The stages of children's physical development -
How can I support my child?
It wasn't long ago that your child lay in your arms as a helpless newborn. The first years have flown by – your baby has grown into a self-confident child. But physical development is far from finished: children not only keep getting bigger, but their motor skills and sensory development also continue to evolve.
How is my child developing?
Language development: A child's language development actually happens largely on its own: toddlers imitate their surroundings and gradually develop an understanding of language. By the age of two, most toddlers have a vocabulary of up to 150 words. Many more terms are added by the age of eight. In doing so they 'pick up' language and vocabulary from their immediate environment. What begins with individual words or syllables eventually opens up in older children through sentence structure and grammar, without being consciously aware of the rules.
Vision: In newborn babies, vision is initially limited to distinguishing light from dark. During the first two years of life, children learn to recognize contours, see in three dimensions and judge distances. Visual acuity continues to increase in the following years. Only when children start school, at around six years of age, is the development of spatial vision completed. But the visual field is not fully developed until around 10 to 12 years. Only now is your child's vision fully mature.
Social development: Through body language and sounds such as crying and screaming, your child already makes contact with you as a baby. Later, at about six months, many children become wary of strangers – also an expression of social development. But it is not until the age of three that the real interest in other people begins: 'Why is Daddy laughing?' Children then also make contact with people outside their immediate circle – the first tentative friendships emerge. At four to five years old, children finally learn to put themselves in other people's shoes. They understand that other people feel or think differently from themselves.
Hearing: Although the ear begins to develop in the womb, it takes several years before it is fully functional: in the first three years your baby learns to interpret auditory information meaningfully. Hearing ability is developed by the time children enter school age, but children cannot always make full use of it yet: for some it may be difficult until the age of 8 to locate the source of a sound.
Emotional development: Emotional development is likely a lifelong process. Let's be honest – even adults continually learn to deal with their emotions. In the first year of life your child learns to express feelings such as joy, anger or fear. At the start of the second year toddlers also recognize the emotions of others, but it is not until around five years that they can put themselves in others' shoes. Toddlers are often torn between the desire to 'do it alone' and the caring protection of familiar people. This insecurity can be expressed in the form of tantrums. Gradually children find ways to deal with their feelings.
Motor development: There is no fixed timetable for motor development in children. What is certain, however, is that development is enormous given the progress children make in the first eight years of life. At the age of two, almost all children can walk securely. Fine motor skills also continue to develop constantly: while toddlers are often still somewhat clumsy when handling various objects, they learn precise movements over time and are increasingly able to judge the required amount of force.
Tips – How can I support it?
Talking with your child:
By talking a lot with your child, you can promote development. Make sure you give them enough time to answer or express themselves. Reading / being read to and telling stories also train language use: here your child learns new words and gains a sense of sentence structure and grammar. Don’t panic if your child takes longer to speak clearly: many children take their time learning words, others lisp or stutter. That is not uncommon and in most cases goes away on its own. However, you should have speech disorders examined by a pediatrician or a speech therapist to rule out a medical cause and, if necessary, initiate support measures.
Meeting other children:
In the first years of life children are very self-centered. Give your child opportunities to come into contact with children of the same age. First in playgroups, then in daycare and finally at school, your child will learn to share and to be considerate when interacting with others. Role-playing can also encourage your child to step into other roles and so experience new perspectives. This way your child learns to be understanding of others.
Recognizing specific sounds
is not that easy – even adults often have problems with it. Playful exercises and perception games help the child’s hearing to better process acoustic stimuli and evaluate the information. Older children, for example, love night walks. Because you can’t see well then, you automatically concentrate on listening: What do we hear and from which direction does the sound come?
Show understanding:
It is important that your child learns to deal with their feelings and to give them expression. Support them in this and show understanding for their feelings. This way your child learns that it is perfectly normal to have strong feelings and that these must be expressed. Show them how to live out their emotions without hurting or insulting others. A good hard hit into a pillow can sometimes work wonders. Talk with your child about their feelings, but also about your own. This way they learn to put their emotions into words.
Provide stimulation:
Children learn to see just as they learn to walk. You can support your child playfully: during ball games your child learns to follow fast movements with their eyes and to judge distances. Targeted hand movements train hand-eye coordination, which becomes important for writing at school age. Try to minimize time in front of electronic devices. Watching TV strains the eyes of toddlers. Instead, a trip into nature is worthwhile – there is a lot to discover for small and big children – and it has a positive effect on eyesight. With great sensory games outdoors all senses can be stimulated, your child can learn colors and enjoy the fresh air.
Gather experiences:
Over the years children optimize coordination, strength and endurance – which can sometimes be quite exhausting for parents. But the same applies to motor skills: practice makes perfect. The more your child practices climbing and balancing, the more confident their movements will become. The risk of accidents decreases. With puzzles and peg beads you can playfully promote fine motor skills. By the way, adults enjoy that too.
Checklist for parents: Your child’s development
Every child follows their own pace– and that cannot be influenced.
Don’t compare:Don’t compare your child’s developmental pace with peers or siblings – being a child and learning is not a competition!
Be there:Show your child that you are there and that they can come to you with problems and mistakes.
Create structure:Regular daily routines give your child a sense of security.
Attend regular check-ups:A professional assessment of your child’s development is important to identify any need for support early on.
Be outdoors:Most children love nature. Whether at two or eight years old – there is a lot to discover here and all the senses come into play.
Talkwith your child. This incidentally trains your child’s language development.
Let your child be a child:Just as important as learning motor skills or learning to write is simply letting the child be a child: children need to romp, laze around and be allowed to be wild.
