Speech, Swallowing, & Voice Specialists of Hawaii
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3-4 YEARS OLD
Typical milestones during this age range
Speech/Language
Responds when you call from another room
Understands words for some colors, such as red, blue, and green
Understands words for some shapes, such as circle and square
Understands words for family, such as brother, grandmother, and aunt
Answers simple who, what, and where questions
Says rhyming words, such as hat-cat and silly-billy
Uses pronouns, such as I, you, me, we, and they.
Uses some plural words, such as toys, birds, and buses
Asks when and how questions
Puts 4 words together. May make some mistakes, such as "I goed to school."
Talks about what happened during the day. Uses about 4 sentences at a time.
Speech/Language skills involve a great deal of motor and sensory components. For this reason, some motor and sensory milestones for this age group are also listed below as a delay or disturbance in either could influence your child's speech/language development.
MOTOR
Motor
(Usually by 3 years old)
Climbs well
Runs easily
Pedals a tricycle (3-wheel bike)
Walks up and down stairs, one foot on each step
Jumping in place
Uses scissors
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(Closer to 4 years old)
Hops and stands on one foot up to 2-10 seconds
Catches a bounced ball most of the time
Pours, cuts with supervision, and mashes own food
SENSORY
Sensory
(Usually by 3 years old)
Enjoys swinging, being thrown in air, and roughhousing
Able to participate in messy activities that result in dirty hands
Aware of sensation such as a wet diaper or underpants
Able to tolerate and stay calm during haircuts and while clipping fingernails
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(Closer to 4 years old)
Able to sit and pay attention
Mostly comfortable with change