Development of Children at Two Years

Biological Development

Children experience significant physical growth at the age of two years. New biological developments appear between the first eighteen and twenty-four months of growth (Humphreys, Zeanah, & Scheeringa, 2015). In this way, the baby gains the strength to move around through crawling or shuffling. At this age, some children stand with support and make small movements on their own. At the age of two years, children begin to engage in some productive activities like feeding (Humphreys, Zeanah, & Scheeringa, 2015). The child can sit up alone and feed themselves using fingers. Eventually, they use their hands skillfully to move and arrange objects. Children at the age of two years show significant brain development. For example, they wave, point at things, and communicate by bubbling simple words (Humphreys, Zeanah, & Scheeringa, 2015). The ability to wave at other people and point at stuff with fingers shows a significant development of the child’s brain functions. Besides, they bubble words with one or two syllable. Thus, children experience substantial biological growth within two years of their age.

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Development at two years has some negative aspects that can result in injuries and destructions. For example, children can easily fall and have injuries as they try to move (Humphreys, Zeanah, & Scheeringa, 2015). Infants can easily fall over or hold on hot or sharp objects as they move from one place to the other. In this way, a child faces a higher risk of injuries as they turn two years of age. Children drop and break valuable objects in the house (Humphreys, Zeanah, & Scheeringa, 2015). As children learn to use their hands to move and arrange objects, they tend to drop them on the floor. In this way, they can easily break fragile objects like utensils and ornaments. Thus, children can turn dangerous and destructive at the age of two years.

Biological development at two years leads to positive effects like motor and intellectual skills. For example, children can build towers, walk up and down stairs, and draw circles and dots (Humphreys, Zeanah, & Scheeringa, 2015). The activities show significant improvement in their motor skills. In this way, they gain muscle strength that is suitable for future events like playing. Children learn intellectual abilities at the age of two years, which enable them to complete simple tasks (Humphreys, Zeanah, & Scheeringa, 2015). A child learns to pronounce simple words and wear shoes on at two years. Besides, they learn to express themselves through visual expressions. The motor and rational skills gained at two years are crucial to future developments in young children.

Cognitive Development

Children begin to construct basic knowledge at the age of two years. For example, infants create awareness through actions (Leach, 2019). In this way, children learn through practice. Biological and experiences interact to have a positive impact on the learning process. For example, a child interacts with objects to recognize shapes and colours (Leach, 2019). Allowing children to play with objects of different shapes and colours improves their knowledge skills. Besides, the experiences allow children to create, repeat, organize, and interpret involvements. For example, a child can stack objects or arrange them in terms of colours and shapes at the age of two years (Leach, 2019). The statement implies that children gain essential means of coordination at two years. In this way, they can generate knowledge actively. Therefore, children begin to construct familiarity and awareness on their second birthday.

Cognitive development among children in their second birthday results in negative competencies like tantrums. Children learn to produce behaviours that resemble reflexes (Leach, 2019). In this way, a child can express her dissatisfaction through outbursts. Besides, overreactions may cause parents to be uncomfortable with the children. For example, children with tantrums can injure themselves or become nagging to parents. In this way, overreaction among young children lower the well-being levels in a family. Besides, parents have to learn ways to adapt to their children behaviour.

Cognitive development among infants of two years of age results in positive competencies like secondary circular reactions. For instance, young infants become more object-oriented and focused on the activities around them (Leach, 2019). The statement implies that young children begin to concentrate on events that happen around them. In this way, infants learn through observation. For example, infants imitate simple gestures from people around them (Leach, 2019). The ability to imitate simple facial expressions enable parents to play with their children. Besides, parents enjoy teaching their infants funny tricks like tucking their tongues out. Infants begin to engage in repetitive actions that generate exciting change in their environment at two years (Leach, 2019). Along these lines, infants play with objects and learn to concentrate on simple activities. Therefore, parents can easily teach their children to acquire constructive behaviours and norms during their second birthday.

Social Development

Infants engage with their social world like parents and close relatives on their second birthday. For instance, babies establish secure attachments with their primary caregivers who provide nurturance and guidance (Taylor, Oberle, Durlak, & Weissberg, 2017). The statement implies that young babies interact with other family members other than their mother. In this way, a child in the second birthday can easily socialize with the father, siblings, and members of the extended family and develop their preferences. For example, infants prefer to look at the faces and listen to the voices of their family members (Taylor, Oberle, Durlak, & Weissberg, 2017). The behaviour portrays a genetically involuntary character that shapes the future of a child. Besides, the ability to develop social preferences enable children to interact with the world around them. For instance, children express their emotions and understand the feeling of those around them (Taylor, Oberle, Durlak, & Weissberg, 2017). Infants learn emotional expression of people around them. Eventually, they learn to express anger, happiness, and other emotions. Thus, infants learn to establish strong social relations with close relatives.

Social competencies at two years of age can result in adverse psychological developments. For example, between 9.5% and 14.2% of infants experience social, emotional challenges that hurt their mental functioning (Cooper, Masi, & Vick, 2009). Parents who fail to provide adequate social support to their children can cause developmental challenges in their children. In this way, they encourage their children to have behavioural problems in the future. Some forms of poor social support include rejection by parents and close family members (Cooper, Masi, & Vick, 2009). Infants who experience rejection from parents fail to develop healthy social relationships with other people. Besides, they experience increased stress and anxiety. Thus, failure to provide adequate social support to infants can ruin their lives.

Social competencies gained by infants in their second birthday train them to lead productive social lives. For instance, caring and loving parents help infants to learn how to interact with others (Taylor, Oberle, Durlak, & Weissberg, 2017). Caring parents help to impart valuable social skills in their children. In this way, infants accept that all people are affectionate and should interact freely. Quality social skills help infants express their emotions to other people in an appropriate manner (Taylor, Oberle, Durlak, & Weissberg, 2017). The statement implies that parents play a significant role in determining their children relate with other people. Along these lines, early socialization in the family environment determines if a child is likeable to other people. Adults learn the quality of experiences that children encounter (Taylor, Oberle, Durlak, & Weissberg, 2017). In this way, parents who engage their children in health social interactions help the trust other people. Besides, they create a strong foundation for further future development. Thus, parents should establish effective social interactions with the infants to promote their future social lives.

References

Cooper, J., Masi, R., & Vick, J. (2009). Social-emotional development in early childhood (Rep.). National Centre for Children in Poverty.

Humphreys, K., Zeanah, C., & Scheeringa, M. (2015). Infant development: The first three years of life (J. Kay, M. First, & M. Riba, Eds.). In A. Tasman & J. Lieberman (Eds.), Psychiatry (4th ed., pp. 134-159). John Wiley & Sons.

Leach, A. (2019). Perceptual and Motor Development. Lecture.

Taylor, R. D., Oberle, E., Durlak, J. A., & Weissberg, R. P. (2017). Promoting positive youth development through school-based social and emotional learning interventions: A meta-analysis of follow-up effects. Child Development, 88(4), 1156-1171. doi:10.1111/cdev.12864