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.

Your child’s environment is all the things that they see, touch, smell, hear, and even taste, every day. As children grow, they look at the things around them to learn about new things. Your home environment can give your child many chances to learn new words and ideas. It can also teach them about the things that are important to your family. Your child’s preschool or daycare is another important learning environment for them. Your neighborhood and community can offer them new things to learn, too. Try some of the following ideas to help your child learn from the things in their environment:

• Display pictures. Whether they are pictures your child has drawn or colored or photographs of your family, they are important. Place pictures on the refrigerator or in a book that is okay for them to look at. Talk to them about who is in the photographs, or about the time they colored a picture on display.
• Read as a family. Have books or magazines in a box or basket just for your child. Spend time each day reading quietly to yourself or reading together as a family. Keep reading materials out for them to read at all times, not just for family reading time.
• Play a color finder game. Choose a color, then walk around your house with your preschooler and have them tell you all the things they see in each room that are the chosen color. Change colors and repeat the game during another circuit of your home. You might both be surprised by the new and different things your child notices.
• Dance to different genres of music. Turn on the radio or a streaming music service and move to different types of music. Listen to your favorite station one day and a different station another day. Dance to country, top 40, classical, R&B, alternative, oldies, and other styles of music.
• Talk about what they see. Take a walk in your neighborhood or community together and talk about the different things you see. Point out tall buildings, fat bumblebees, or silly flowers. Use as many words that describe each object you see as you can.
• Touch things that are safe to touch. Let your preschooler feel the smoothness of the countertop and compare it with the rough texture of the sidewalk. Compare a pet’s fur, feathers, scales, or skin with the hair on your child’s head and the skin on their arm.
• Let your child hold an ice cube, then play with a cup of water. Put the ice cube in warm water and watch what happens! Talk about how the ice cube and the water change.
• Listen to the world around you. Find a spot inside or outside and sit down together. Hold hands and close your eyes. Listen to the sounds around you for as long as your preschooler can stay still. Talk about what they heard. (“What was the loudest sound you heard?” “What sound did you hear that made you jump? That made you feel peaceful?” “Did you hear any mystery sounds that you didn’t know what they were?” “What sound came from close to you?” “What sound do you think came from farthest away?”)
• Have a tasting party. During a snack or even a meal, serve a food your child has never tried before. Talk with them about the new food, including where it is grown, how it grows, and how it is prepared. Discuss whether it is sweet, salty, crunchy, or gooey. Ask them to try the new food and tell you what they think about it.

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.