Interviewing Children –Activity Sheet 1.2

Activity 1.2 Child Development Profile

When forming an understanding about a child’s level of development, it is useful to consider several aspects of their development.

Below there is an explanation of these aspects of child development.

Aspects of Child Development

Area of development / Brief explanation and guide
Physical / Motor development / This area is about how a child can move and have physical control over his/her body.
Gross motor development – the coordination of large muscles of the body so that the child can do such things as to walk, run, hop, jump, kick, throw, climb etc.
Fine motor development – the child’s ability to move the fine or smaller muscles of the body for example when using tools and materials to draw, write, pick up/put down, eat with a spoon etc.
Emotional / Social development / This area is about how the child interacts with others, how they play with peers, their attitude towards others, their ability to share & cooperate, their social manners etc.
It includes a child’s ability to learn the rules of society, to build relationships and their development of a self identity with regards to gender, culture, ability and ambitions.
It is about the child’s ability to express and manage feelings and emotions, to establish a level of trust in relationships, to cope with fear, to know what is right and wrong and to feelempathy.
Cognitive / Language development / This area is about is about thinking - the child’s ability to understandconceptsand organise the world into understandable parts. It includes perception, memory, judgement, problem-solving, attention-span, the ability to reason and understand.
It is also about language development– how the child communicates with others:the child’s ability to listen, speak, write, read, hear and their, speech, grammar etc.

Activity 1.2 Child Development Profile

Directions:
1. Look at the three main areas of Child Development and complete theChild Profileon page 3 on a child that you know.
2. Check your completedChild Profileagainst theChild DevelopmentalChecklist, that is generally used at your workplace and attach it to your profile.
(You could download and use one of the Checklists on a website listed below)
  • Guide to Children’s growth and development(pdf), whichmay be found at the Department of Community Services (NSW) website at:

Path: parents, carers & familiesparentingresources for parents

  • Child Development & Trauma Guide(pdf), at the

Department of Human Services (VIC)website at:

Path: Children Youth & Familiesevery child every chanceLibrarypublicationsbest interests series

Using a checklist

Start by looking at items at the child’s age.

For example, for a child of three and a half, start in the three to five year age range.

You may also need to look at items in the age range below or above the child’s actual age.

NOTE: Use a Child Developmental Checklistonly as a guide to help you to communicate and interact with the child at their appropriate level when interviewing.

Using the checklist

Child Development Profile

Student name: …………...... ……………………………… Date: ………………………………

Child’s name: ...... (Do not write child’s surname for this exercise)

Area of development / Brief description
Physical / Motor development
Emotional / Social development
Cognitive / Language development

Page 1 of 3