MSU Extension Child & Family Development

Ages & Stages

Preschooler A child who is 3 to 5 years of age.

Young child A child who is 0 to 8 years of age.

Minding Our Language

Families come in all shapes, sizes, and styles. A “family” may include people who are related by blood, by marriage, and by choice. “Parents” may be biological, step-, foster, adoptive, legally appointed, or something else. When we use the words “family” and “parent” in these materials, we do so inclusively and with great respect for all adults who care for and work with young people.

The preschool years are an important time in a child’s brain development. Preschoolers learn quickly and are expanding both their knowledge and abilities during this time. Their short-term memory, attention span and self-control develop rapidly as well. Preschoolers also begin to show independence, use self-help skills, and practice their growing social skills.

To help with their brain development, you may need to expand your child’s boundaries. Ask questions and talk with them often. You should also provide plenty of opportunities for unscheduled play and time to explore with other children of the same age. Try the ideas that follow for boosting your preschooler’s brain development.

Thinking Games

• Bring out buttons of different sizes and shapes. Ask your child to help you sort the buttons by color, size, and number of holes.
• Make up silly stories and ask your preschooler to add sounds and motions to go with each story. Ask them to tell the story back to you. Help your child make up their own stories complete with sounds and motions.
• Pick out four small toys with your child. Place the toys in front of them and ask them to close their eyes. Take one away. Have your child guess which toy is missing. You can increase the number of toys or swap out the toys you’re playing with as the game continues.
• Describe an object in the room. (“All of the walls in this room are white.” “The toy chest is triangle-shaped.” “The rug under the table has fish on it.”) Ask your child if what you said about the object is true or false. (You may have to explain what the words true and false mean.) Reverse the game and have your child describe an object while you try to identify whether their statements are true or false.

Active Games

• Point to different parts of your body and have your child name each one and say what it does. Next, try asking them to point to parts of their body with other parts. (“Touch your knuckle to your ankle.” “Touch your ear to your knee.”) You may want to throw in a couple of impossible touches and ask why they’re impossible. (“Touch your elbow to your nose.” “Touch your hip to your knee.”)
• Make a body movement and ask your child to copy it. Then repeat the first movement and add another. Have your child repeat both movements in the order you did them. Continue to add movements one at a time and praise your child for remembering as many as they can.
• Listen and dance to all types of music together. You may want to try making homemade instruments from materials around the house together. For example, place seeds in an empty plastic bottle or milk jug to make shakers. Have a music-making parade around the house.
• Take a silly walk. Yell out a direction that you try together. (“Hop!” “Walk on one foot!” “Skip!” “Walk sideways!”) Let them yell out commands, too.

Language Games

• Stop to look at the pictures while you are reading a book together. Ask your child questions about what they see in the pictures. (“What colors are they wearing?” “What do you think will happen next?” “How many dogs are in the picture?”)
• Pick up an object like a dinner plate and ask your child what else goes with it. They may answer a cup, fork, knife, or spoon—or even macaroni and cheese! Try this with other objects around the house.
• Play “I Spy” together. Describe an object you see and have your child guess what it is. Reverse roles and let your child try to find and explain an object so you can guess what they’re describing.
• Explore and talk about all the ways people can say goodbye. For example, you can hug, kiss, shake hands, bump fists, wave, or say things like “Bye,” “See you later,” or “Have a good day.” Talk together about how you would say goodbye to different people.

Find Out More

MSU Extension provides the following resources for parents and caregivers of preschoolers and young children at no or low cost. Be sure to check out these and other MSU Extension resources available at www.extension.msu.edu.

Extension Extras (https://bit.ly/2LC2vdX) – These compilations of news articles, activities, parenting tips and advice are published online Monday through Friday. The resources are designed for parents and caregivers of young children who are home all day during the novel coronavirus pandemic. Each day has a theme: Mindful Mondays, Tips on Tuesday, Working Wednesdays, Thinking Thursday, and Fun Fridays.

Extension Extras Enrichment Kits (https://bit.ly/35QAplQ) – These kits feature five or six early childhood activities with learning goals focused in areas such as social and emotional health, literacy, and STEM; a supply list; suggested children’s books; introduction letters explaining how to use the materials; and an evaluation. The kits are available as free downloads.

Early Childhood Videos (https://bit.ly/3ioyEkS) – These short videos offer parents and caregivers of young children information on parenting topics. Titles include “Perspective Taking,” “Family Movies,” “Goals of Misbehavior,” “Using Thinking and Feeling Words,” “The Waiting Game,” and “When Siblings Fight.”

Building Early Emotional Skills (BEES) in Young Children (https://bit.ly/38XW4KI) – This page provides links to a variety of free online parenting courses, workshops, and events offered by MSU Extension for parents and caregivers of young children aged 0 to 3.

Parenting the Preschooler: Social Competence and Emotional Well-Being © 2021 Michigan State University Board of Trustees. The fact sheets in this series may be copied for purposes of 4-H and other nonprofit educational programs and for individual use with credit to Michigan State University Extension.