Early Childhood Ages 2-6 years old

Physical Development Early Childhood

As we have seen through the previous stages; children grow and learn so quickly the first few years of
life. The early childhood stages and milestones are no different. With physical development children
around the age of two years old may begin to learn how to push toys with their legs, run jump, hop, and
throw balls. This may also mean that they learn to multi task while using their hands and feet together.
Children in this stage may still be growing be growing at a fast rate; however they may hit a slow spurt
and save their body mass for future stages. Children in this stage will also begin learning new skills on
what may seem to be a daily basis.
Children are building on earlier skills and become increasingly adept at activities using coordination
and speed. Children at this point will begin to lose the baby fat (slim down), while growing taller, and
more muscular although many of the muscles will excel at greater speeds and amounts later in life as
will be discussed in adolescence. Children growing typically at this stage may range from 30-35 pounds
and from 4-6 pounds per year as they are also growing taller. According to Rogol, Roemmich, & Clark
(2002); Muscle accumulates throughout infancy and childhood, with a dramatic rise at adolescence.
Language Development
According to some research it has been found that the brain develops at different rates for each side.
According to Houghton Mifflen Harcourt (nd); Language skills are found in the left hemisphere which
develops faster in early infancy and early childhood. The left hemisphere will predominate earlier and
longer which may explain why children acquire language of many sorts so early and quickly. During this
stage of life children will be able to converse more fluently with others, as well as to be more easily
understood. According to Berk (2013); There are three types of words; object, action, and state words
are most common in young childrens vocabularies; each provides important information about the
course of semantic development (p.379). This would possibly mean that the child may speak in phrases
of importance to them as they see it. An example would be such as two children playing and one starts
to cry; this same child may claim hit me then pause and say bubby did; this is far different that
saying that bubby hit me!

Cognitive Development
Vygotsky (1986); believed that Childrens learning takes place within the zone of proximal
development; a range of tasks too difficult for the children to do alone; yet possible with help of adults

and or more skilled peers. This is to suggest that children will acquire cognitive skills or learning from
those around them. Piaget however felt that the preoperational stage ages 2-7; allowed for children to
gain cognitive skills, and advances in problem solving skills and experimental learning (Piaget, J. 1960). It
is said that children this age should be able to categorize animals, shapes and other objects according to
individual characteristics; such as shape, size and color. They should also be able to put together simple
puzzles, as well as to understand consequences for actions and be able to display their new knowledges
when appropriate.

Atypical Development
If a child is not gaining strengths in problem solving such as drawing, recognizing shapes, colors, or
describing minor details accurately such as categorizing objects; it is suggested that parents should
indeed make sure that there are no visual impairments, or hearing issues preventing the child from
learning these skills. It is also however imperative for parents to know that these are only estimated
goals and that each child will develop differently within reason.
Ideas to Encourage Development in Early Childhood
During the elementary school years, vocabulary increases fourfold, eventually exceeding
comprehension of 40,000 words (Anglin, 1993)! To enhance this feature of learning Weizman & Snow
(2001) express that; as in earlier ages, children benefit from engaging in conversation with more expert
speakers especially when they are using and explaining complex words. Children in this stage are eager
to learn more about all that they encounter and with language rich environments and vocabulary being
expressed and explained the children are more apt to learn. There are many ideas that could help this
process such as children and adults reading, discussing new ideas and first and foremost using
expressive language appropriately and to make sure that the children have a full understanding of the
meaning of the words. For physical competencies there could also be ideas of getting children involved
in sports to enhance the physical developments that will encourage activity physically. The children will
then learn how to utilize the muscles and different forms that their bodies have taken on since their
early toddler years. Staying physically active and interested in new learning will encourage a healthier
youth, well on their way to middle childhood.

Play based strategies to help children gains stronger abilities through Early Childhood
During this stage of childhood as our children are growing rapidly and learning new things daily, there
are many fun ways to encourage their developments and gaining strengths in all areas. Children ages 26 years of age are learning new skills such as walking, running, talking and imaginative play, as well as
playing and sharing with others when given the chance. For these activities and learning games I would
like to incorporate some ideas of life skills as well.
Beginning with the fun part of potty training; I would like to explain the potty game. As grown-ups
we know how hard it can be at times to potty train our little ones. Sometimes children are afraid of the
toilet or just have no interest in learning its purpose. For this activity I encourage making this an
interesting place to be, while teaching the child concepts of colors while potty training. We will need
two bottles of food coloring one blue, and one red. Yes food coloring for potty training, and a lot of
patience! Although this seems a little out of the ordinary, the child will quickly learn that when they use
the potty the colors change. We as adults know that yellow and blue make green, yellow and red make
orange. A few drops of food coloring made potty training my children a fun and educational way of
learning. There is a lot to be said for finding fun ways to entertain your child in the process of potty
training. This worked with all seven of my own children; and they all learned some of their colors as
well!
Another fun way of learning at this stage is to play go fish, not the typical card game but fishing for
paper fish that you and your child can create. For this game you will need assorted colors of
construction paper, paper clips and some magnets. Design and cut out fish on the paper with your child
while talking to them about the different colors. This art project will encourage your child to use their
hands while cutting out the fish, decorating the fish and soon going fishing! Once the fish are cut out
and decorated, attach the metal paper clip the fish mouth and create some fishing poles with sticks,
string and the magnet on the end. I then lay a sheet or blanket on the floor over some pillows to give the
effect of a fishing hole, and were off!
I explain to the children that we will take turns fishing and the object of the game is for the person
not fishing to pick a color and the person with the pole needs to catch the fish that matches the color
chosen. Once the child has retrieved the fish it is time to hand the pole to the next player and choose
what color fish they want to be caught next. This game allows for the child to learn how to share, take
turns and learn their colors at the same time. We can even add more excitement by putting a fan on in
the direction of the fish that helps them to have some life like movement! This game also encourages
the child to utilize their motor skills, hand eye coordination, and expressive as well as receptive language
skills. This game has also turned into many camping excursions in the comfort of our own living room,
with many more adventures to add to our learning games!