At five, your child is now more independent, even being able to dress, undress and tie her shoe laces by herself (though she may still need help sometimes).
It’s this stage that’s perfect for school, and it helps that your child’s social skills are developing. She now belongs to a group of friends and may even want to emulate and please them.
You’ll also have more engaging conversations with her and would be happy to know that she is more open to others’ points of view.
Note: It is worth to mention that the developmental milestones for 5 year olds listed below are not always reached on a fixed schedule. Some kids achieve these sooner or later compared to others, without any cause for concern.
Physical Growth and Development
- Has perfect vision
- First permanent teeth appears
- Has improved coordination
- Ability to hold balance on one foot even with both eyes shut
- Has improved balanced so able to jump, hop and skip better
- Ability to use a knife for putting spreads on bread
- Can copy easy geometric shapes
- Can dress and undress
- Can tie shoelaces
- Can write a few small and capital letters
- Improved skills when it comes to using writing tools
- Can climb
- Can swing
- Can skip or somersault
- Is potty trained but may still experience bedwetting
Cognitive Developmental milestones for 5 year olds
- Can recognize household objects along with their purpose
- Can grasp basic idea of time
- Can identify most letters in the alphabet
- Can give names of at least four colors
- Can count 10 objects or more
- Can remember your home phone number and address
- Can draw a person that has six body parts
- Can distinguish different coins
- Has better math skills
Continue reading to learn more about developmental milestones for 5 year olds
Emotional and Social Development
- Belongs to a group of friends
- Wishes to be accepted by peers even if the latter can be mean at times
- Has a desire to be like others
- Has a desire to please others
- Alternates behavior between being demanding and cooperative
- Complies with rules often
- Enjoys acting, dancing, singing
- Can distinguish better between reality and fantasy, though may still enjoy playing pretend and dress-up
- Plays depending on gender; usually boys are more physical or rough, while girls prefer social play
- Begins showing signs of more autonomy
- Able to exhibit sympathy and/or concern for others
- Has awareness of his/her gender
- Questions are now deeper/have more substances
- Able to provide answers to “why” questions
- Gets over childhood fears
- More open to others’ points of view
- Exhibits more responsible behavior
- Exhibits less aggressive behavior
- Identifies with parent of the same sex
Language Development
- Knows more than 2,000 words
- Ability to converse about worthwhile topics with others
- Uses sentences that have five or more words
- Discusses or tells stories clearly
- Can use future tense comfortably
- Refers to people or objects through their relationship with others, e.g. Bianca’s sister
Continue reading to learn more about developmental milestones for 5 year olds
What Parents Can Do
To help your child achieve more developmental milestones for 5 year olds, here are something you can do:
- Make time to read together
- Provide ample space where a child can do physical activities
- Encourage learning and following rules, especially in games
- Provide opportunities for your child to play with other skills
- Engage in creative games with your child
- Provide age-appropriate chores at home
When to Call the Doctor
- Inability to show emotions
- Exhibits unusual fear, shyness, sadness or aggressiveness
- Is withdrawn and not as active
- Has trouble focusing for more than five minutes
- Doesn’t respond to people
- Inability to distinguish reality from fantasy
- Shows no interest in different games and activities
- Unable to provide full name
- Unable to use past tense correctly
- Unable to use plurals
- Doesn’t draw
- Unable to do activities that promote autonomy such as: getting dressed and undressed, brushing teeth, washing hands
- Forgets skills he has learned
READ: Developmental Milestones for 4 Year Olds
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