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By the time your child is 5-years-old , he or she will want to please friends, will likely to sing and dance and will show more independence.
Jade Elliott spoke with Carrie Martinez, Utah Department of Health, to discuss the important milestones your child should reach by 5-years-old and tools to help parents on this episode of the Baby Your Baby Podcast.
Social and Emotional
- Wants to please friends
- Wants to be like friends
- More likely to agree with rules
- Likes to sing, dance, and act
- Is aware of gender
- Can tell what’s real and what’s make-believe
- Shows more independence (for example, may visit a next-door neighbor by himself [adult supervision is still needed])
- Is sometimes demanding and sometimes very cooperative
- Speaks very clearly
- Tells a simple story using full sentences
- Uses future tense; for example, “Grandma will be here.”
- Says name and address
Cognitive (learning, thinking, problem-solving)
- Counts 10 or more things
- Can draw a person with at least 6 body parts
- Can print some letters or numbers
- Copies a triangle and other geometric shapes
- Knows about things used everyday, like money and food
Movement/Physical Development
- Stands on one foot for 10 seconds or longer
- Hops; may be able to skip
- Can do a somersault
- Uses a fork and spoon and sometimes a table knife
- Can use the toilet on her own
- Swings and climbs
What do you do if your baby is not meeting these milestones?
- Early Childhood Utah: https://earlychildhoodutah.utah.gov/
- Utah State Preschool program: https://www.schools.utah.gov/specialeducation/programs/preschool
- https://www.schools.utah.gov/curr/kindergarten
- https://utahparentcenter.org/
- Office of Home Visiting: https://homevisiting.utah.gov/
- Parents as Teachers program: https://pcautah.org/programs/parents-as-teachers.php
- Help me Grow Utah: https://helpmegrowutah.org/
- Ages and Stages free resources page: https://agesandstages.com/free-resources/
- CDC milestone tracker has many videos for all ages of development available here: https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/milestones/photolibrary/6months.html
Video Examples of a 5-year-old:
- https://youtu.be/VsgmuC0djAU
- https://youtu.be/Q2bDUO0SxBg
- https://youtu.be/MUCzu4q70mU
- https://youtu.be/Ijp0BvoHTzA
Can parents get their baby on back on track on their own, or is this something they need a professional for?
Most of the time, children get the developmental skills they need when they are given opportunities to practice. Parents play a huge role in their child’s development, and often can help their child right away. For example, if your child’s screening showed a delay in language, you help your child right away, just by practicing this area of development.
However, sometimes your child may need professional intervention. In these situations, it’s best to work with your healthcare or childcare provider to get resources or referrals to professional agencies who are trained to help your child reach their developmental milestone needs.
The Baby Your Baby program provides many resources for all pregnant women and new moms in Utah. There is also expert advice from the Utah Department of Health and Intermountain Healthcare that air each week on KUTV 2News.