Skills Checklist for Young Children
This list of skills young children can learn is not based on any research and is not a comprehensive list of skills, nor does your child necessarily need all these skills. It is strictly a list of the first 25 topics that came to my mind. You can use it to find out what your child already knows and then use it to help you choose what else you’d like to teach him. Remember, there is no set age when a child should be able to do all this. This is just a list of things you might want to teach him someday.
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Dressing self
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Feeding self
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Handle a book appropriately
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Enjoys looking at books
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Enjoys being read to.
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Has basic physical skills if not limited by disability—walking, running, hopping, etc.
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Can follow simple directions. How many directions at once? (For instance: pick up your hat, put it on your head, and then run to the door.)
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Can stack blocks
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Can use crayons (staying in the lines is not important for younger children)
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Can use other art supplies, such as glue sticks, safety scissors, finger paints, paint brushes, chalk
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Can recite numbers to ten.
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Can actually count ten items
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Recognizes letters
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Can read name and a few other sight words
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Knows the names of basic colors
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Can speak in fairly grammatically correct complete sentences
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Can identify basic shapes
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Asks lots of questions (shows curiosity)
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Plays fairly well with other children
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Can pay attention one minute for each year of his age. (A four year old can pay attention for four minutes—not always, but often enough.)
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Can usually behave fairly well in public
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Can take turns most of the time
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Is reasonably kind
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Can recite the alphabet
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Understands simple science—weather, sunshine for plant growing, etc.
