5 Years: Your Child Is Exploring and Creating
By age 5, your child's movements are becoming steadier and skills are becoming more refined. They like to examine objects, explore and use tools. They will be interested in more active and rougher games. Play is an important experience for your child's sense of self-discovery. Through play, they will learn to start projects, explore and create.
Remember to supervise them even though they are becoming better at doing things on their own and playing for longer periods by themselves. Many of the things they will want to do—and which will provide them with increased learning experiences—could also lead to possible accidents.
Fine and Gross Motor Skills
• Perform self-help skills such as brushing teeth, combing hair and washing hands
• Copy the letter “T”
• Make a few other letters and begin printing own name
• Use a knife and fork
• Make shapes with clay
• Select clothing and dress themselves
• Put shoes on correct feet
• Kick a ball
• Zip and unzip coats and pants
Language Development
- Answers “Who?”, “What?”, “Where?” and “Why?” questions
- Talks about activities at daycare, preschool or friends’ homes
- Uses sentences with four or more words
- Speaks easily without having to repeat syllables or words
- Has a longer attention span
- May listen for up to 20 minutes at a time
- Recites nursery rhymes from memory
- May repeat “forbidden” (swear) words learned from what he or she hears (TV, videos, adults, other children)
- Uses comparative adjectives (“big – bigger – biggest”)
- By age 5, vocabulary may be roughly 2,500 words