The Year Ahead: Age 5

"Physical development consists of both gross motor (GM) and fine motor (FM) development," says Cheryl Wu, M.D., of LaGuardia Place Pediatrics in New York City. "And while every child develops at their own pace, there are certain milestones I expect most of my patients (90 to 95 percent) to achieve by their fifth birthday." By age 5, a child can do most of the gross motor skills; she can jump high, run, climb well, and start to do more advanced movements like ballet or gymnastics or karate. A 5-year-old can draw a triangle and write her own name, and usually has a preferred handedness by now. (Some children still remain ambidextrous at this age.)

You'll be preparing your child for kindergarten now. "Most teachers want kindergarteners to know how to hold a pencil correctly and to be able to use safety scissors, and those are tasks a parent can practice at home," says Brenda Rogers, M.D., a general pediatrician at Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics in Kansas City, MO. Even though children this age are developing better coordination, they still need our oversight to avoid serious injuries.