A three-year-old has transitioned from being a toddler to a preschooler. At three years old, your child will make up stories, play, build relationships, learn right from wrong, manage their feelings and figure out different types of words.
A three-year-old has transitioned from being a toddler to a preschooler. Your child’s social development, imagination and language skills are about adequate for them to start learning with other kids. At this age, your preschooler will be busy
- Figuring out different types of words
- Making up stories
- Playing activities
- Learning to build relationships
- Managing their feelings
- Learning right from wrong
Most babies reach certain milestones at similar ages, but some take their own sweet time to reach those milestones. Infant development is not a science. However, you can consider these general infant development milestones for your three-year-old child.
Moving-physical or motor development
- Climbs stairs with alternating feet—one foot per step
- Runs with speed
- Throws a ball overhead
- Catches a ball with full, outstretched arms
- Balances on one foot for one second
- Copies circles or lines
- Starts pedaling a tricycle or bike
- Walks backward and climbs stairs one foot after the other
- Stacks 10 blocks
- Uses a spoon well and feeds themself
- Turns pages of a book one at a time
- Works door handles and opens twist-on bottle tops
- Plays with toys that have small moving parts or buttons
- Develops handedness (becomes right-handed or left-handed)
Talking-communication and language development
- Says five or six words in a sentence and has a two- to three-sentence conversation
- Talks enough to be understood by most strangers
- Names friends
- Names everyday objects and understands a few words
- Follows two- or three-part instructions
- Asks “why,” “where,” “when,” “what” and “how” questions
- Follows pronouns such as “I,” “me,” “you” and “we” and uses some plurals such as cats and dogs
- Says name, age and gender
- Uses “please” and “thank you”
- Remembers simple lyrics or rhymes
Interacting-social and emotional development
- Dresses or undresses with little help
- Has separation anxiety, but gradually overcomes it
- Takes turns in games
- Enjoys helping with simple household tasks
- Shows a wide range of feelings
- Copies adults and friends
- Verbalizes toilet needs and is toilet trained during the day
- Enjoys daily routine and gets upset with a major change
- Is interested in new experiences
- Often cannot distinguish between fantasy and reality
- Starts finding simple ways to solve arguments and disagreements
- Throws fewer temper tantrums
- Starts sharing and likes playing with other children
Thinking-cognitive development
- Counts three objects
- Retells a story from a book in bits and pieces
- Does simple puzzles
- Correctly names eight colors
- Understands the concept of same and different
- Engages in fantasy play
- Recites numbers up to 10
- Starts understanding time in terms of morning, night and days of the week
- Understands long sentences
- Remembers certain events
- Draws a full circle
What is considered a developmental delay in a three-year-old child?
You should visit your pediatrician if you notice any of these in your three-year-old child.
- Doesn’t speak in sentences
- Doesn’t make eye contact
- Loses skills they once had
- Drools or has very unclear speech
- Falls a lot or has trouble with stairs
- Does not understand simple instructions
- Shows no interest in playing with other children or with toys
- Knows to use only simple toys
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