Developmental Milestones for 5-year-olds

Most children by age 5:

• Know their address and phone number.
• Recognize most letters of the alphabet.
• Can count 10 or more objects.
• Know the names of at least 4 colors.
• Understand the basic concepts of time.
• Know what household objects are used for, such as money, food, or appliances.

Most children by age 5:

• Want to please and be liked by their friends, though they may sometimes be mean to others.
• Agree to rules most of the time.
• Show independence.
• Are more able to distinguish fantasy from reality. But they enjoy playing make-believe and dress-up.
• Have distinct ways of playing according to gender. Most 5-year-old boys play in rough or physically active ways. Girls of the same age are more likely to engage in social play.

Most children by age 5:

• Carry on a meaningful conversation with another person.
• Understand relationships between objects, such as "the boy who is jumping rope."
• Use the future tense, such as "Let's go to the zoo tomorrow!"
• Often call people (or objects) by their relationship to others, such as "Bobby's mom" instead of "Mrs. Smith."
• Talk about or tell stories. They have little or no trouble being understood by others.

Most children by age 5:

• Somersault and possibly skip.
• Swing and climb.
• Hop on one foot.
• Use the toilet by themselves. They may still wet the bed, though.

By age 5, most children can use their hands and fingers (fine motor skills) to:

• Copy triangles and other geometric shapes.
• Draw a person with a head, a body, arms, and legs.
• Dress and undress on their own. But they may still need help to tie their shoelaces.
• Write some lowercase and capital letters from the alphabet.
• Eat with a fork, spoon, and maybe a flatware knife.