Infant, Toddler and Adolescent Cognitive Development Activities

Infant, Toddler and Adolescent Cognitive Development Activities

PSY104: Child and Adolescent Development (PTG1908A)

Infant, Toddler and Adolescent Cognitive Development Activities

Playing is one of the essential activities that children learn on the process of development. Is it critical? Playing is very critical when it comes to child development. Unquestionably a great deal of people concur that playing is vital, yet at the same time today psychologist are conducting examinations to perceive what is the most ideal way that children can learn. Numerous theories of development give proof of what is the most ideal way that a child could learn in the earliest years and stages of development. Both Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development and Lev Vygotsky’s theory of social development obviously outline how children must be exposed to specific activities that are vital for a child’s development (Mossler, 2014). In this paper I will reflect on cognitive development activities in the classroom that can assist children with developing cognitively in the infant stage, the childhood stage, and adolescent stage; identify the specific concept from cognitive development theory that supports the use of this activity; and identify how the activity enhances cognitive development in the specific age group.

Examples of Activities

Example 1: Cognitive Development Activity for Infant Room: Hide-and-Seek.

One of the activities that will be incorporated into the infant room at the community center will be hide-and-seek. During this activity the caregiver or caregivers can go partially hide themselves behind or under an object (i.e. shelf, chair, table, or blanket) and allow the child to see some part of them. Also, hide-and-seek can be done by taking an item (i.e., child’s favorite toy or snack) and hiding it with the item being partially visible or putting the item in something that is transparent so that the child can still see it. Looking for a hidden object reveals that infant children start to comprehend that objects continue existing even during the point that the object may not be seen. Jean Piaget focused on the fact that the comprehension of object permanence is one of the most imperative achievements of infant children cognitive development. This milestone that an infant goes through during the first 1 to 2 years of his or her life is the development of object permanence, which is one of the developmental functions of the sensorimotor stage. Infants are said to usually start playing hide-and-seek around the ages of 9 to 11 moth old (Carvalho & Sarinho, 2016). Doing activities with infants such as hide-and-seek helps to promote the development of object permanence in infant children while also giving the child happiness and a sense of achievement when finding the object or person that are hidden. Both psychosocial development and cognitive development are a factor with infants playing hide-and-seek due to the interacting with others (Mossler, 2014).

Example 2: Cognitive Development Activity for Early Childhood Room: Play-Doh

An activity that can be incorporated into the early childhood room at the community center is playing with play-doh. During this activity the kids can get play-doh out of the containers and use them as an arts & craft activity. They can mold the play-doh and use their imagination and creativity to make thing with it. Also, using the play-doh can help to strengthen the children’s hand, fingers and arms. During the early childhood stage children are more cognitively developed and begin to utilize conservation. Mossler (2014) mentions that Piaget states that the conservation milestone is said to begin between the ages of 7 to 12 and is “the awareness that changing the appearance of a substance does not change the properties such as mass, number, or volume of the substance” (pg. 10). An example of conservation with play-doh can be to create 2 same sized balls and allow the child or children to see them. I then take one of the balls and fatten it. My next step would be to get the child or children to tell me if both the ball and flat piece of dough are still the same size. Conservation is a part of centration which is the action of limiting your attention to only one characteristic of any given circumstance. This also is in the preoperational stage (Mossler, 2014). Cognitive development is the factor of early childhood when dealing with play-doh due to it being able to make the children aware of changes in similar objects.

Example 3: Cognitive Development Activity for Adolescent Room: Card Games

A activity that can be incorporated into the adolescent room at the community center is card games. Card games such as spades and UNO can teach the adolescents can improve logical thinking and problem-solving skills. During the adolescent stage, the children will advance from the operational concrete stage to the operational formal stage. During this milestone the adolescents will begin learning how to utilize deductive reasoning and hypothetical thinking in order to form different outcomes (Mossler, 2014). Playing card games such as spades and UNO enforces the use of deductive reasoning and hypothetical thinking in order to win the game. Athletic games, both competitive and noncompetitive board games, and card games, appeal to adolescents and are compelling approaches to invigorate communication, establish an association with someone else, and help ease tension (Breen & Daigneault, 1998). Both psychosocial development and cognitive development are a factor with infants playing hide-and-seek due to the interacting with others, along with utilizing thinking and reasoning skills.

In conclusion, children are equipped for comprehension and effectively constructing information. While there are developmental constraints on children’s competence, those limitations fill in as a roof underneath which there is gigantic space for variety in development, ability attainment, and understanding. Both social skills and cognition assumes a role in children’s social understanding and motor competences. Thus, both are identified with early learning and later scholarly accomplishment and are important areas of the infant stage, early childhood stage and the adolescent stage.

References

Breen, D. T., & Daigneault, S. D. (1998). The use of play therapy with adolescents in high school. International Journal of Play Therapy, 7(1), 25–47. https://doi-org.proxy-library.ashford.edu/10.1037/h0089417

Carvalho, E. B., & Sarinho, S, W. (2016). The Nursing Consultation in Monitoring Child Growth and Development in the Family Health Strategy. Journal of Nursing UFPE / Revista de Enfermagem UFPE, 10, 4804–4812. https://doi-org.proxy-library.ashford.edu/10.5205/reuol.8200-71830-3-SM.1006sup201612

Mossler, R. A. (2014). Child and adolescent development (2nd ed). Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/