Sensory processing is well established at this stage. Your child is using their senses in increasingly sophisticated ways — observing details, making comparisons, and using sensory information to fuel curiosity and learning across all areas of development.

One word: sports! Confident gross motor control means ability to participate in sports with other children. At four, your child can begin to learn how to swim, skate, dance, ski. The base ability for large movements is well established by the end of this year. Any improvement from now on is mainly due to increased strength and practice.

What you can do: Enrol in a sport, dance class, or swimming lessons. The social and physical benefits of organized sports at four are well-documented.

This year is all about precision. Your four-year-old will develop enough fine motor control to learn how to hold a pencil properly. Hand-eye coordination gets a massive upgrade. They can build more complex and intricate structures from blocks, use tools effectively, and thread small beads onto string.

What you can do: Teach the proper pencil grip — use a pencil grip aid if needed. Offer beading activities. Build together with small pieces. The fine motor precision developed this year is the foundation for all future writing.

Your toddler isn't falling down much anymore! They can climb into a chair with no help, go up and down stairs (make them hold the railing), and even jump off a low step or stool.

What you can do: Encourage safe jumping from low heights. Practice one-foot balancing together. Balance is now a game rather than a survival skill.

 This year you'll witness a tremendous expansion of your child's horizons. A much longer attention span means they can focus on activities for longer. Curiosity about experiences they observe or hear about others having will also increase. Their ability to learn about objects and events by discussing observations and making comparisons will expand significantly.

What you can do: Take them on "learning trips" — a museum, a farm, a fire station. Their attention span can now sustain a real learning outing.

Your child's imagination is becoming a more defined place. They're using it for more complex pretend play, showing remarkable ability to think outside the box. Their artistic inclinations are moving toward realism — you may not have to ask what they've drawn anymore! They use art to tell stories. Musical ability may blossom this year, along with understanding of pitch and rhythm.

What you can do: Ask them to draw real things — their house, their family, their pet. Ask them to describe what they've made. You'll see them placing real details into imaginary scenes.

Your four-year-old is a scientist. This year brings the ability to make and follow plans to accomplish tasks. They learn from past experiences, including failures, and explain what happened. When things don't work out, there's a willingness to re-think and try something new. Willingness to fail and try again is one of the best early indicators of future success.

What you can do: Let them fail. Resist the urge to fix it. "That didn't work — what could you try instead?" is more valuable than any solution you could offer.

This is the year many children start to learn to read, write, and count. Your four-year-old may be able to identify and reproduce many letters, numbers, and shapes. By the end of the year, they'll likely know the alphabet and be able to count to 10. They may understand concepts of less and more. They may even start to write, stringing letters together.

What you can do: Read aloud daily. Point to words as you read them. Play letter recognition games. Count everything with them. The more you naturally integrate literacy and numeracy into daily life, the more natural it feels to them.

Your little one will continue honing social skills. They'll cooperate with a group well enough to spend long stretches in games or pretend play, and will form stronger friendships. Your four-year-old will develop empathy — showing appropriate concern when another child is upset or hurt. They may suggest solutions to peers' problems.

What you can do: Talk about others' feelings regularly: "How do you think she felt when that happened?" This perspective-taking practice directly builds empathy.

Your child's ability to communicate will leap forward. Along with vocabulary growth, they'll use more complex sentences to share thoughts, feelings, and ideas. They may understand some figures of speech. They'll become a better conversationalist — initiating conversations, waiting for others to finish speaking.

What you can do: Have real conversations at the dinner table. Ask about their day using open-ended questions. "What was the most interesting thing that happened today?" Model turn-taking and active listening.

Though four-year-olds still need adults as role models, confidence in their own actions is growing. You may see them wanting to choose their own clothing, for example. Being allowed to make their own decisions in appropriate situations will help them become more self-sufficient. Four-year-olds are quite good at expressing themselves verbally — they're not shy about making their needs and preferences known.

What you can do: Offer choices within appropriate limits. "Would you like the red shirt or the blue one?" Two controlled choices build decision-making confidence.

Kindergarten starts this year — a big change. New kids, a new teacher, maybe the first time away from you for an extended period. Four-year-olds have developed tools to adapt to changes like this. They can tolerate time away from you better than ever. They can get feelings out through talking or drawing.

What you can do: Prepare for school transitions by talking about what to expect. "Your teacher will be there. You'll have a cubby for your things. I'll be there to pick you up at 3." Predictability reduces anxiety.