters, you can ask them what they are worried about. They might want to draw pictures of the monsters they are scared of. You could even help them make their pictures into a book (stapling it together and writing their words for the story). You can ask them what might make them feel safer. Discussing the things they are afraid of can help them gain a sense of mastery and knowledge and help the fear feel more manageable.
Learning about others:
- Friendships are essential to children’s success in school and life.
- Approaching others with expectations of positive interactions
- Building skills needed to participate successfully as a member of a group, such as taking turns
- Sustaining interaction by cooperating, helping, sharing, and expressing interest, though they may need adult guidance
- Developing friendships, sometimes based on shared interests or characteristics
- Their growing ability to communicate and negotiate with their friends allows them to play for extended periods and engage in more complex kinds of play. Together with friends, they can imagine they are on a spaceship that travels to outer space and can work together to construct it from cardboard boxes.
- They can compare their friends with themselves: “Daniel is the fastest runner, but I can build the highest.”
- They may develop special friendships with certain children and use the words “best friend.”
- They can give directions to others in play—for example, “You have to be the zookeeper, and we will be the animals”—and sometimes take directions from others. But other times, they might get upset and threaten to leave the play if people don’t do what they want.
- Beginning to understand the reasons for others’ emotions and responding appropriately (E.g., Audrey says to a friend who is upset over not getting the toy she wanted during play, “You’ll get to play with it next time.”)
- Sometimes, they can offer comfort and show empathy for others, especially if they weren’t directly involved in the conflict.
Tips to support young children in learning about others:
- Provide opportunities for him to play with other children (at the park, with neighbors or family, in childcare, or community activities).
- Check in periodically when he is playing with other children. He may need some help negotiating, listening to her friends’ ideas, voicing his ideas and feelings, and coming up with solutions when there are conflicts. He may also need some help with safety, as he and his friends might be excited about trying new things and don’t always know how to make safe decisions. Provide opportunities for your child to play with other children (at the park, with neighbors or family, in childcare, or in parent/child classes).
- Be available when your child is playing with other children. They may need some help negotiating, listening to their friends’ ideas, voicing their ideas, and coming up with solutions. They may also need some help with safety, as they are excited about trying new things.
Regulation and Expression (Behavioral and Emotional):
- Begin to be able to stop undesirable behaviors on their own or with a gentle reminder
- They have some negotiation skills and might use them to resolve conflicts with friends.
- They can participate in group activities with several other children and often wait their turn to talk.
- They like to know what will be happening, and if given information about an upcoming transition, they may be able to participate cooperatively.
- They are beginning to be able to follow the rules and will remind other children of the rules, even if there isn’t an adult nearby, but sometimes they still need to be reminded to follow the rules.
- Demonstrate increasing competencies in recognizing and describing their own emotions.
- May still have difficulty regulating strong emotions
- Increasingly use words instead of actions to express their emotions
- Explore emotions in various ways (through play, art, music, and dance)
- They can sometimes predict what feelings will happen in certain situations: “If she hits me, I’ll feel sad, and I won’t want to play with her.”
Tips for Regulation and Expression:
- He can discuss some more abstract ideas now. You can talk to him about some of the values important in your family, such as kindness, friendship, listening, and cooperation. You can ask him questions about these ideas and tell him stories to illustrate these values.
- Make time regularly to talk about feelings and ask her about her feelings.
- “How was your day? What were you happy about? Did you get mad about anything? Was there anything sad that happened? What was your favorite part of the day?”
- “How do you think your friend felt today when Derek wouldn’t play with him?”
- When she shares her feelings and experiences with you, you can listen to her ideas and talk to her about them.