Child Development

Child Development

Child Development

From birth to age six children experience fast and substantial developmental changes. In this period, their bodies and brain are continuously growing and developing. From ages 2 to 6 changes in their development allow them to gain motor skills that will impact other areas of development and later in life their well-being and ability to do certain tasks. For example, fine motor skills are extremely necessary for an individual’s ability to perform daily self-care tasks such as getting dressed, brushing teeth, bathing, and toileting (Minuci, 2019, p.27). Some studies have also found motor skills are a strong predictor of academic achievement and that children who lack satisfactory fine motor skills are likely to suffer in other academic areas (Minuci, 2019, p 27). Morrow (2015) writes that children’s self-esteem can be impacted negatively by “their hands not working together in a way they should” (p. 11). Frustration from the difficulties they encounter can lead them to resist and avoid activities that require the specific motor abilities they are having trouble with. This study also suggests that children and adolescents are at high risk of suffering from anxiety and depression due to the perceived lack of competence in their motor activities (Morrow, 2015). In addition, due to the risk of suffering from anxiety and depression due to the perceived lack of competence children can also engage in negative behaviors such as extreme anger and defiant behaviors (p.11).

Biologically from ages 2 to 6 about 45 new growth centers harden from cartilage to bone in the child’s body. In this period, the brain increases from 70% to 90% of its adult weight (Berk, 2004, p.217). These changes allow for improvement in balance and hand control. This improvement will allow the development of new fine and gross motor skills (Berk, 2004. p.222). Fine motor movements are actions that involve the small muscles of the hand and fingers and can be seen in the practice of skills such as sewing, knitting, writing, and cutting with scissors (Morrow 2015, p.9). Gross motor skills on the other hand involve the use of large muscles in the arms, torso, and legs. Activities that involve gross motor skills include walking, catching, throwing, kicking, jumping, and lifting.

In the area of gross motor development from ages 2-3, children start walking more rhythmically, start running, jumping, hopping, throwing and catching, and pushing tricycles with feet. From ages 3-4 they start alternating feet when walking upstairs and their jumps and hops are now accompanied by flexing in the open body. From ages 4-5 they start walking down the stairs with alternating feet, and they run smoothly. In the final ages of early childhood, ages 5-6, children engage in true skipping, run faster, have more mature throwing and catching patterns, and can ride a bike with training wheels.

At the same time, fine motor skills are being developed. From ages 2-3, children can put simple items of clothing, zip and unzip ‘zippers and use a spoon effectively. From ages 3-4 they can fasten buttons, use scissors, copy vertical line and circles and they start drawing people using tadpole form. From ages 4-5 they can use a fork, cute with scissors following a line, copy triangles, crosses, and some letters. From 5-6 children can tie their shoes, copy some numbers and words, cut food using a knife and draw a person with 6 parts (Berk, 2004, p.225).

In five years, children can go from starting to walk more rhythmically and holding writing utensils to running 12 feet per second, writing numbers and simple words. It is important to note that although there are tables informing what are the expected developmental milestones for the different ages there are many factors that affect a child’s development. Aspects such as genetics on a child’s height, parents, teachers, culture, and social norms can all influence how a child develops and when a child will develop their motor skills (Berk, 2004).

Child Development

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