At ages 5-6, children refine motor skills, boost independence, and enhance social-emotional growth. Support their development with hands-on activities, problem-solving games, and outdoor exploration.
Motor Development:
Most 5 and 6-year-olds:
- Can hop and stand on one foot for ten or more seconds
- Can somersault, swing, skip, and climb Have a mature pencil grip ("dynamic tripod grasp")
- Can print some letters and copy a few simple shapes, like squares and triangles
- Are able to tie a knot
- Can dress and undress with minimal or no help
What to Try:
- Provide your child with materials that support fine motor development. These can be simple, like string for cat's cradle, blocks and building toys, or leaves and flower petals to make a nature collage (collect them together!).
- The more you follow your child's lead and interests, the more engaged and motivated they'll be.
- Carve out time for outdoor play! Spending time in nature gives your child space to get their body moving, and has social emotional and cognitive benefits too.
- Support your child's autonomy by encouraging them to take ownership of tasks that they can handle on their own.
- For tasks that are a little out of their range, provide some scaffolding. For example, measure out the right amounts of milk and cereal but have your child serve themselves.
Reminder: You know your child best. If you notice that your child has lost any skills that they once had, or you have other concerns, don’t hesitate to speak with us as well as your child’s healthcare provider.
Social & Communication Development:
Most 5 and 6-year-olds are:
- More eager to please others and have a stronger desire to be similar to their friends
- More willing to agree to rules More and more independent
- Able to distinguish between fantasy and reality
- Better able to self regulate big emotions
- Able to tell simple stories in complete sentences using correct grammar (pronouns, tenses)
What to Try:
- Give your child lots of warmth and encouragement to motivate them as they become more independent. This can mean stepping back, letting them try things you used to do for them, and letting them fail (and see those mistakes as learning opportunities).
- This shows your child you trust them to take on challenges - they'll internalize that belief themselves!
- Support your child in helping others. For example, if you see a girl fall down on top of her sand castle, guide your child in noticing what happened, reflecting on how the girl probably feels, and putting that empathy into action.
- "I bet she'd really appreciate it if we checked if she wanted help rebuilding her sand castle."
- Keep helping your child notice and regulate big emotions.
- Try asking them to teach those skills to you or to a stuffed animal.
- "I noticed you got frustrated when you had to wait for your turn for the swings at the park. What do we do to calm down when we start to notice we're getting frustrated? ... Wow, great ideas - can you remind me what the breathing one was?"Practice self regulation strategies when they're calm so that they can put them into practice when they need them.
Cognitive Development
Most 5 and 6-year-olds:
- Can count ten or more things
- Can name four or more colors
- Have a stronger understanding of the concept of time
- Know the uses of everyday things at home (money, appliances, etc.) Follow simple directions
- Are able to listen and pay attention
What to Try:
- Support your child's "unconstrained skills" - skills that are limitless, like problem solving or creative thinking. These are more valuable in the long run, compared to skills with ceilings like learning to count to 100.
- Narrate your own problem solving skills out loud. "Hm... it seems like I could fix this by doing... but before I try that, maybe there's an even better way."
- Play games that strengthen cognitive skills, like Simon Says. Have your child take the lead.
- Talk about math in everyday life.
- Point out shapes and describe them. Play "I spy" with shapes and colors. "I spy with my little eye, something that's a blue rectangle."
- Ask your child to go on a secret mission at the playground to count how many triangles they can find and report back to you.
- Play a direction-following game with blocks.
- Draw animals on pieces of paper. One person picks one randomly and tells the other person where to put the blocks to build it (without telling them what it's going to be and without touching the blocks!).
- This builds inhibitory control, direction-following, perspective taking, and planning.
Sources: American Academy of Pediatrics, CDC, & Bright Futures