Physical Miletsone of 5 year olds

---

Preschoolers 5 Years-Old

Five years old can be a really fun age! Children this age love to play and are extremely imaginative. They still feel little and adorable, but they are becoming quite the conversationalists, and their ability to pick up new information and ask thoughtful questions will seriously impress you.

This age isn’t without its ups and downs. Five-year-old's are still learning to regulate their emotions, so meltdowns happen from time to time. Still, the child is moving toward becoming more mature, and is able to do big kid things like going to school, and brushing their own teeth.

Let’s take a look at what to expect in terms of growth and development as you serve a community with 5-year-olds, as well as some red flags that might warrant a call to the nurse or other support personnel at the school. 

· The child’s language skills are really exploding at this age

· Five-year-old's are fluent talkers

· They use pronouns correctly

· They recognize colors

· They understand and use direction words like 'over,' 'under,' and 'next to.

· love to recount the things that happened to them during the day

· can recall details from hours before. 

· They are able to carry out more detailed directions 

· they can usually carry out a three-step sequence of directions with few reminders

· Cognitively, you will be wowed by how quickly the child is absorbing new information

· They can count ten or more items

· can understand concepts like money

· print letters and numbers

· copy shapes

· they are better able to distinguish between imaginative play and real life. “Fantasy vs. reality are getting clearer, but kids still struggle to understand what can really happen and what can’t

· Five-year-old's have a vocabulary of about 2000 words, and speak in sentences with at least five words.

• They can recount things like their phone number, and the first and last names of their parents.
• They still ask a lot of questions, but they can also answer simple questions.
• They can recognize rhymes, like "hop" and "stop."
• Their speech is more easily understood by others, and they are starting to use the future tense when speaking (“I will go to school tomorrow”).

As the child moves from preschool age to school-age, they are growing a bit more slowly, and their round cheeks and chunky thighs may start to lean out a bit. At this age, the child will gain about 4 or 5 pounds a year and grow about 2-3 inches. On average, 5-year-olds weigh roughly 40 pounds and are about 40 inches in height.

The child is no longer a teetering toddler or preschooler. Their movements are becoming more synchronized, and their hand-eye coordination is getting more refined.

“Five-year-old's have gotten a lot more coordinated and are ready for action,” Dr. O’Shea says. “Gross motor skill development allows them to throw and catch smaller balls, run, jump and skip, and even do more complex movements like gymnastics and swimming real strokes.” They should also be able to hop on one foot. As for fine motor skills, the child should be able to do things like feed themselves easily and may even be able to use a child-safe knife to do things like spread butter on bread. 5-year-olds writing skills are also improving, which is readying them for exciting things like printing their own name. They also have some ability to dress themselves, such as by buttoning large buttons.

“They should have established hand dominance and be exhibiting a mature pencil grasp called a dynamic tripod (or quadrupod) grasp,” explains Caitlin Sanschagrin, an occupational therapist at Bright SpOT Pediatric Therapy. But all children are different, Sanschagrin says, and you shouldn’t expect your child to have a “textbook” pencil grasp at this age. 

Physical Milestones Checklist

• 5-year-olds should be able to stand on one foot for about 10 seconds.
• They are mastering the art of climbing, swinging, and somersaulting.
• They should be able to use the potty on their own.
• They can hop and may even be able to skip.

5-Year-Old Emotional and Social Milestones 

One of the things you may notice at this age is just how much fun it is to chat with a 5-year-old. Yes, they still say the cutest things, but they also have a lot of interesting thoughts and opinions to share. “They are very capable of participating in conversations and may ask questions to gain information,” says Emily Rooker, a speech-language pathologist at Bright SpOT Pediatric Therapy.

Additionally, Rooker notes, 5-year-olds are growing and maturing when it comes to making friends and engaging with people outside their immediate family. At this age, children more consciously make and choose friends on their own.

They are also able to engage in play that involves directions, expectations, and cooperation, Rooker explains, which is another important prerequisite for the type of activities they will engage in once they begin elementary school. A 5-year-old can also do simple chores, such as putting their plate and cup in the sink after a meal.

But as much as the child is becoming more able to adhere to rules and become a team player, they are still very much capable of testing limits, especially with their parents. Regressing in behavior—and even having the occasional meltdown—is typical at this age, and it’s important to remember that the child is young and still learning.

“It can be frustrating to see children behaving ‘like babies’, but by acknowledging the feelings and supporting the child, their emotional capabilities will grow and the child will have more ways of handling tough situations,”.

Other Milestones for Your 5-Year-Old 

5 years old is when most children start to lose their baby teeth. Starting at around age 5 or 6 is when your child’s mature sets of incisors (the middle bottom and middle top teeth) start to come in.5 The teeth will be wiggly for a few days or weeks before they fall out, and they often fall out while your child is eating. There may be a little blood, but the bleeding should be minimal. 

At this age, your child should also be fully potty-trained, for both pee and poop. Most children this age can clean up after themselves in the bathroom as well. Don’t be surprised if your child still has accidents, though (that’s why their kindergarten teacher will have you send in an extra set of clothes). Kids this age still sometimes wet the bed.

“Children will get upset,” she says. “When they do, we can try hard to empathize rather than diminish their children’s feeling by saying things like ‘stop crying’ or ‘you’ll be fine.’” Even though your instinct may be to try to make the behavior stop immediately, allowing children a chance to share their emotions is important. “By leaning into it with empathy, we give children an opportunity to express their feelings and for us to help them come up with new ways to express themselves in the long run,” Dr. O’Shea offers.

How to Keep Your 5-Year-Old Safe 

Five-year-olds need regular physical activity—at least one hour of movement a day. They need to get adequate sleep as well, and many kids this age need to sleep between 11 and 13 hours each night.

When to Be Concerned About Your 5-Year-Old 

Every child is different when it comes to reaching milestones, and this is especially true at age 5. Some children are able to read a little at this age, while others are still learning their letters. Some children are little gymnasts while others are still mastering catching a ball. There is a wide range of normal, so don’t worry too much if a child has or hasn't mastered certain skills. 

Still, there are some signs that a child may need a little extra help or an evaluation by a medical professional, if a child:

· cannot say their first and last name

· doesn't play with a variety of toys or play different games

· doesn't respond to others

· has extreme emotions (anxious, shy, or overly fearful)

· is unable to wash their own hands

· cannot draw a picture

· or if the child ever loses skills they once possessed

Share your concerns with the school nurse and the child’s teacher for an in-depth developmental assessment.

Developing School Aged Kids 5-9 Year Old's

Once they enter their school-age years, many children seem ready to take on the world. But as they exercise their independence, "big kids" need their as parents much as ever. Grade school is an important turning point in children's physical and emotional development. Kids may be inclined to push boundaries while at the same time needing them to feel secure. Kids go through astonishing physical changes in elementary and middle school. 

They'll grow about 2.5 inches every year until they hit a growth spurt in early adolescence. You'll start to see early signs of puberty, including pubic hair and the growth of sex organs, starting around age 8 or 9 for girls and age 10 or 11 for boys.4 They also get a whole new set of teeth! Between ages 6 or 7 and 12 or 13, children lose 20 teeth and grow back 28 teeth (32 counting wisdom teeth that may develop in early adulthood).

Children have the cognitive ability to understand the connection between actions and consequences between ages 3 to 5. But it's important to define exactly what your expectations are and what the consequences will be for not following them. Early and frequent communication with kids and consistent follow-through when they slip up are keys to making consequence-based discipline work.