Child development at 5-6 years: what’s happening
Playing and learning
Even as children get older and start school, play is important. It’s still how children learn and build social, emotional and thinking skills.
Your child’s pretend play is more complex now, filled with fantasy and drama. You might also notice that your child can play with others to achieve a common goal – for example, working together to build one big sandcastle. And your child might understand if another child doesn’t want to play a particular game and agree to play something else.
Your child is becoming more social and prefers to play with friends rather than on their own. Your child can share, although they might find it hard to share favourite toys and other things.
Games with rules sometimes challenge your 6-year-old, and your child might even accuse others of cheating sometimes.
Feelings
At this age, children can express feelings, although they might need help and time to identify and talk about tricky emotions like frustration or jealousy. They often have much better control over feelings too and might have fewer unexpected outbursts of anger and sadness.
You might see more patience, and your child might even be open to reasoning with you. This means there could be fewer disagreements in the future.
Although your 6-year-old loves to be independent, they still need your love and attention. Connecting with you and family is the most important thing in your child’s life. Your child is proud of their own achievements, wants your approval – and probably doesn’t take well to criticism.
Your child’s growing understanding of the world around them might lead to some fears. For example, children might be afraid of criticism, tests, failure, physical harm or threat, or supernatural things like ghosts.
Thinking
School-age children can pay attention for longer now.
Your child understands simple concepts like time (today, tomorrow, yesterday), knows the seasons, recognises some words by sight and tries to sound out words. Your child might even read on their own.
Your child is better at seeing other people’s points of view, which helps your child to make friends and meet new people.
Talking and communicating
At this age children talk a lot, sometimes even when nobody is in the room.
You’ll hear your child using full and complex sentences and having adult-like conversations, although they might still find it hard to describe complex ideas or events. Your child understands and usually enjoys jokes and riddles – jokes about poos and wees are particularly funny. Your child also enjoys the opportunity to do ‘show and tell’ at school.
Your child understands more words than they can say, and they’re learning as many as 5-10 new words each day. Vocabulary growth is so rapid at this age that your child’s brain often thinks faster than your child can speak.
Moving
At 5 years, children are more coordinated and love to show off new physical skills – you’ll often hear shouts of ‘Look at me!’
Your child can learn how to ride a bike, jump rope, balance on one foot for a short period of time, walk downstairs without needing to hold your hand, skip and catch a large ball. Many 6-year-olds will also be interested in playing team sports like soccer.
Does it seem like your 6-year-old can’t ever keep still? Wriggling while watching TV, at the dinner table or even while sleeping is quite common.
Your child’s
Daily life and behaviour
At this age, children are becoming more independent and love making small decisions, like what clothes to wear or what to eat for lunch.
Starting school opens up a whole new social world, which comes with a new set of rules. This might be demanding or challenging for your child. School can be tiring so you might notice that your child is easily upset, especially after a long day. On these days you might want to keep your child quiet at home after school and aim for an early bedtime.
Whether your child is feeling worried about starting school or bursting with excitement, a bit of planning and preparation can ease the transition.
At this age, your child might also:
- copy simple shapes with a pencil
- copy letters and write their own name
- say their full name, address, age and birthday
- draw more realistic pictures – for example, a person with a head with eyes, mouth and nose, and a body with arms and legs
- read simple picture books
- understand the importance of rules, and the simple reasons behind rules.
Helping child development at 5-6 years
Here are simple things you can do to help your child’s development at this age:
- Encourage physical activity: play different sports and do recreational activities together or with others. These teach social skills like taking turns, cooperating, negotiating, playing fairly and being a good sport.
- Include your child in simple household chores: setting the table or helping you to put clean clothes away develops moving and thinking skills, while also teaching cooperation and responsibility. These skills are important for school.
- Make time for play each day. Play can include outdoor play, imaginative and creative activities, digital play, physical play and more. It's also important for your child to have time for free play.
- Play with your child each day, even if it’s just for 10 minutes. Playing together gives you the chance to enter your child’s world and find out about their thoughts and feelings. It also shows your child that you care about them and want to spend time together.
- Read with your child. Reading is important for literacy development. You can also try literacy activities like telling stories or making your own book.
- Practise classroom behaviour: for example, you could give your child small tasks that need attention or involve following rules or instructions. Have conversations about your child’s favourite animal or sport and encourage your child to listen, respond and question. This all helps your child get ready for school.
- Arrange playdates: spending time with other children, especially if they go to the same school, helps with social skills and gets your child used to being apart from you.
- Talk about feelings: you can help your child work out why they’re feeling something and help them put words to these feelings. This will help your child form friendships and show empathy.
Parenting a school-age child
As a parent, you’re always learning. It’s OK to feel confident about what you know. And it’s OK to admit you don’t know something and ask questions or get help.
It’s also important to look after yourself. Looking after yourself physically, mentally and emotionally is good for you, and it’s good for your child. When you’re well, you can give your child the loving attention they need to grow and thrive. You can also guide your child’s behaviour in positive ways, even when you find their behaviour challenging.
And remember that part of looking after yourself is asking for help, especially if you’re feeling stressed, anxious or angry. There are many people who can support you and your child, including your partner, friends, relatives and GP.
Never shake, hit or verbally abuse a child. You risk harming your child, even if you don’t mean to. If you feel like you can’t cope, it’s OK to take some time out until you feel calmer. Gently put your child in a safe place like their bedroom. Go to another room to breathe deeply, or call your state or territory parenting helpline.
When to be concerned about child development at 5-6 years
You know your child best. So it’s a good idea to see your GP if you have any concerns or notice that your child has any of the following issues at 5-6 years.
Communicating and understanding
Your child:
- is difficult to understand or isn’t speaking in full sentences
- can’t understand multi-step, complex instructions like ‘Please put the soccer ball away, wash your hands, and sit down for dinner’.
Behaviour and play
Your child:
- has tantrums whenever they don’t get their own way
- doesn’t show empathy – for example, doesn’t try to comfort others who are hurt or upset
- shows no interest in letters or trying to write their own name
- is very withdrawn, worried or depressed or gets very upset when separating from you
- doesn’t interact well with others – for example, is aggressive or shows no interest in interacting with other children or adults.
Everyday skills
Your child:
- still wets or soils their pants during the day, but note that night-time wetting is typical up until the age of 6-7 years, especially for boys
- has difficulty falling asleep at night or staying asleep.
See a child health professional if at any age your child experiences a noticeable and consistent loss of skills.
Development usually happens in the same order in most children, but skills might develop at different ages or times. If you’re wondering whether your child’s development is on track, or if you feel that something isn’t quite right, it’s best to get help early. See your GP.
