Growth and Development, Ages
Four to Five—What Parents Need to Know
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Human development is a lifelong process of physical, behavioral, cognitive,
and emotional growth and change. In the early stages of life—from babyhood
to childhood, childhood to adolescence, and adolescence to adulthood—enormous
changes take place. Throughout the process, each person develops attitudes
and values that guide choices, relationships, and understanding.
Sexuality is also a lifelong process. Infants, children, teens, and adults
are sexual beings. Just as it is important to enhance a child's physical, emotional,
and cognitive growth, so it is important to lay foundations for a child's sexual
growth. Adults have a responsibility to help children understand and accept
their evolving sexuality.
Each stage of development encompasses specific markers. The following developmental
guidelines apply to most children in this age group. However, each child is
an individual and may reach these stages of development earlier or later than
other children the same age. When concerns arise about a specific child's development,
parents or other caregivers should consult a doctor or other child development
professional.
Physical Development
Most children aged four to five will:
- Continue to grow, but at a
slower rate than during infancy and the toddler
years [Some parts grow faster or sooner than others. For example,
organs grow faster than the body, giving preschoolers
a rounded tummy.]
- Reach at least 50 percent
of their adult height and about 20 percent of their
adult weight by age five
- Develop more coordinated large
motor skills, enabling them to skip, run, and climb
up and down stairs
- Develop fine motor skills,
enabling them to tie shoelaces, button shirts,
use scissors, and draw recognizable figures
- Continue significant brain
development, completing 90 percent of such development
by age five
- Develop increased lung capacity
and the ability to breathe more deeply
- Lose their "baby look" as
their limbs grow longer
- Appear about the same size,
regardless of gender
- Increase in overall health and gain resistance to germs
Cognitive Development
Most children aged four
to five will:
- Interact with and learn about
the world through play activities
- Begin to experience the world
through exploration and feel inquisitive about
self and surroundings
- Begin separation from family as
they experience less proximity to caregivers and
more independence
- Understand what is good and
bad (though they may not understand why) and be
able to follow the rules
- Be able to understand and
accomplish simple activities to be healthy, such
as brushing teeth or washing hands
- Understand the concept of
privacy
Emotional Development
Most children aged four
to five will:
- Still rely on caregivers,
while no longer needing or wanting as much physical
contact with caregivers as they received in infancy and as toddlers
- Continue to express emotions
physically and to seek hugs and kisses
- Socialize with peers, begin
to develop relationships, and learn to recognize
some peers as friends and others as people they don't like
- Have more opportunities to interact with peers, either
through school or recreational activities, and will
play with other children
Sexual Development
Most children aged four to
five will:
- Experience vaginal lubrication
or erection
- Touch their genitals for pleasure
- Feel curiosity about everything,
and ask about where babies come from and how they
were born
- Feel curiosity about bodies
and may play games like doctor
- Feel sure of their own gender
and have the ability to recognize males and females
- Begin to recognize traditional
male and female gender roles and to distinguish
these roles by gender
- Become conscious of their own body, how it appears to
others, and how it functions
What Families Need to Do to Raise Sexually Healthy Children
To
help four- to five-year-old children develop a healthy sexuality, families
should:
- Help children understand the
concept of privacy and that talk about sexuality
is private and occurs at home.
- Teach correct names of the
major body parts (internal and external) and their
basic functions.
- Explain how babies "get into" the
mother's uterus.
- Encourage children to come to them or other trusted
adults for information about sexuality.
Click here to return to the Parents'
Sex Ed Center home page.
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