Three-Year-Olds

Physical Development

• Playing is Exploring
• Moving
• Tasting
• Smelling
• Touching
•  Becoming more streamlined
• More natural walk

Gross-Motor Development

• Throwing
• Jumping
• Hopping
• Climbing easily
• Catching skills
• Leg coordination
• Can hop

Fine-Motor Skills

• Cutting skills
• Can use scissors 
• Good drawing skills 
• Lack fine-motor coordination
• Enjoy blocks and puzzles

Self-Help Skills

• Daily routines don't need assistance  
• Dress themselves
• Can brush their own teeth
•  Open buckles
• Velcro shoes 
• Troubles with front and back of clothing
• Uses knives
• Pour liquids
• Almost full control of toilet routines

Cognitive Development

• Maturing ability to think
• Not logical thinkers
• Learn quickly

Language Comprehension Skills

• Grows
• Understand 
•  you
• they
• who
• whose
• why
• how
•  Understand instructions

Expressive Language Skills

• May use more than 900 words
• Start understating 
• past tense 
• present tense
• possessive nouns
•  Overuses why and when
• Talk out loud to themselves 

Math Readiness Skills

•  Basic concepts in math are learned
• Understand
• full
• more
• less
• smaller
• empty
•  Counting skills
• Distinguish one and many

Social-Emotional Development

• Eager to help
• Accept attention
• Start playing with 
• Learn gender roles
• Strong visible emotions 
• Act to please others
• Improved language skills
• Become angry when not getting their way
• Very affectionate (seek affection back)
• Learn to express their feelings
• Imitate your behavior  

Teaching Three-Year-Olds

• Typically happy, sociable, and agreeable
• Accept suggestions
• Enjoy playing
• Becoming independent
• Need encouragement