Which developmental milestone typically occurs by age 3?

By age 3, children typically develop basic self-help skills, including the ability to dress themselves and feed themselves with minimal assistance. This milestone is significant as it showcases their growing independence and motor skills. At this age, children are refining their fine motor skills, which are crucial for tasks such as manipulating clothing fasteners and using utensils.

While some children may display advanced literacy skills around this age, true advanced literacy development generally becomes more apparent in older preschool years. Similarly, achieving complete independence in daily tasks is not an expectation for 3-year-olds, as they still heavily rely on adult support for many activities. Understanding complex instructions is also a skill that develops later; at age 3, children are more likely to understand simple, one-step directions rather than complex multi-step instructions.