Growth & Development Report

Table of Contents

Growth & Development Report3

Introduction3

Discussion4

1.Physical Growth Characteristics of Children in this Age Group5

2.Motor Development Characteristics of Children in this Age Group7

3.Play Characteristics of Children in this Age Group8

4.Items to be included in a Waiting Room Appropriate to Children of this Age Group10

5.Dietary Patterns Common to Children in this Age Group11

Growth & Development Report

Introduction

The paper explains the growth and development phenomena in 2 & 1/2 year old children. This is a case of a girl named Kayla, whose age is 2.5 years. Growth is a prevailing biological action during the first two decades or so of an individual life, including, of course nine months of prenatal period. While growing the individual also matures. Growth is an increase in the size of the body as a whole or the size attained by specific parts of the body. It is a fundamental characteristic of all living organisms. Growth is a form of motion (Mustard, 2011). The term development is frequently used along with growth and even tackled in a same way by some people. But growth and development are not the same. Thus, it needs a careful examination and proper understanding.

The child is characterized by two basic facts i.e. the growth and the development. Growth means the increase in the size of the different parts and organs of the body by multiplication of cells and intercellular components during the period commencing from fertilization to physical maturity. The increase in cell size includes an increase in functional units within the cell, mainly protein and substrates, as is especially evident in the muscular hypertrophy that occurs with regular resistance exercise (McCain et. Al., 2007).

Discussion

Children aged 2-5 years are actively developing in five key areas i.e. emotional and social skills, physical development, thinking and reasoning skills (cognitive development), language development, sensory and motor development. A child usually develops moving from one stage of development to another. But certain stages of development in all children are not the same. Most children are actively developing in one direction and slightly behind the other (Bartlett & Zimanyi, n/y). For instance, a child can quickly learn to speak, but quickly learns to count. Physical development is slowed down slightly in comparison with the rapid growth in early childhood. At the age of 2-5 years, the majority of children every year in the weight gain of 3-5 kg, and their growth increased by about 7 cm. Cognitive development, or thinking skills and reasoning, progressing from simple to more complex understanding of time, letters, numbers and colors. Children can perform more complex requests. Their games are becoming more creative, a lot of children fantasize (Mustard, 2011).

Language quickly develops between the ages of 2 to 5 years. By 2 goals children can say at least 50 words. They can learn the names of many items and parts of the body (e.g., arms and legs). By 3 years children are very quick to learn new words. Most can already speak about 150-200 words, children can perform two-level requests, ...