Milestone Moments: 4 Years Old
- Walks down stairs with alternating gait easily
- Catches a ball without trapping
- Hops and stands on one foot
- Catched a bounced ball most of the time
- Draws a person with 2-4 body parts
- Cuts simple shapes
- Washes hands
- Brushes teeth
- Shares toys
- Tells stories
- Names some colors, letters, and numbers
- Sings a simple song from memory
- Uses sentences that give lots of details
- Produces rhyming words
For more details about milestones, below are some specific tips from some of our therapists.
Tips from a Physical Therapist
By 4 years, your child is finally getting the hang of coordination-based skills. Your child needs lots of practice and encouragement because these skills can be tricky to master. Learn more tips from a Physical Therapist about developing your child’s coordination.
- Walks down stairs with alternating gait easily
- Your child should be able to walk down six standard-rise steps with one foot on each step, alternating left and right, without a hand on the rail for support.
- Activities to try at home:
- Place pieces of a puzzle at the top of stairs and leave the board at the bottom. Encourage your child to go up the stairs to grab two puzzle pieces at a time and bring them down to place on the board. Provide lots of encouragement and help as needed.
- Have your child carry a ball or stuffed animal with both hands. Encourage your child to hold the item tight to keep them safe as they walk down the stairs. This will prevent your child from reaching for the stair rail for support.
- Stands on one foot
- Your child can shift their weight over one foot and keep their hands on their hips for balance as they lift their opposite foot off the ground. Your child may hold this position for five to 10 seconds.
- Activities to try at home:
- Assist your child in balancing one foot on different objects. Start with your child balancing one foot on a step and encourage them to find their balance. Once your child masters the step, help your child balance one foot on a soccer ball.
- Have a friendly competition! See who can balance on one foot the longest.
- Hops on one foot
- At 4 years, your child can hop up and down on one foot for three to five hops.
- Activities to try at home:
- Play a game of hopscotch! This is a great game for learning to hop on one foot.
- Tape colored papers to the floor. Start by hopping on each color three times. Then have your child practice hopping from one color to the next.
- Catches a bounced ball most of the time
- Your child should be able to catch a bounced tennis ball with both hands when bounced from 5 feet away on most attempts.
- Activities to try at home:
- Bounce a ball back and forth with your child in your driveway or on the sidewalk.
- Catches a ball without trapping
- Your child straightens their arms in front of them with their palms facing toward one another in preparation to catch the ball. Once the ball makes contact with your child’s hands, they bring their hands together on the sides of the ball to secure it. Your child should not need to corral the ball to their chest.
- Activities to try at home:
- Play catch with a playground-sized ball. Start by tossing the ball from 1 to 2 feet away and progress to 3 to 5 feet.
When should you seek help?
- Your child is unable to walk or run with a mature pattern.
- Your child is unable to climb, jump, or use stairs independently.
- Your child is unable to catch, throw, or kick a ball.
Tips from a Speech Therapist
Below are some milestone tips for your 4-year-old from a speech therapist.
- Carries on a conversation of increased length and complexity
- Your child should begin to tell you stories about their day using detailed sentences of increased length. They may include names of friends and activities they did. They might tell you the letter of the week at school and talk about what they had for lunch.
- You and your child should begin to have simple back and forth conversations. A great place to practice this is while you are in the car driving or around the dinner table. Ask them about things they are seeing, or who they played with at school. This is an exciting time where you are able to get a glimpse into their day and what they are thinking. You may need to start the conversation with “I had a great day today! What did you do today? Can you tell me about it?”
- Unfamiliar listeners should understand your child
- Like at the age of three, unfamiliar listeners should be able to understand what your child is communicating. If it is hard for others to understand your child, ask your pediatrician to refer you to a speech language pathologist to assess if your child needs speech therapy in order to remediate speech sounds. Some speech sounds in error at this age may be developmentally appropriate. However, if your child is hard to understand speech therapy may be necessary.
- Knows colors, letters, and numbers
- Your child should start to be able to name and recognize most colors, letters, and numbers.
- If your child is struggling, start with the letters in their name. You can practice with magnet letters, crayons, and simple things around your house.
- Play simple games with matching tiles or Candy Land where you can practice identifying and naming colors. This is also a great activity to practice turn taking!
- Tells you what they think will happen next in a book
- While you are reading a book or telling stories, your child should start to anticipate what they think will happen next. Give your child an opportunity to express their thoughts out loud while reading.
- Example: “Wow, what do you think little Blue Truck will do next?”
- Even if their prediction was incorrect encourage them! “I liked your idea, that was good thinking!”
