Social Emotional Development Characteristics in Children

Social emotional development in children is an important issue in terms of having a healthy personality and establishing positive relationships with their social environment. Well, do you know how to support your child’s social and emotional development? We have given the tips in our article.

What is social development?

Social emotional development in children is a whole! For this reason, in order to be able to define social development, first of all, it is necessary to talk about emotional development in children. So what is emotional development ?

Recognizing and understanding emotions, knowing why they occur, and being able to deal with them are parts of emotional development.

For social-emotional development in children, we can define the ability to be aware of their emotions, to recognize their own personality, to know what reaction to give and to control all these situations, and to keep up with the society. Social and emotional development in children are skills that will be acquired over time.

When does emotional development begin?

Children’s social and emotional development characteristics of course vary from age to age, but social and emotional development starts from infancy. The most basic condition that needs to be developed in order for these two concepts to develop strongly and for the child not to experience negative emotions intensely is trust. Being able to give your baby a sense of security as soon as they are born creates a very good foundation for their social and emotional development in the future. Trust is the first element to be provided for emotional development, especially in children.

Socio-emotional development between the ages of 0-6

What is social and emotional development , now you have learned. Now let’s examine the emotional development periods and features by age.

Emotional social development characteristics of 0-12 months baby

Positive effects on social and emotional development during infancy, the fact that parents approach the child with great interest and love ensure a positive self-esteem in adulthood. Let’s look at the characteristics of emotional development in infancy together.

• He makes mutual eye contact with his mother. This is one of the most important features of emotional development in infants.
• Responds to human voices.
• When communicated with him, he smiles and communicates by making different sounds than crying.
• Begins to recognize mother, father and other relatives. He gets excited when he sees them.
• Doesn’t like solitude.
• May be afraid of strangers.
• He likes attention.
• He may not like to own and share his belongings.
• They can express their feelings with their facial expressions.
• He likes to play games.
• He likes to draw attention to himself by making noises when people around him are talking.
• He likes to have babies his own age around him.
• He can express his wishes with some sounds.
• It can give a big reaction when it is blocked for some reason.
• It can imitate certain movements.

Social-emotional development characteristics of a 1-year-old baby

• He can spend time with children his age.
• He may be separated from his mother for a while.
• He loves attention.
• He expects applause when he thinks he’s doing something interesting.
• It perceives the instructions directed to it.
• Can collect toys.
• If there is something he does not want, he can express it with his actions.
• He wants to make friends.
• He finds other people he likes to communicate with.
• He can slowly eat by himself and wash his hands.
• Less afraid of strangers.

2 years of social and emotional development

• Can play in a group of children.
• He wants to eat by himself, wash his hands.
• Can play short-term role play games (such as house, doctor).
• It can easily hold spoons and forks.
• He can give advance notice that his toilet is coming.
• It can distract itself for a short time.
• He can take off clothes such as socks, shoes, hats, gloves himself.

3 years old social emotional development characteristics

• He starts playing with his peers and enjoys it.
• They may also have conflicts with their peers.
• He doesn’t like to share.
• He can slowly learn kindness and empathy.
• He realizes his rights.
• Learns to make decisions and choices.
• Imagination develops.
• He can make new friends.

4 years old social emotional development

• The child’s sense of humor develops, and he likes to have fun more.
• Learns daily routines.
• He realizes the rules.
• He can bully children his age.
• He may have an imaginary friend .
• He can stay away from his mother, go to his friends’ house and play games.
• He may start to be stubborn.
• He may learn and try to use bad words.
• He can take responsibilities according to his age.
• He may not be able to separate the joke from the truth.

5 years old social emotional development characteristics

• His awareness of himself increases.
• While playing games with his friends, he can give himself completely to the game.
• The sense of impatience begins to wane.
• He enjoys being around people he cares about.
• They can be friends easily, sharing increases.
• Can lead when needed.
• He begins to ponder over the issue of gender. The baby wonders how it’s done.
• It starts to compete.
• Respects sources of authority such as teachers.
• He is very affected by being mocked.
• The concept of privacy begins to emerge. He doesn’t want to be watched while he’s undressing.