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The many theories of cognitive development and the different research that has been done about how children understand the world, has allowed researchers to study the milestones that children who are typically developing experience in early childhood. Here is a table that summarizes those.[1]

Table 8.1 – Cognitive Milestones[2]

Typical Age

What Most Children Do by This Age

3 years
  • Can work toys with buttons, levers, and moving parts
  • Plays make-believe with dolls, animals, and people
  • Does puzzles with 3 or 4 pieces
  • Understands what “two” means

4 years
  • Names some colors and some numbers
  • Understands the idea of counting
  • Starts to understand time
  • Remembers parts of a story
  • Understands the idea of “same” and “different”
  • Plays board or card games
  • Tells you what he thinks is going to happen next in a book

5 years
  • Counts 10 or more things
  • Knows about things used every day, like money and food
  1. Child Growth and Development by Jennifer Paris, Antoinette Ricardo, & Dawn Rymond licensed under CC BY 4.0 ↵
  2. Developmental Milestones by the CDC is in the public domain ↵

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Child and Adolescent Developmental Psychology Copyright © by Courtney Boise is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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