- If your child isn’t to that level yet, there are still ways to make reading interactive with your child! Point to things that are happening, name items in pictures, narrate the actions (he is running, she is walking, they are looking). Giving your child exposure to stories and books is essential to language development and teaches your child a lot!
- Much like in conversations with your child, they should start to be able to answer some simple “wh” questions about what is happening (who, what, where, when, why). Ask your child some of these questions while you are reading. Below are some good examples:
- Who is in the story?
- What happened to __?
- Why were they sad/happy/mad?
- Where did the character go?
- While you are reading a book or telling stories, your child should start to anticipate what they think will happen next. Give your child an opportunity to express their thoughts out loud while reading.
- Sings Simple Songs by Memory
- Your child may start to sing songs they know by memory. Use this time to let your child be the ‘teacher’ and teach you some songs they know. This encourages recall skills and is a great learning opportunity!
- Example: Can you teach me a song you sing at school? Miss Tasha said you guys have been singing a new song!
- If your child is nonverbal or is still in the process of learning these skills, encourage them to use the signs they know, or sing with them to encourage engagement.
- Your child may start to sing songs they know by memory. Use this time to let your child be the ‘teacher’ and teach you some songs they know. This encourages recall skills and is a great learning opportunity!
- Understands “same” and “different”
- Your child is noticing details around them and should start to be able to tell whether something is the same or different. A great way to practice this skill in everyday life is to ask them “how is a ____ and ___ the same?” or “how are you and your friend the same? Or different?”
- Example: “How are a banana and an apple the same?” … “You’re right! They are both fruits!”
- Example: “How are you and Anna the same?” … “You are both girls. That’s right! What makes you different?” (eye color/skin color/ height, etc).
- Another great way to practice this is by playing matching games. You can practice this skill by flipping over two cards and asking them if they are the same or different.
- Your child is noticing details around them and should start to be able to tell whether something is the same or different. A great way to practice this skill in everyday life is to ask them “how is a ____ and ___ the same?” or “how are you and your friend the same? Or different?”
- Produces rhyming words
- Children around this age are becoming more aware of words and their meanings. They are starting to identify words that sound similar and say something like “Hat and cat – they sound the same!” Encourage this by saying “You are right! They rhyme! Can you think of other words that sound like ‘hat’ and ‘cat’?”
- You can also practice this skill by presenting two words to your child and seeing if they can tell you if they match or not.
- Children around this age are becoming more aware of words and their meanings. They are starting to identify words that sound similar and say something like “Hat and cat – they sound the same!” Encourage this by saying “You are right! They rhyme! Can you think of other words that sound like ‘hat’ and ‘cat’?”
This age is very fun for parents as you begin to see your child really express themselves and become more independent in their communication with themselves and others! Encourage your child by providing rich language environments. Here are some great activities that encourage language growth:
- Reading
- Play time with toys (without batteries or screens is preferred)
- Playing games (matching games, Candy Land, simple turn taking)
- Talking in the car about things around you
- Singing familiar songs
- Talk about your day with your child around the dinner table
- While at the grocery store, ask them various questions about what you are buying, where do you find things, how are things similar/different etc.
Tips from an Occupational Therapist
Your child is gaining skills in writing and drawing at 4 years old! Allow your child to explore, get messy, and engage in everyday tasks so they learn to take care of themself and participate in a routine. Here are more tips for 4-year-olds from one of our Occupational Therapists.
- Engaging in self-care skills
- Allow your child to participate in daily self-care skills such as brushing teeth, washing hands, and getting dressed. Practice is the best way for your child to master self-care skills!
- Lend a hand if your child struggles but allow your child to explore each activity independently as much as possible.
- Arts and crafts
- Cutting, coloring, gluing, painting, and drawing are essential in the fine motor development process. Allow your child to explore these activities under supervision. Set up a themed craft project and introduce a variety of art materials to make crafting time fun!
- Encourage movement
- Suggest different ways for your child to move and put weight on their upper extremities. Try walking like an animal, climbing, and crawling!
- When your child applies weight through their arms and hands, strengthening takes place in both the extrinsic (bigger muscles in the arms) and intrinsic (smaller muscles in the hands) muscles. Strengthening these areas leads to good fine motor control.
When should you seek help?
- Your child has trouble holding a writing utensil and scribbling on paper. At 4 years, your child should be utilizing a quadrupod or tripod grasp on writing utensils.
- Your child cannot copy a circle, horizontal or vertical line.
- Your child shows little to no interest in others or interactive games.
- Your child does not attempt to dress themself.
- Your child has poor self-feeding skills.
- Your child has continued difficulties with potty training.
If you feel your child could benefit from any of our services, please Contact Us today to get started.