What should my older 3 year old know and be able to do?

[Anonymous]

He still can’t ride a trike or put shoes on the right foot. He is still holding markers and crayons with a fist and not with pencil grip. He prefers to scribble rather than draw.

Does anyone have tips for working on these? What else should he be able to do or working on for 4?

[Anonymous]

For most of this stuff, it's just a question of making sure there are opportunities and then letting the kid move at his own pace.

If he won't pedal a trike, does he still have a balance pike or pedal-less trike he likes to scoot around on? Or a scooter, for that matter. Whatever appeals to him most. At this age it's more about encouraging gross motor skills in general, rather than trying to teach specific movements. But it's not a big deal if he can't propel himself along by pedaling yet.

Same with the fist grip and the scribbling. Just let him enjoy drawing, don't worry about how he's doing it right now. But you can get him some different implements which will naturally encourage him to experiment. If he only uses the fat markers, get him some colored pencils. Kids will naturally start shifting into a pencil grip as they discover it offers more control.

The shoe thing takes forever -- there are lots of grade school kids who still mix up their shoes. Label all his shoes with a R and L in big letters on the inside. Let him put his shoes on as often as you can. When he gets it wrong, just give him a gentle reminder.

I would also encourage other clothing skills. He should be getting pretty comfortable pulling shirts on and off as well as pulling pants up and down (though needing help at this age is totally normal). You can start introducing buttons and zippers and having him help you with those (or get him a busy board that lets him practice on his own).

Having him help in the kitchen is great at this age, too. Have him help you pour ingredient in bowls and stir them up. Let it be a little messy. This is also a could way to reinforce number skills as kids can help you count eggs, portions, etc.

You can also set up a snack shelf so he can get his own snacks. You can teach him how to put snacks in a bowl and carry the bowl to the table. I also taught mine to clear their place at the table after each meal at that age, and would sometimes have them help put things in the dishwasher.

[Anonymous]

According to DCUM, he should be doing his laundry 😀

[Anonymous]

DD is 3y 8m. She never liked pedaling a tricycle. She went straight to biking. She can get dressed/undressed on her own, but she still asks about which shoe goes on which foot. Without asking, she gets it right 50% of the time We did not do anything to teach her to do those things, she just wants to be independent. I am not sure I would call her art "drawing." It's better than just scribbles but not by a whole lot, but she enjoys art and we made sure that paper/pencils/paint/brushes were easily accessible to her. So no helpful tips there, but I could see big improvements over the last 6 months.

[Anonymous]

Pre-school teacher here. When did he turn 3? A lot happens during the 3rd year.

[Anonymous]

I’m not an expert but have 2 kids, ages 5 and 3. They are so different from each other in terms of abilities and interests. At 3, my older child had the correct pencil grip and was drawing really well and writing legible letters and numbers. He would sit and draw/write/color for long periods of time and it was one of his favorite things to do. He could dress himself but often refused to do so. He had no interest in learning to ride a bike/pedaling himself or in throwing/catching a ball or playing any type of sports. My younger child is pretty much the exact opposite: she holds writing utensils w her fist, scribbles, is fiercely independent in terms of getting dressed and won’t accept any help (and does it correctly most times), but she loves to ride a bike, play catch or soccer or hit a ball off a tee w a bat. Just totally different interests and abilities.

Anyway, all that to say I wouldn’t worry much because he just might not be interested in or motivated to learn to do those things but there are probably lots of other things involving motor skills he does enjoy and he is probably more skilled at the things that most interest him (puzzles? Building LEGOs? Climbing at the playground? Painting? Playing with play doh?)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pre-school teacher here. When did he turn 3? A lot happens during the 3rd year.

His birthday is around thanksgiving, so he’s 3 years and almost 10 months.

He is able to do buttons, cracks eggs and grates cheese, gets dressed, does bead stringing, but it’s almost like he doesn’t have the patience to bother to pedal or use the scooter or draw/trace instead of scribble. He likes using scissors to cut paper into small pieces, but isn’t interest in cutting along lines or cutting shapes or anything.