Stages of children's physical development -
How can I support my child?
It wasn't long ago that your child was a helpless newborn in your arms. The first years have flown by – your baby has grown into a confident child. But physical development is far from finished: children not only get bigger, their motor skills and sensory development continue to progress.
How does my child develop?
Language development: Language development largely happens by itself: toddlers copy 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 words 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 later opens up, in older children, through sentence structure and grammar — without them being consciously aware of the rules.
Vision: A newborn's vision is initially limited to distinguishing light from dark. During the first two years children learn to recognise contours, see three‑dimensionally and judge distances. Visual acuity continues to improve over the following years. Only when children start school, at around six years old, is the development of spatial vision complete. The visual field, however, is not fully developed until around 10 to 12 years. Only then 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 around six months, many babies show stranger anxiety — also an expression of social development. It is not until about three years that a real interest in other people begins: "Why is Dad laughing?" Children then start to interact with people outside the family — the first tentative friendships emerge. At four to five years children learn to empathise with others. They understand that other people feel or think differently from themselves.
Hearing: Although hearing begins to develop in the womb, it takes several years to become fully functional: in the first three years your baby learns to interpret auditory information in a meaningful way. Hearing ability is established by school age, but children may not always be able to use it fully: some may find it difficult to localise a sound source until around the age of eight.
Emotional development: Emotional development is likely a lifelong process. After all — even adults keep learning how to deal with their emotions. In the first year your child learns to express emotions such as joy, anger or fear. At the start of the second year toddlers also recognise the emotions of others, but it is only at around five years that they can really put themselves in someone else's shoes. Young children are often torn between the desire to do things on their own and the caring protection of familiar people. This uncertainty can show itself as temper tantrums. Gradually children find ways of coping with their feelings.
Motor development: There is no fixed timetable for children's motor development. What is certain, however, is the remarkable progress they make in the first eight years of life. By the age of two almost all children can walk confidently. Fine motor skills also continue to develop: while toddlers are often still a little clumsy when handling different objects, over time they learn precise movements and become better at judging the force required.
Tips – How can I support it?
Talk 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 aloud and telling stories also trains 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. This is not uncommon and in most cases disappears on its own. However, you should have any speech disorders examined by a pediatrician or speech therapist to rule out a medical cause and, if necessary, initiate support measures.
Meeting other children:
In the early years, children are very self-centered. Give your child the opportunity to come into contact with peers. First in playgroups, then in daycare and finally at school, your child will learn to share and be considerate when interacting with others. Role-playing can also encourage your child to step into other roles and experience new perspectives. This way your child learns to have empathy for others.
Recognizing specific sounds
isn’t so easy — even adults often have trouble. Playful exercises and perception games help a 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 in the dark, you automatically focus on listening: What do we hear and from which direction is the sound coming?
Show understanding:
It is important that your child learns to deal with their feelings and to express them. Support them and show understanding for their feelings. This way your child learns that it is completely normal to have strong feelings and that they need to be expressed. Show them how they can express their emotions without hurting or insulting others. A good punch into a pillow can sometimes work wonders. Talk with your child about their feelings as well as your own. That way they learn to put their emotions into words.
Provide stimulation:
Children learn to see just like they learn to walk. You can support your child playfully: in ball games your child learns to track fast movements with their eyes and judge distances. Specific 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 toddlers’ eyes. 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 the senses can be stimulated, your child can learn colors and enjoy the fresh air.
Gain experience:
Over the years children optimize coordination, strength and stamina — 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 become. The risk of accidents decreases. With puzzles and peg beads you can playfully promote fine motor skills. By the way, that’s fun for adults too.
Checklist for parents: Your child's development
Every child follows their own pace– and that can’t be influenced.
Don't compare:Don't compare your child's rate of development 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.
Provide structure:Regular daily routines give your child a sense of security.
Attend preventive check-ups:A professional assessment of your child's development is important to identify any need for support early.
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 supports your child's language development.
Let them be a child:Just as important as learning motor skills or learning to write is to simply let the child be a child: children need to romp, laze about and be allowed to be wild.
