Can my daughter tell if I cut a 5-minute warning a tiny bit short?

Your daughter will likely not know if you cut a 5-minute warning short since children typically understand the concept of time around the first or second grade. However, in order to help her build her understanding of time, ensure that you are relatively consistent when you mention specific time increments. For example, if you give your daughter a two minute warning before leaving the park, try to make sure that you leave around two minutes and not around twenty minutes later. Using references to time in your conversation will help her begin to understand the concept. In the meantime, she won’t notice if you cut her 5-minute warning a bit short.

Jennie Ito, Ph.D.

Child Development Expert

Jennie Ito is a mother of two and a child development consultant who specializes in children’s play and toys. Before becoming a consultant for LeapFrog, she was an intern at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, and later worked as a content expert for the Association of Children’s Museum’s “Playing for Keeps” Play Initiative. Jennie earned her doctorate degree in developmental psychology at Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada.