Developmental Red Flags 3 to 4 Years
Gross Motor Development
| Child is not meeting developmental milestones |
| Child walks funny |
| Child walks on his/her toes all the time |
| Child is excessively clumsy |
| Something appears wrong with child’s legs and/or feet |
| Child complains of persistent pain or fatigue |
| Child’s skills are regressing |
Fine Motor Development
| His movements seem shaky or stiff |
| Her arms and hands seem very weak |
| He is not able to cut along a straight line |
| She is not holding her crayons or pencils with her thumb and fingers |
| He is not able to draw a circle, square and cross (+) – |
| She is not able to put on her own shirts, pants, socks, and shoes (with some help with fasteners) |
| He is not able to feed himself well with a spoon and fork |
Eating & Drinking Development
| Regular coughing or choking during eating |
| Taking a really long time to eat a meal (more than 30-45 minutes) |
| Getting sick often with pneumonia or chest infections – |
| Gurgly, hoarse, or breathy voice after eating |
| Less than normal weight gain or growth |
| Lots of leakage of food or liquid from the mouth |
| Coughing, gagging, or throwing up during or after meals |
| Stuffing mouth with food |
| Holding food inside pockets in mouth for long periods |
| Difficulty accepting new textures of food |
| Avoidance behaviours to specific foods and textures (gagging, vomiting, blocking the spoon with hands or closed lips, crying, pushing food away, etc.) |
| Refusing to eat more than a few foods, or refusing to eat anything from one of the food groups |
| Being extremely rigid about how food is prepared or how it is served |
| Abnormal bowel movements that last longer than a few days (diarrhea, constipation, loose stool) |
| Skin reactions to foods (dry patches, hives, rashes) Note: If your child seems to be having a severe allergic reaction to a food (difficulty breathing, turning red, developing hives or rash on the face/chest), you should seek medical help immediately |
Communication Development
| Not easily understood by others |
| Difficulty putting sentences together |
| Lots of grammatical difficulties in their sentences |
| Difficulties with concepts such as prepositions (position words such as behind, beside, etc.) colours, size, categories. |
| Doesn’t ask questions |
| Doesn’t follow verbal directions |
Social & Emotional Development (playing with others, controlling emotions)
| He is not interested in playing with other children |
| She is not able to share or take turns with other children |
| She wants to be dependent on her caregivers for everything |
| He is extremely “rigid” about routines, and becomes extremely upset when things are changed |
| She has extreme difficulty separating from you |
| He is too passive or fearful, and does not want to try things other children his age are doing |
| She has extreme fears that interfere with daily activities |
Understanding and Thinking Development
| She is not able to name the basic colours and shapes |
| He does not understand the concept of past, present, and future |
| She is not interested in pretend play |
| She constantly moves from one activity to another and is not able to stay with an activity for brief periods |
| He is not able to understand the rules of a basic game, such as Memory, Lotto, or other preschool games |
| She is not able to tell you basic facts about herself (full name, age, city she lives in, street name, etc.) |
| He is not able to count 5 objects |
| She does not recognize her name when she sees it printed |
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