Three Year Old Milestones: Obstacle Course Test
Hooray, your child is turning three! You may be wondering if he's mastered all the skills that a three year old should. Well, there is an easy way to find out by simply creating an Obstacle Course and inviting some of his friends to join in the fun. This can help you test your child's movement skills, hand and finger skills, language and social skills.
To set-up this type of test you must create an obstacle course around your yard, in your basement or on your driveway. An obstacle course is a path that has activities a child must do along the way. This particular course is special because each activity tests a specific skill that a three year old should be able to master. It's also tons of fun too!
As your child and his pals make their way around the course, watch how your child does compared to his friends and this will give you an idea of your child's mastery of the three-year-old milestones.
Below you'll find a list of all the skill milestones that a three year old should be able to master. You'll also see the obstacle course activity that will test that skill set.
Movement Milestones for Three Year Olds and the Matching Obstacle Course Test Activity
- Child can climb steps and stairs.
Activity: Place a kids step stool as the first item in the obstacle course and require all kids to step on top and over the step stool. - Child can kick a ball.
Activity: Place a ball on the ground and a large garbage can on its side on the ground. Have each child try to kick the ball into the open top of the garbage can. Give them as many tries as they need. - Child can ride a tricycle.
Activity: Put two cones or some type of markers on the yard or driveway. Move the cones 10 feet apart and place a tricycle at one of the markers. Have each child ride the tricycle from the first cone to the other cone and back again. - Child can bend and touch toes without toppling over.
Activity: Place a pile of rocks on the ground next to a bucket. Have each child bend down and pick up a few rocks and toss them into the bucket then dump them out again.
Milestones for Hand and Finger Skills for Three Year Olds and the Matching Obstacle Course Test Activity
- Child can draw lines or circles.
Activity: Set up a chalk board or dry erase board on an art easel or kids table and draw a line and circle at the top. Have each child take a turn copying the line and circle drawings below the originals. - Child can build towers up to six blocks high.
Activity: Place a bunch of building blocks on a table and tell kids to pile them as high as they can. - Child can screw and unscrew lids.
Activity: Get three jars and on the first jar paint a red circle on both jar and lid, on second jar paint a green circle on jar and lid and blue circle on the third jar and lid. Put three different types of candy in each jar. Tell the kids that they can open up each jar and take a piece of candy from each, then put the correct color lids on the matching jar when they're done. This will be the last activity in the obstacle course and their reward for a job well done!
As your child enjoys doing each activity with friends, watch out for some other telltale signs that he has met the milestone mark for the following social and language skills as well.
Social Milestones for a Three Year Old
- Child will imitate others.
- Child will be affectionate with friends.
- Child will comprehend what "mine" "his/hers" means.
- Child will have learned how to take turns during playtime.
Language Milestones for a Three Year Old
- Child will understand short commands.
- Child knows most common pictures and objects.
- Child can understand almost all sentences he/she hears.
- Child uses common pronouns and plurals.
- Child can tell you his name and age and other basic information.
- Child comprehends the meaning of terms such as: on, in, under etc...
If your child makes it through the obstacle course without too many fumbles and he has a blast with his friends, then there's a great chance that he's right on target for his age level.
