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
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Understands words for some colors, such as red, blue, and green
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Understands words for some shapes, such as circle and square
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Understands words for family, such as brother, grandmother, and aunt
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Answers simple who, what, and where questions
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Says rhyming words, such as hat-cat and silly-billy
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Uses pronouns, such as I, you, me, we, and they.
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Uses some plural words, such as toys, birds, and buses
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Asks when and how questions
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Puts 4 words together. May make some mistakes, such as "I goed to school."
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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
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(Usually by 3 years old)
Climbs well
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Runs easily
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Pedals a tricycle (3-wheel bike)
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Walks up and down stairs, one foot on each step
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Jumping in place
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Uses scissors
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(Closer to 4 years old)
Hops and stands on one foot up to 2-10 seconds
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Catches a bounced ball most of the time
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Pours, cuts with supervision, and mashes own food
SENSORY
Sensory
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(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
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Mostly comfortable with change