Developement - young childen (2 and a half to school age)

Young children have increasing capacities for language and inquiry.
Children of this age are devloping an interest in representation and symbols, such as pictures, numbers, patterns and words. Their artwork is more representitive, rather than the scribbles or random colors that are common at the toddler stage. They are building the foundations of pre-numeracy and pre-literacy skills, such as counting and story telling.
Young children enjoy articipating in imaginative play or 'make believe'.
Young children have developed the basic gross motor skills (running, jumping, kicking a ball, etc.) They are continuing to develope their fine motor skills (holding a pencil and using it with control.)

Special characteristics of young children:
-Young children can recognise a wide range of patterns and regualrities in the world around them. This encourages them to question when things are puzzling and different from what they expect and to respond to 'nonsense' and humour.
-Young children have new capacities for symbolising and representation, creating art, music and dance, as well as developing abilities with words and numbers.
-Young children's greater working memory contributes to their capacity for telling stories, for more complex problem-solving stratergies, for longer periods of focused attention and for more persistent curiosity.
-Young children are developing social skills for establishing and maintaining friendships and are beginning to be able to see another person's point of view.
-Young children use their imagination to explore their own and other's indentities.