Tzeadim › By age
3–6 years
Gross motor
- Stroller only for long distances
From 2, let the child walk 10–20 minutes for short errands; from 3 the stroller is for naps and long days.
- Pedals a tricycle
Pedals and steers; a balance bike is an equally good (or better) alternative.
- Walks up stairs one foot per step
Alternates feet going up, usually with a hand on the rail.
- Walk (or wheel) to gan and school
Make the morning trip the default movement: on foot, scooter or bike when distance allows — minutes that add up every single day.
- Catches a large ball
Catches a big ball with arms and body most of the time.
- Stands on one foot
About 5 seconds at 4 years, 10 seconds at 5 — the balance behind hopping and stairs.
- Hops on one foot
Several hops on each foot; skipping follows at 5–6.
- Rides a two-wheeler
Balance bike from 3 → pedal bike without training wheels, typically 5–6.
- 60 minutes of energetic activity a day (5–17)
Moderate-to-vigorous: running, cycling, swimming, sport; plus muscle/bone-strengthening 3 days a week.
- Gallops, then skips
Gallops around 4 years and skips around 6 — the last of the basic movement patterns.
- Jump, climb, sprint: 3 days a week
Within the daily hour of movement, make 3 days vigorous with muscle- and bone-loading play: jumping, climbing, gymnastics, sprints.
Fine motor
- Draws a person with 3 parts
A head with at least two more parts — legs, arms or eyes — recognisable as a person.
- Copies a cross
Copies a + shape after seeing it drawn — two lines that meet.
- Cuts along a line with scissors
Uses child scissors to cut roughly along a drawn line.
- Holds a crayon between fingers and thumb
Moves from a fist grip to holding the crayon with the fingertips.
- Draws a person with 6+ body parts
Head, eyes, mouth, body, arms, legs — a good marker of fine-motor and cognitive development.
- Copies a square
Copies a square with recognisable corners — a step on the way to letters.
- Writes own name
Copies or writes the first name, letters roughly formed.
Language
- Uses 'I', 'me' and 'you'
Refers to themselves and to you with pronouns instead of names.
- Speaks in 4-word sentences
Sentences with a verb; asks why; tells you about the day (2 events by 5).
- Recognises and makes rhymes
Hears that 'cat' and 'hat' rhyme; claps syllables — the roots of reading.
- Tells a story with two events
Recounts something that happened in order — 'we went to the park and then I fell'.
- Keeps a conversation going
Three or more back-and-forth exchanges on the same topic.
Social & emotional
- Separates calmly at gan
Settles within 10 minutes after you leave; most children adjust to gan within 4–8 weeks.
- Comforts someone who is upset
Notices that someone is hurt or sad and does something about it.
- Follows rules and takes turns
Plays a simple board or playground game by the rules, and can lose without falling apart most of the time.
Thinking
- Names a few colours
Names at least a few colours correctly, not just matches them.
- Counts to 10 and counts objects
Says the numbers in order and counts 5+ objects one by one (one number per object).
- Knows some letters
Names letters in their own name and a few others; Hebrew alef-bet and Latin letters both count.
- Uses time words
Uses 'yesterday', 'tomorrow', 'later' and 'before' roughly correctly.
Self care
- Out of daytime diapers
Readiness-based: wind down from 2, most done by 3–3½; pull-ups slow it down once training has started.
- Dry at night
Maturation, not training: 1 in 5 five-year-olds and 1 in 10 seven-year-olds still wet the bed. Evaluated (and treatable) from 7.
- Dresses without help (buttons, zips)
Chooses weather-appropriate clothes with a nudge; shoes on the right feet; buttons by 5.
- Buttons and zips
Does up large buttons and starts a zip — the fiddliest part of dressing alone.
- Wipes after the toilet
Manages wiping alone, with an adult checking at first. Girls wipe front to back.
- A real job in the house
A chore that the family actually depends on, matched to their age, done without payment.
Feeding
- Stop sippy/spout cups
Open cups and straws by 3 — better for teeth and speech muscles.
- Aruchat eser: sandwich, vegetable, water
The mid-morning meal at gan and school: whole-grain bread, a protein spread, a vegetable and water — the MoE circular's pattern.
- Breakfast every school day
Something with protein before school steadies concentration through the morning.
Sleep
- Move from crib to a bed
Wait until about 3 (or the first time the child climbs out). Earlier moves mean more night wandering.
- Preschool sleep: 10–13 hours (3–5 years)
Including a nap if still napping; bedtime 19:00–20:00; screens off an hour before.
- Out of the crib
Wind down from 2½; most children move to a bed by 3–3½, or as soon as they climb out.
- Dropping the daytime nap
Most children drop the nap between 3 and 5; keep 'quiet time' and move bedtime earlier when the nap goes.
Health
- 3-year self-checklist (gan entry)
Before gan: speech clarity, sentences, toilet training progress, dressing, play with others, vision (eye turn?), hearing.
- Pacifier: stop completely
Wind down from 2, done by 3 (dentists) — bite and palate changes; AAP allows up to 4.
- Height and weight once a year
Plotting growth yearly shows the trend, which matters far more than any single measurement.
- Tipat Halav: 4 years (vision screen)
Growth, vision screening (amblyopia window!), hearing if concerns, development checklist, dental and safety talk.
- Tipat Halav: 5 years (school readiness)
Last Tipat Halav visit: growth, readiness questions, vaccine record check before 1st grade.
Safety
- Helmet on every bike, scooter and skateboard ride
The law for minors in Israel; the model is you. E-scooters are illegal under 16.
- Lice check: comb once or twice a week
A fine comb on wet, conditioned hair, 1–2×/week through gan and school; found something — comb daily until clear.
- Smoke alarms and a way out
Working smoke alarms, matches and lighters out of reach, and a route out that the children have walked.
- Turn the car seat forward-facing — only when the seat's limit is reached
Law: at least 12 months. Best practice: stay rear-facing to 2–4 years (weight/height limit of the seat), then forward-facing with a harness.
- Swim lessons from 4
Formal lessons from 4 reduce drowning risk; water-confidence play before that. Lessons never replace supervision.
- Booster seat from ~4 to 8 (or 145 cm)
After the harness seat's limit: a high-back booster with the car's belt; Israeli law requires a seat/booster to age 8.
- Knows a parent's phone number and full name
Full name, parents' names, and one phone number by heart; what to do if lost (stay put, find a mother with children/uniform).
- Knows the address and what to do if lost
Knows their full name, a parent's name and the address, and has practised staying put and finding a safe adult.
Play & learning
- 2 hours outdoors a day
Daylight time protects eyesight (school-age trials cut new myopia), sleep, mood and movement; it delays onset, not existing myopia.
- This month's Sifriyat Pijama book
When a new book arrives from gan (or school in grades 1–2), read it together — many times; the repetition is the feature.
- Free play with other kids, weekly
Unstructured, child-run play with friends — playground, yard, someone's house; not a chug. AAP prescribes play; protect a slot.
- A game with rules, weekly
Simple board and card games train waiting, counting, losing and attention all at once.
For the parent
- Body-safety talk (private parts, no secrets)
Correct names for body parts, 'your body belongs to you', no secrets from parents, who to tell. Repeat yearly.