1. Physical Milestones:
At 4 years old, children should be able to walk and run with increasing agility, jump in place and turn around in a circle while balancing on one foot. They should also demonstrate increased strength and coordination when throwing, kicking, and catching a ball. Fine motor skills such as the ability to undress and tie their own shoelaces should also be present.
2. Cognitive Milestones:
At this age, children should show improved problem-solving abilities such as completing simple puzzles and understanding common concepts such as colors and shapes. They may also begin to recognize letters of the alphabet and count to 10 or higher.
3. Communication Milestones:
By 4 years old, children have usually developed a large vocabulary which allows them to express their thoughts clearly when speaking with adults. In addition, they understand basic questions and instructions, can name individuals in family photos and can communicate their needs easily.
4. Self-Care Milestones:
Four-year-olds can usually dress independently including buttoning shirts, fastening zippers, and using other fasteners such as Velcro. They can use utensils to eat and may be able to brush their own teeth with supervision.
5. Sensory Milestones:
At this stage in development, children should demonstrate improved hearing, vision, taste, smell, and touch senses. They should also exhibit an awareness of danger signals such as traffic lights and display a sense of balance when walking or running on uneven surfaces.
6. Creative Expression Milestones:
Four-year-old children should be able to recognize popular characters from stories or television shows and draw basic shapes such as circles and squares while coloring inside the lines with increasing accuracy. Additionally, they can identify differences between objects by size, shape, or color and use dramatic play to explore their imaginations.