Understanding Toddlers
Who is a toddler?
• A child between the ages of 1 and 3 years old. • Before the age of one they are considered an
infant.• When they hit 3 years old they are considered Preschool age.
Physical Development
• After infancy, growth in height and weight slows.
• Appetites decrease• Gain lots of teeth!• Body proportions gradually change. Infants have large heads in
proportion to their bodies---this becomes more of a natural proportion.
Physical Development
• Gross motor skills: skills that use large muscles (back , legs, shoulders, arms, etc)
• Climbing and walking is mastered
• Begin to push themselves on wheeled toys then pedal by end of their second year.
Physical Development
• Fine motor skills: skills that require use of small muscles (fingers, wrists, ankles, etc.)
• Improved hand eye coordination• Stack blocks, string beads, simple puzzles, turn
pages of a book, scribble with crayons, turn doorknobs, feed themselves.
Physical Development
• Toilet Training– Children around the age of
two are physically and intellectually ready to begin toilet training.
– Girls tend to master the skill earlier than boys.
Intellectual Development
• Ask “Why”• Discover their world by
satisfying their curiosity.• Use trial and error,
repetition, and imitation• Increased attention span• Increased memory
Intellectual Development
• Remember Piaget’s first period of intellectual development was the sensorimotor period (ages birth-2)
• Piaget’s second period of intellectual development– Preoperational Period– Covers ages 2-7– A period when children start to think symbolically
and imaginatively. They rely less on motor abilities and more on thinking to direct behavior.• Examples: Make believe play, inventing and creating
Intellectual Development
• Language– Start by answering yes
and no, pointing, and following simple commands.
– By two years old they have a growing vocabulary of 50 to 300 words. Can name familiar objects.
Intellectual Development
Children try to understand new information 2 ways:
Assimilation: children take in new information and try to make it fit with what they currently know and understand. (example: thinking a black and white spotted dog is a cow)
Accommodation: children change their thinking to make new information fit. (learning the difference between a dog and a cow)
Emotional Development
• Still learning control• Prone to impulsiveness and
quick mood swings• Develop a sense of
independence • Develop fears (spiders, water,
etc.)• Sense of security continues as a
primary emotional need for toddlers.
Social Development• PLAY is how they are learn.
Solitary Play: Playing alone (1-2 years old)
Parallel Play: Playing alone but next to another child. (2-3 years old)
• Begin to learn social rules