Between ages 2 and 6 growth slows to a steady climb, while the brain and body rewire for control. Drag through the years to watch the child stretch taller and leaner — then switch lenses to see big-muscle and small-muscle skills unfold.
The child at age 3
Height37 in
Weight31 lb
Brain — 83% of adult weight
Age 3early childhood · 2–6 years
YoungerAge 3Older
23456
Head-to-toe, center-out. Growth follows two directions — cephalocaudal (head downward) and proximodistal (from the trunk outward to the fingertips). That order is why big-muscle gross-motor skills mature before small-muscle fine-motor ones.