COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENTAL

MILESTONES
AGE: 5 & 6 YEARS
• Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development suggests that children move through four
different stages of learning. 

• Preoperational stage: Ages 2 to 7

• With rapid increases in motor skill and language development, young children are
constantly encountering new experiences, objects, and words.

• During the preoperational stage, many of the child’s existing schemas will be challenged,
expanded, and rearranged. Their whole view of the world may shift.

• Children in this stage are learning to use language and how to think about the world
symbolically
• Centration and conservation are characteristic of preoperative thought.

• Centration is the act of focusing all attention on one characteristic or dimension of a

situation while disregarding all others.
Centration is a child focusing on the number of pieces of cake that each person has, regardless
of the size of the pieces.

• Conservation is the awareness that altering a substance’s appearance does not change its
basic properties.
5-6 YEARS
• Sequencing (First, next, and last)
• Prepositions
• Understanding the concept of Time (yesterday, today, and
tomorrow)
• Days of the week
• Counts 10 or more objects.
• Names at least four colors correctly.
• Understands items used everyday such as food or money.
• Draws a person with at least six body parts.
• Copies a triangle and other geometric shapes.
• Recognizes own printed name and may be able to write name.
6 YEARS
• Number concept

• Differentiate day and night

• Repeat 3 digits backwards

• Speak in sentence of five to seven words

• Focus on a task for five minutes

• Be able to tell time

• Peer acceptance is needed during this stage and hence, boys tend to play with boys and girls with
other girls.

• Get better at describing events and feelings. 

ACTIVITIES
 SEQUENCING

• Sequencing, also known as temporal ordering, is the process of arranging events in the order that they occur in
time.
• Sometimes the events just occur in a certain order, such as when dressing – undergarments go on first, trousers before
shoes, etc.
• Learning to sequence is an important part of a child’s cognitive development, along with learning mental concepts
such as matching, sorting, pairing and cause-and-effect relationships.

ACTIVITY: Following a Recipe, Daily Routine, Photo Story, Grow Beans, Story Time, Sequencing Cards

 STORY TELLING

• To Improve conversational skills and social abilities

ACTIVITY: Describing characteristics of a picture with prompts.

 CONCEPT OF TIME and DAYS OF WEEK

• Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

• Large sheet of paper, pictures representing events in child’s daily routine.
 UNDERSTANDING QUESTIONS

• Pointing to correct pictures of WHAT, WHO, and WHERE

• Pictures of Objects ( ball, car, chair), Animals ( cow, cat, dog), and People ( mother, father, baby)
• Spread out the pictures of an adult, cow, and a ball.
• Ask “who drives the car” “what does mummy drive” “where do you sleep”

 PREPOSITIONS

• Prepare worksheets by drawing simple pictures

• 1st Pic: House, Girl and Tree
• 2nd pic: Square, Circle, and Triangle

Commands: Lets draw a circle around girl…emphasise on the word “around” “draw line under the house” “make a
dot beside tree”
Gradually increase the difficulty of the task (can add colour)
 Time
• Identify parts of clock (Numbers, the hour hand, & the minute hand)
• Teach time to the hour ( 1 O’ clock)
• Teach time to half hour
• Five min interval
• Past the 30 Min point (40, 45, 50)