Early Childhood

Milestones
(from naeyc.org)

EARLY CHILDHOOD
Growth and Development

Physical
Can keep balance
Uses large motor skills to
walk, sit, run
Uses fine motor skills to eat
and write
Language
Engages in conversation and
begins to tell stories.
Knows 2100 words or more
Uses body language and
gestures
Cognitive
Understands more complex
concepts
Know primary colors
Has developed problemsolving skills

Social
Has relationships with
family, friends and teachers
Responds to other peoples
feelings

Atypical Development
Does not use multiple word
sentences
Does not talk about daily
experiences

1 School
1. Children learn through their play-cognitive skills Fig.
like
in a
Kids new
pretend grocery store, physical abilities like balancing blocks,
vocabulary like the words they need to play with toy dinosaurs, social
skills like playing together in a pretend car wash, literacy skills like
creating a menu for a pretend restaurant
2. Play is healthy-Play helps children grow strong and healthy and
counteracts obesity
3. Play reduces stress-Play helps children grow emotionally, providing
an outlet for anxiety and stress.
4. Play is more than meets the eye-Play is simple and complex from
symbolic, sociodramatic, functional, and games with rulesjust to
name a few- children learn through play and play impacts childrens
health
5. Make time for play-As parents, make sure children have time to
play during the day to promote cognitive, language, physical, social,
and emotional development.
6. Play and learning go hand-in-hand-They are intertwined. Think
about them as a science lecture with a lab. Play is the childs lab.
7. Play outside-Make sure your children create outdoor memories
outdoor play promotes health
8. Theres a lot to learn about play-Theres a lot written on children
and play. Here are some NAEYC articles and books about play.
9. Trust your own playful instincts- Give your children time for play
and see all that they are capable of when given the opportunity.
10. Play is a childs context for learning- Children practice/reinforce
their learning. Play gives them place and time for learning that cannot
be achieved through completing a worksheet. Play provides rich
learning opportunities and leads to success and self-esteem.

By Laurel Bongiorno at naeyc.org