Developmental Milestones at 4 years and 5 years

4 years

  • Engages in pretend play (pretending to be a teacher, mother, superhero etc)
  • Shows sympathy and comforts (hugging) others who are hurt or upset.
  • Avoids dangers.
  • Likes to be a little helper
  • Behave according to social expectation (be quiet in a library, be playful in a playground)
  • Say sentences with four or more words
  • Says words from a song/ nursery rhyme/ story
  • Talks about at least one event that happened during his/her day
  • Answers simple questions
  • Name a few colours of items
  • Tells what comes next in a story that is familiar
  • Draws a person with three or more body parts
  • Takes turns and shares
  • Walks upstairs and downstairs with alternate feet
  • Good on tricycle
  • Start hopping and standing on one foot
  • Catches a large ball most of the time
  • Serves him/herself food or pours water into his/her cup under supervision
  • Unbuttons large buttons on clothes.
  • Holds crayons or pencils between fingers and thumb

5 years

  • Follow instructions/ rules and take turns when playing games with other children.
  • Sings/dances/ acts for others
  • Does simple chores at home
  • Tells a story she heard of before and made up at least two events
  • Answers simple questions about a book/ story after you read it to him/her
  • Keeps a conversation going with more than three back-and-forth exchanges
  • Uses or recognises simple rhymes
  • Very clear about his/her own name, address, and age
  • Likes listening and telling stories
  • Counts 0 – 10
  • Names some numbers between 1 – 5 when you point to them
  • Uses words like “yesterday”, “tomorrow”, “morning” or “night” to talk about the time when the event happens.
  • Pays attention for 5 – 10 minutes during activities
  • Writes some letters in his/her name
  • Names some letters when you point to them
  • Develops a better sense of humour
  • Uses more imagination
  • Hops on one foot
  • Balances on one foot for 10 seconds
  • Buttons some buttons on clothes.
  • Swings and climbs
  • Slide down a slide
  • Capable to dress and undress by self

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Bjorklund, D. F. (2022). Children′ s thinking: Cognitive development and individual differences. Sage publications.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2023). CDC’s Developmental Milestones. doi: https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/milestones/index.html/.

HealthHub. (n.d.). Is My Child Development Normally?. DOI: https://www.healthhub.sg/

Malik F, Marwaha R. Developmental Stages of Social Emotional Development In Children. In: StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing, Treasure Island (FL); 2022. PMID: 30521240.

NHS. (n.d.) Child Development Milestones. doi: https://www.cambscommunityservices.nhs.uk/advice/staying-safe/childhood-development/milestones/.

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SBCC. (2022). Developmental milestone checklist. doi: https://www.sbcc.sg/developmental-milestone-checklist/.