As a child grows and matures, from baby to toddler, and all the way through to adolescence, there are many areas of development that a child goes through. A child develops physically, as they grow and age, affecting many aspects of their health and physical bodies. They develop intellectually and gain knowledge and experiences that they ultimately learn from and build upon. They develop socially, and gain an understanding of their place in the world, and their relationship to others. As they grow and age, they also develop emotionally, and experience varying levels of self-control and expression. Each of these areas sees dramatic development as a child moves through the years of life.

It's easy to observe a child's physical development. A child grows larger and taller and their bodies develop proportionately as they age. But physical development has several other aspects besides just growing larger. Within physical development, a child's body also develops skills. Motor skills are constantly reinforced. Coordination and reflexes develop as well. The physical aspect of a child's development can often be seen, but there are underlying areas in this area of child development that are not as easy to observe and measure.

In addition to the physical development, a child develops intellectually. This development is comprised primarily of the child learning and remembering about the world they live in. They learn from experiences and are guided by observation and modeling. Because of this, a child's family, primarily their parents, are a key to good intellectual child development. As the child learns, they expect reinforcement of knowledge. As this reinforcement happens, their brains develop rules and expectations of what the world is like, and continue to observe and build more knowledge and intellect.
As they are learning, and gaining in knowledge, a child develops social skills. They learn through behavior and expectation, what the reactions are from the people they associate with. Whether it's learning what to expect from parents, siblings, or other people, a child learns what is expected of them, and just as important, what to expect from others. Children learn social skills such as communication, but also about authority, rules, genders, and relating to non-family members.

Child development also incorporates elements of emotional development. Child development occurs in this area in all ages and stages. A child learns how they feel and associate circumstances, and they develop the internal feelings that will last a lifetime. Sometimes the feelings are positive, such as love, happiness, security, or more negative, such as frustration, sadness, jealousy, etc. Emotions positive and negative are experienced on a daily basis from the child, and child development in this area occurs as the child gains control over their internal feelings, and the outward expression of those feelings.

One way to encourage and express those feelings is to get your child involved in Creative Play. This can be commenced at an early age, starting with the texture of different foods and moving onto play doh, plasticine and pottery clay. Most Children love to create. The beauty about clay or any versatile medium is the ability start over and over again with exploring different shapes and moulds. If they show a keen interest in Pottery clay you can always try them out on a Children's Pottery Wheel before moving them onto something more Professional as if their passions continues down this path. Most of all it's about having fun and learning along the way.