3-8

Information on 3-8

Group of children sitting at a table drawing colouring

Your child changes so much during this time period, as a parent there is a lot to do. Children can start nursery and then move on to school, choosing the right education for your child is important. Children make new friends and explore their own interests. The information in these pages will give you guidance and advice on this new stage of your child’s life.

Click here for a timeline of typical developmental milestones for children in this age range
3 years

Typical developmental milestones 3 years:

👥Social and emotional milestones: if they are upset when you leave them (for example at childcare) they will calm down within around 10 minutes. They will take more notice of other children and will join them to play.

🗣Language and communication milestones: they will talk to you using two back and forth exchanges. They will ask more questions using “who”, “what”, “where”, “when” or “why”. They will say what action characters in a picture book are doing. They will say their name if asked and can talk well enough for others to understand most of the time.

💪Physical milestones: they will be able to string items together and be able to dress themselves more confidently, but may still need some help. They should be able to safely use a fork.

4 years

Typical developmental milestones 4 years:

👥Social and emotional milestones: they will pretend to be something else during play, like a superhero, doctor or dog. They will ask if they can go and play with other children and can comfort other children when they are sad or hurt. They will avoid situations where they could get hurt.

🗣Language and communication milestones: they will be able to tell stories about things they have done and know how to speak with correct grammar most of the time and say their first and last names. They will be able to sing songs and rhymes that they can remember. They should be able to speak clearly and in complete sentences.

💪Physical milestones: they should be able to catch a bouncing ball most of the time. They should be able to hop and stand on one foot for a few seconds. They should also be able to pour their own drink and cut and mash food with supervision..

5 years

Typical developmental milestones 5 years:

👥Social and emotional milestones: they will be able to understand and follow rules of games and take turns playing with other children. They will sing, dance and act for you and will do simple chores at home.

🗣Language and communication milestones: your child will be able to speak clearly, using sentences with several words in them. They will be able to tell stories in complete sentences and use future tense to talk about things they are going to do.

💪Physical milestones: they will be able to stand on one foot and hop more confidently. They will be comfortable dancing and jumping, and will climb. They will now be able to dress themselves properly.

6 years

Typical developmental milestones 6 years:

👥Social and emotional milestones: now they’re at school they are trying to learn more about themselves. They might be very attached to you and finding it hard to spend lots of time away from you. They will be learning more about empathy and learning to connect to other children more.

🗣Language and communication milestones: they will be becoming more confident with understanding numbers and can count to 10. They will be able to concentrate on a task for around 15 minutes.

💪Physical milestones: their baby teeth will be falling out and starting to be replaced by permanent adult teeth. They’re becoming more aware of their bodies so may complain about illnesses more often.

7 years

Typical developmental milestones 7 years:

👥Social and emotional milestones: your child will be becoming more independent, they will try to show how big they are and might do things that are more dangerous. They are learning more about the people around them and in play it is more likely that girls will play with girls and boys with boys. They will start learning about teamwork and what’s right and wrong.

🗣Language and communication milestones: they will be learning more and more words and know how to put them into sentences, and will learn how words can have different meanings which will help them understand jokes.

💪Physical milestones: their baby teeth will still be falling out and be replaced by adult teeth. They are growing at a rate of about 2.5 inches a year.

8 years

Typical developmental milestones 8 years:

👥Social and emotional milestones: they should be able to mask their feelings and pretend that they feel differently about something, for example if they receive a present they don’t like they should be able act like they do like it. They may show pride in being involved in a team or group.

🗣Language and communication milestones: your child will be getting better at communicating and will want to talk about things they are interested in. You may find them reading with a torch at night past their bedtime because they enjoy reading.

💪Physical milestones: at this age, your child is refining their physical abilities, you might not see them doing anything new, but will see them getting better at what they can already do, such as running, jumping, balancing and writing.

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