Developmental Guidelines & Milestones
These Developmental Milestones are a set of functional skills or tasks that most children can do within a certain age range. Although each milestone has an age level, the actual age when a normally developing child reaches that milestone may vary. Every child is unique!
Below is a guide to help gauge if your child may be behind in visual development. If the age-specific tasks of a three-year-old have not been bet by four years of age, you may want to consider using our Visual Development for Preschoolers program to help boost these areas!
3 Year-old
Gross Motor & Fine Motor Skills
- Handles most of their dressing
- Can string beads
- Can copy a circle and a cross
- Can build with blocks (making towers or three piece bridges)
- Can change directions sharply when walking
- Can catch and throw large balls
- Can ride a tricycle
- Can walk down stairs
- Can hop on one foot
Cognitive Development
- Can repeat three digit sequences and four word sentences
- Knows his/her last name
- Knows colors and can match colors
- Understands concepts of “in”, “under”, and “behind”
4 year-old
Gross Motor & Fine Motor Skills
- Walks smoothly and with a steady gait
- Can walk in heel-to-toe fashion
- Alternates feet when walking up stairs
- Balances on one foot for 4-8 seconds
- Can lace shoes
- Grasps pencil with thumb and finger instead of fist
- Cuts a big circle with scissors
Cognitive Development
- Can identify several letters
- Identifies same and different
- Identifies the concept of 2
- Shares possessions
- Names red, green, blue, and yellow
- Can count to five
5 year-old
Gross Motor & Fine Motor Skills
- Skips, alternating feet and arms
- Marches in rhythm
- Walks up and down stairs alternating feet
- Walks backward in heel-to-toe fashion
- Copies square and triangle
- Likes to color in the lines
- Follows a lacing pattern
Cognitive Development
- Names coins
- Knows name and address
- Counts to ten
- Understands concept of first, middle, last, third, and fourth
- Can describe a picture
- Makes comparisons using “bigger” and “smaller”
Simple Activities for Visual Development
We’ve compiled a list of activities you can do around the house to guide your child’s development from ages 0-5.