Developmental Stages of Children

Infancy to Toddlerhood (Birth to 2 Years) 14 Cognitive Development 14 Physical Development 15 Social and Emotional Development 15 Language Development 17Early Childhood (2 to 7 Years) 22 Cognitive Development 22 Physical Development 23 Social and Emotional Development 23 Language Development 24Middle Childhood (7 to 14 Years) 26 Cognitive Development 26 Physical Development 27 Social and Emotional Development 27 Language Development 28Optimal Stimulation 30 Exploration Strategies 30Mouthing 30 Mouthing and Looking 30 Rotating and Transferring Hand-to-Hand 31 Insertion (Body into Object and Object into Body) 32 Banging, Throwing, and Dropping 33 Combining Objects 34 Matching Objects 34 Using Objects Appropriately 35 Representational Play 35Imaginative Play 36 Testing the Limits 37Summary 37 Acknowledgments 37 References 38 Other References 38 Other Writings about Piaget’s Theories 38Each child is unique, yet children also exhibit consistent similarities as they grow and develop. We can predict when, how, and why children do the things they do based on the cognitive, physical, social, emotional, and language dimensions of each developmental stage. This chapter describes these developmental stages as children mature from infancy to their 14th year.