The preschool age is considered to be the period between three and six years. Take a look at how children's development progresses during this period:
3-4 years
Motor development
A three-year-old child moves almost like an adult. They can walk, run on flat and uneven terrain, and rarely fall. They walk up and down stairs, alternating their feet when going up. Over time, their motor skills continue to improve. The child starts to hop on one foot, jump with both feet over a line, and jump over low obstacles (about 5 cm high). They can also catch a ball with both hands at the level of their tummy. Children at this age also enjoy riding balance bikes (bikes without pedals).
By the age of four, children are able to go to the toilet on their own, pull down and pull up their underwear and pants, and wash and dry their hands. They can also brush their teeth with minimal help.
Fine motor skills
A three-year-old child controls hand movements well enough to copy lines in different directions. They can imitate vertical, horizontal, and circular lines and gradually learn to draw a cross. If a three-year-old draws something, it is usually a random scribble. Based on what the scribble reminds them of, they will name it (even if it doesn’t actually resemble the intended object). They may also draw their first "tadpole figures" (basic human figures with only a head and limbs). Children of this age can manipulate small objects, such as stringing beads.
Speech development
Speech significantly develops during the preschool years. A three-year-old child may still replace certain sounds with others (for example, saying "l" instead of "r") or pronounce them imprecisely. By this age, they can correctly identify basic colors. Up until the age of four, grammatical errors (called physiological dysgrammatisms) are considered normal. However, if such errors persist significantly after this period, they may indicate a delay in speech or even intellectual development.
The sentences of two-year-olds are usually three-word phrases. In the preschool years, the length and complexity of sentences increase. By the end of the third year, children start forming complex sentences with a main clause and one or more subordinate clauses. Their interest in spoken language grows, and they often ask "Why?" and "When?". They also begin to understand broader categories and opposites.
Three- and four-year-old children are able to listen to short stories, even in small groups of children. By the age of three, children typically know a few nursery rhymes, and their repertoire grows as they get older. At this stage, children talk a lot and love to chat, even if they are often their only audience.
Knowledge of the world
The development of speech allows for an increase in the child's understanding of themselves and the world around them. By the age of three, children usually know their own name and can state their gender when asked. Their knowledge of objects and people in the world grows rapidly. For this reason, children enjoy pretend play, taking on the roles of princesses, police officers, knights, doctors, teachers, shopkeepers, and so on.
It is not until the age of three that a child is able to follow instructions given verbally. At first, they repeat the instructions aloud, but later (around four or five years old), they can follow instructions using "internal speech" without saying their intentions out loud.
At around two years of age, it is normal for two children in the same room to glance at each other but play separately. However, in the preschool years, there is a significant shift toward cooperative play. Children begin to play together on shared projects and even share materials with each other.
Between the ages of three and four, competitiveness also emerges among children. In an effort to build a bigger or better tower than their playmate, children may take materials from others, often ignoring the other child’s feelings. On the other hand, with proper guidance, children's empathy for others grows significantly during this period. They begin to better understand others' emotions, comfort crying children, and try to help them in various ways.
4-5 years
Motor development
The child becomes more skilled in movement and enjoys physical activity. They can jump on one leg (and alternate between legs), walk along a line or balance beam, and ride a bicycle. They can stand on their tiptoes with their eyes open. They can catch smaller balls and begin developing the foundation for more challenging motor skills, such as ice skating, walking on stilts, and similar activities.
Their growing dexterity is reflected in their increasing independence. They can eat on their own, dress and undress themselves (though they may still need a bit of help), put on their shoes, and even try to tie their shoelaces. They also require only minimal assistance with using the toilet and can wash their hands properly.
Fine motor skills
Children enjoy practicing their dexterity in a variety of activities involving sand, building blocks, modeling clay, and drawing. A four-year-old child often draws "tadpole people," which are rough outlines of people. These figures have a head with basic facial features (eyes, mouth), and the arms and legs are attached directly to the head. While they typically draw with a specific idea in mind, the final product may be labeled as something entirely different (e.g., "I'm drawing a rabbit" but later declaring, "It's an elephant!"). They can draw wavy lines, slanted lines, and spirals. By touch, they can identify distinctly different toys and, by the age of five, even recognize differences in surface texture. They are able to open their hand one finger at a time, as if counting from one to five on their fingers.
Speech development
A four-year-old can categorize pictures according to broader concepts and explain what eyes, books, or cars are used for. They listen to stories and understand the plot. By the age of five, they comprehend simple jokes and riddles, can create story sequences, and describe them. They can name the activities associated with specific professions.
World knowledge
By the age of five, children can provide simple definitions of familiar objects. They understand their purpose, material, and shape. They can remember three objects and recognize which one is missing if it is hidden. Later, they can do the same with pictures. During the preschool years, children also begin to develop basic counting skills — they can recite the counting sequence (even if they skip some numbers) up to about ten and match number names to counted objects. Before the age of five, they start to grasp the concept of quantity, understanding that the total number of items is represented by the last number in the counting sequence.
Social and emotional development
A four-year-old child enjoys "helping" with simple and short household chores and completing small assigned tasks. They are capable of empathy, sharing, lending toys, and giving gifts. They show affection and protective behavior toward younger children. They can also talk about daily routines, identifying activities that typically happen in the morning, afternoon, and evening.
At the ages of four and five, children rarely play parallel to each other (side by side) anymore. Instead, they engage in joint play with clear roles and shared goals. However, the level of play and role distribution depend not only on age but also on other factors. Children who attend preschool naturally have more opportunities to practice positive cooperation skills.
5-6 years
Motor development
Od pěti let už umí dítě dobře házet a chytit míč, držet rovnováhu, chodit po kladině, stát nehybně se zavřenýma očima a výborně zvládá křížové pohyby. Tužku drží správným úchopem.
Fine motor skills
By the age of five, children can copy a square, and by six, they can copy a triangle. Their drawings begin to reflect a clear idea or concept, with much more detail and better motor coordination. When they draw a "person," it now has a head, body, legs, arms, mouth, eyes, and nose. The arms are still often depicted as simple lines, and the proportions may be random. In contrast, the drawing of a six-year-old child (who is ready for school) is more advanced in all aspects — the hands and feet are no longer represented by simple lines but are fuller and better defined. By this stage, the child can touch the tip of each finger to the tip of their thumb.
Speech development
Speech difficulties like "baby talk" (articulation errors) typically disappear before starting school or remain only minimally, often resolving spontaneously during the first year of school or with minimal help from a speech therapist. Up to the age of five, incorrect pronunciation of certain sounds (dyslalia) is considered normal. Between the ages of five and seven, it is considered an extended physiological norm (a broader standard of normal). After the age of seven, it is unlikely that pronunciation issues will resolve spontaneously.
By the age of five, children can memorize short texts, identify broader concepts, recognize opposites, and, just before the age of six, they can identify synonyms, recognize words with the same sound but different meanings (homonyms), and create rhymes. They can recognize and name "nonsense" elements in a picture. Five-year-olds also actively and spontaneously engage with both children and adults in conversation.
World knowledge
Children begin to understand and differentiate concepts such as "first," "before," "now," and "later." They can arrange pictures into a logical sequence (what happened first, what happened next). By the age of six, most children can correctly identify the number of objects (up to 10) using visual aids like counting objects. However, true arithmetic operations, such as addition or subtraction without visual support (like counting on fingers), are typically learned later in primary school.
At the end of the preschool period, children begin to move beyond the family environment. Home is no longer enough for them, and they start to develop new relationships with events and people outside their familiar family setting.
Article author: PhDr. Marja Volemanová, PhD.
Main sources:
Bednářová, Jiřina; Šmardová, Vlasta (2015). Diagnostika dítěte předškolního věku. Brno, Edika. ISBN 978-80-266-0658-1
Bednářová, Jiřina et al. (2017). Školní zralost a její diagnostika. Praha: Raabe. ISBN 978-80-7496-319-3
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