In the table below, we've identified some milestones that children reach during their three's. These are just guidelines, please remember that all children advance at their own pace.
|
Social & Emotional |
3 years |
highly imitative of adults; wants to please adults, conforms; easily prompted or redirected |
|
can be bargained with, reasoned with; begins to share, take turns and wait; says "me-too" frequently |
|
exuberant, talkative, humorous; has imaginary companions; plays cooperatively with others; plays spontaneously in groups; dramatizes play |
| |
has nightmares, animal phobias; goes after desires, fights for things; asserts independence |
| |
sympathizes with others; often stymied, frustrated or jealous; strong sex-role stereotypes |
|
Language |
3 years |
Talkative with or without listener; can listen to learn; likes new words; intrigued by whispering |
| |
increases use of pronouns, uses words in the plural and past tense; uses sentences of three words or more; says "is that all right?" a lot; talks about non-present situations |
| |
puts words into action; moves and talks at same time; substitutes letters in speech - "w" for "r"; uses 300 to 1000 words |
|
Physical - Motor Skills |
3 years |
well-balanced body lines; walks erect, nimble on feet; gallops in wide, high steps; alternates feet in stair climbing; activity has drive and purpose |
|
starts and stops suddenly; turns corners rapidly; swings arms when walking; jumps up and down easily; can balance on one foot |
|
uses toilet alone; achieves bladder control; loses baby fat |
| |
rides a tricycle; puts on and takes off wraps with help; unbuttons buttons; has some finger control with small objects, grasps with thumb and index finger |
| |
Holds cup in one hand; pours easily from small pitcher; washes hands unassisted; can carry liquids |
|
Intellectual -Cognitive |
3 years |
matches people according to physical characteristics; estimates "how many"; enjoys making simple decisions; understands "it's time to...." |
|
alert, excited and curious; asks "why?" constantly; enjoys guessing games and riddles; has lively imagination; often over generalizes and has a short attention span. |
| |
often colors pages one color; can't combine two activities; names and matches simple colors; has number concepts of one and two: |
| |
sees vague cause and effect relationships; can recognize simple melodies; distinguishes between day and night; understands size and shape comparisons |
