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Child Development: Age 3+
Here are some of the developmental goals you can expect your child to reach during the 3 – 4 years stage. Remember that all kids learn at a different pace, so don’t worry if yours hasn’t hit all of the developmental milestones yet.
By the time your child turns 4 years old:
Social
- Interested in new experiences
- Cooperates with other children
- Plays "Mum" or "Dad"
- Increasingly inventive in fantasy play
- Dresses and undresses
- Negotiates solutions to conflicts
- More independent
Emotional
- Imagines that many unfamiliar images may be "monsters"
- Views self as a whole person involving body, mind, and feelings
- Often cannot tell the difference between fantasy and reality
Cognitive
- Correctly names some colours
- Understands the concept of counting and may know a few numbers
- Tries to solve problems from a single point of view
- Begins to have a clearer sense of time
- Follows three-part commands
- Recalls parts of a story
- Understands the concepts of "same" and "different"
- Engages in fantasy play
Language
- Has mastered some basic rules of grammar
- Speaks in sentences of five to six words
- Speaks clearly enough for strangers to understand
- Tells stories
Movement
- Hops and stands on one foot up to five seconds
- Goes upstairs and downstairs without support
- Kicks ball forward
- Throws ball overhand
- Catches bounced ball most of the time
- Moves forward and backward with agility
Hand and Finger Skills
- Copies square shapes
- Draws a person with two to four body parts
- Uses scissors
- Draws circles and squares
- Begins to copy some capital letters
Thomas Wooden Railway Developmental Benefits/ Age 3+
Vocabulary & Language Skills
Improve as your child recreates favorite Thomas & Friends™ adventures.
Self-Directed Play
Begins as your child creates and constructs full layouts.
Spatial Skills
Develop as your child learns concepts such as up, down, over and under.
