Feeling ,Thinking ,Communicating, Behaviour (5-6 Yrs)

Child Development

Playing and learning 

Even as your child gets older and starts school, play is important. It’s still how your child learns and builds social, emotional and thinking skills.

Your child’s play is more complex now, filled with lots of fantasy and drama. You might notice your child taking on more standard gender roles in pretend play – for example, girls tend to pretend play as mothers and boys as fathers.

Your child is becoming more social and prefers to play with friends rather than on her own. She might find it hard to share her special toys, but she can share – most of the time, at least!

Games with rules sometimes challenge your six-year-old, and he might even accuse others of cheating when he doesn’t win.

Feelings 

Your child can express her feelings, although she might need help and time to identify and talk about tricky emotions like frustration or jealousy. She has much better control over her feelings too and she might have fewer unexpected outbursts of anger and sadness.

You might see more patience, and your child might even be open to reasoning with you. This means there could be fewer disagreements in the future.

Although your six-year-old loves to be independent, he still needs lots of your love and attention. Connecting with you and his family is the most important thing in his life. He wants your approval, is proud of his achievements – and probably doesn’t take well to criticism or discipline.

Your child’s growing understanding of the world around might lead to some fears – for example, some children might be afraid of supernatural things (like ghosts), criticism or tests, failure, or physical harm or threat.

Thinking 

Your child’s attention span has increased and she can pay attention for longer. She understands simple concepts like time (today, tomorrow, yesterday), knows the seasons, recognises some words by sight and tries to sound out words. She might even read on her own. 

Your child is better at seeing other people’s points of view, which helps him to make friends and meet new people.

And if your child sometimes comes across as if she ‘knows everything’, she’s not alone!

Talking and communicating 

Your child will talk lots, sometimes even when nobody is in the room.

He’ll talk in full and complex sentences and have adult-like conversations although he might still find it hard to describe complex ideas or events. He understands jokes and riddles, and toilet humour is particularly fun. Your child also enjoys the opportunity to do ‘show and tell’ at school.

Your child understands more words than she can say, and is learning as many as 5-10 new words each day. Vocabulary growth is so rapid at this age that your child’s brain often thinks faster than he can say what’s on his mind.

Moving 

Your five-year-old is more coordinated and loves to show off new physical skills – you’ll often hear shouts of ‘Look at me!’

Your child can ride a bike, jump rope, balance on one foot for a short period of time, walk downstairs without needing to hold your hand, skip and catch a large ball. Many six-year-old will also be interested and able to play team sports, like soccer.

Does it seem like your six-year-old can’t ever keep still? Wriggling and squirming while watching TV, at the dinner table or even while sleeping is all pretty normal.

Your child’s fine motor skills are improving, which leads to more independence with things like tying shoelaces, using zips and buttons, and brushing hair. She might still find it hard to cut up her food with a knife, but enjoys the chance to practice.

Daily life and behaviour

Your five-year-old is becoming more independent and loves making small decisions, like what clothes to wear or what to eat for lunch.

Starting school opens up a whole new social world – which comes with a whole new set of rules. This might be demanding or challenging for your child. School can be tiring for children so don’t be surprised if he’s a little moody or easily upset, especially after a long day. On these days you might want to try and keep your child quiet at home after school and aim for an early bedtime.

Whether your child is feeling worried about starting school or bursting with excitement, a bit of planning and preparation can ease the transition. 

At this age, your child might also:

• copy simple shapes with a pencil
• write her own name
• copy letters and even write some from memory
• say her full name, address, age and birthday
• draw more realistic pictures – for example, a person with a head with eyes, mouth and nose, and a body with arms and legs
• read simple picture books
• understand the importance of rules, and the simple reasons behind rules
• show a strong sense of ‘gender-appropriate’ behaviour
• engage in more complex social play.

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