Middle Childhood
Physical
- Advanced physical abilities for children, through running speeds,
jumping heights, throwing/catching, and hand and foot dribbling
(Berk, 2014, 5.1).
- During this time puberty begins around the age of ten for females
and eleven for males.
- These changes often bring feeling of unsurety and/or uncomfortable
feelings about their physical abilities to perform.
However, Bergen and Fromberg (2009) express the
importance of play in middle school stating, "Play in
middle childhood continues to include practice play
(repeating and elaborating on the same activities, often
in the service of increasing skill levels), pretense (using
symbolic means to envision characters and scenarios, using literary
and other media experiences, as well as real-life experience sources),
games with rules (revising existing games or making up elaborate
games that have negotiated rules), and construction play (building
and designing structures or artistic works)" (p. 427).
Cognitive & Language
- As mentioned in Berk (2013), "During the elementary
school years, vocabulary increases fourfold, eventually
exceeding comprehension of 40,000 words (Anglin, 1993).
On average, children learn about 20 new words each day, a
rate of growth greater than in early childhood" (9.5).
- This increase promote the development of abstract and cognitive
thinking for children during this timeframe, which is later referenced
as the child grows into adolescence. Abstract thinking, promoted by
imagination through reading higher level reading enhances a child's
interest and abilities to reason through picturing scenarios in books.
- Rule negotiations for games and social conflicts
- Complex language in play (Bergen & Fromberg, 2009, p. 427)
- Coherent themes in play (Bergen & Fromberg, 2009, p. 427)
- Self-direct, Self-analize, exert self-conflict (Bergen & Fromberg,
2009, p. 428)
Social
- Seamlessly enter activities with peers
- Borrowing media characters for pretend play
Moral Reasoning/Self-Regulation
- Delayed gratification
- Flexible capacity for self-regulation
Atypical
- Atypical development can be signified through a lack of:
- social interactions,
- eye contact
- emotional response to others,
- language development issues
Social & Cultural Influences
- Parenting for children in this developmental stage as described by
Parent et al. (2016) through the use of their Mindful Parenting
methods. These consist of, "(1) awareness and present centered
attention during parenting interactions, (2) non-judgmental
receptivity to their child’s articulation of thoughts and displays of
Emotion, and (3) the ability to regulate their reactivity to their
children’s behavior" (p. 195).
- Environment affects interpersonal and social skills
Play Based Strategies
- Generated rule based games to learn social skills, hobbies, and
future career decisions (Bergen & Fromberg, 2009, p. 427)
- Rule negotiated games that revise existing games or making
elaborate ruled games (Bergen & Fromberg, 2009, p. 427)
- Play catch with your child to develop and refine hand/eye
coordination
 References

Bergen, D., & Fromberg, D. P. (2009). Play and social interaction in middle childhood: play is vital for a child’s emotional and cognitive development. But

social and technological forces threaten the kinds of play kids need most. ​Phi Delta Kappan,​ (6), 426. Retrieved from

http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy-library.ashford.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsggr&AN=edsgcl.193479041&site=eds-live&scope=site

Berk, L. E. (2013). Child development. (9th ed.). ​Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson​. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/

Parent, J., McKee, L., Rough, J., Forehand, R., McKee, L. G., & N Rough, J. (2016). The Association of Parent Mindfulness with Parenting and Youth

Psychopathology Across Three Developmental Stages. ​Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 44​(1), 191. Retrieved from

http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy-library.ashford.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edb&AN=112335087&site=eds-live&scope=site