Category — 2.1 Six to Eight 6-12: Adaptive Skills

By 6 to 8 years of age, most children are expected to perform many adaptive tasks (see full Glossary) on their own. They are expected to clean themselves, get dressed and undressed independently, and may even be expected to fix themselves a simple snack. It is very important that children be given the opportunity to perform these tasks at home because they will be expected to perform them at school.

Most children at this age can:

• tell what they need to wear, depending on the weather;
• dress and undress, independently;
• tie shoelaces;
• button small buttons, in the correct button holes (Fig. 1) ;
• fasten snaps;
• connect a zipper and zip up;
• bathe or shower independently, or semi-independently;
• brush hair on their own;
• brush teeth on their own (Fig. 2);
• wash and dry their hands and faces, independently;
• help with food preparation (though they may not wish to do so!)
• hold most kitchen utensils properly;
• can fix a simple snack by themselves.

Figure 1. Button holes

Figure 2. Brushing teeth

see References