Development at 61 Months
Click for more details:
Activity 1
Age Appropriate Cognitive Development
Locates Big To Biggest, Small To Smallest, And Long To Longest
 I am now able to make comparisons between the size and length of things around me. I will use this understanding of mathematical relationship between objects in everyday language. You will hear me say "I want the BIGGEST piece of chicken", "That tricycle is SMALLER than this bicycle", "Daddy's shoes are too BIG for me", "The dress is too LONG for me", "Little brother is so TINY, I am so BIG". I can do this between 54 and 64 months (4 year 6 months and 5 year 4 months). |
Steps
-
Show your child 3 different sized balls (ping pong ball, tennis ball, and basketball).
-
Introduce these balls by naming them to your child.
-
Ask your child, "Can you tell me which is the biggest?"
-
Ask your child, "Can you tell me which ball is smaller than the basketball?"
-
Then ask, "Great, which one is smaller than the tennis ball?"
-
Show your child the 3 lengths of string. Ask him to identify the long, longer and longest strings.
Feedback 1
Your child has grasped the relationships between different sizes and lengths of items in this activity. He is showing great attention on the activity as well as good scanning abilities. He is progressing well along his math readiness as this ability to compare 3 different sizes and lengths usually develops between 4 year 6 months and 5 year 4 months.
Use the suggested activities to play and encourage this skill.
|
-
Play an arranging game where the child arranges 5 items in the house from smallest to biggest. Use a friendly competition and see which of you is faster in finding the things and arranging them in order of size.
-
During dressing, talk about the big shirts that you wear, the small shirts that the child wears and the even smaller shirts that the baby wears.
-
Sing a song that you know of big toe and little toe and end the song with tickles.
-
Play a physical game where you have to roll a ball in between 2 different lengths of a string tied between two posts. Shorten the length of the goal post gradually so as to make the game more challenging and fun.
-
Use art and craft activities to demonstrate concepts of length and size, e.g. make a family of dolls for daddy, mummy, baby sister and your child using kitchen rolls, strings and small and big pieces of colored paper as well as sticks. Cut out different sizes of eyes, different lengths of toilet rolls for the height of the body, different lengths of sticks for the hands, and different lengths of strings for the hair. Incorporate words like small, smaller, smallest; big, bigger, biggest; long, longer and longest in this activity.
|
|
Feedback 2
If your child has some difficulties with this activity, you can help by trying to identify the concept that your child is unclear of. Start with one concept first.
|
-
 Size is an easy concept to teach before teaching length. Everyday ideas to teach and use size include:
-
In a structured table and chair setting, where the room and table are clear of clutter, present 2 different sized objects on the table, e.g. crunch up 2 balls of aluminum foil. Teach him big and bigger first. Then bring in the biggest ball after he has successfully learnt to compare 2 objects. This clarity of teaching and practice will help him pick up this concept of size quickly.
-
Sing a song that you know of big toe and little toe and end the song with tickles.
-
During dressing, talk about the big shirts that you wear, the small shirts that the child wears and the even smaller shirts that the baby wears.
-
Use his interest in things (e.g. cars) to talk about the different sizes. Place the objects in front of him, let him identify the relative size accurately before letting him play.
-
Play an arranging game where the child arranges 5 items in the house from smallest to biggest. Use a friendly competition and see who between you is faster in finding the things and arranging them in order of size.
-
Everyday ideas to teach and use lengths include:
-
In a structured table and chair setting, where the room and table are clear of clutter, present 2 different length objects on the table (e.g. colorful big strings of the same color). Teach him long and longer first. Then bring in the longest length after he has successfully learnt to compare 2 objects. This clarity of teaching and practice will help him pick up this concept of size quickly.
-
Use art and craft activities to use concept of length, e.g. make a family of dolls for daddy, mummy, baby sister and your child using kitchen rolls and strings. Cut out different lengths of toilet rolls for the height of the body and different lengths of strings for the hair long, longer and longest in this activity. Display these dolls at home, so that your child can feel proud of what he has learnt and made.
-
Play a physical game where you have to roll a ball in between 2 different lengths of a string tied between two posts. Shorten the length of the goal post gradually so as to make the game more challenging and fun.
|
|
Activity 2
Age Appropriate Fine Motor Development
Copies A Picture Of A Triangle
 I am learning to copy the picture of a triangle! Sit beside me at the table with a piece of blank paper and a crayon. Show me a picture of a triangle and observe if I am able to copy the triangle on the sheet of blank paper. I usually develop this ability between 48 and 72 months (4 years and 6 years). |
Steps
-
Sit beside your child at the table with a piece of blank paper and a crayon.
-
Show him a picture of a triangle. Premium members : You can login and print out the pictures under the "Tools" section.
-
Observe if your child is able to copy the triangle on the sheet of blank paper.
Feedback
Your child is developing good visual perception and visual-motor integration skills in this activity. These are essential foundation skills for good writing and copying abilities. He will gradually progress to copying even more challenging patterns, shapes and pictures as he continues to develop. You may look at the suggested activities for more ideas with this task.
|
-
Provide lots of opportunities for your child to copy pictures of simple patterns made up of vertical, horizontal, diagonal, circular lines and various shapes.
-
If your child has difficulties with copying a triangle, you may start by getting your child to trace over dotted lines of a picture of a triangle. Gradually decrease the dotted lines as he improves and finally get him to copy the picture on a blank sheet of paper.
-
You may also put three dots at the three corners of the cross, giving your child a rough boundary to draw within.
-
Commercially available stencils can also be used to help him understand the concept of a triangle and how to draw it.
-
You may also put up some paper on the wall or use a chalkboard to motivate your child to copy the picture of a triangle, or have him draw the picture in sand or grains with his fingers to make it more interesting.
|
|
|
