Question

Exploration starts in infancy and grows out of attachment and a sense of trust. But it makes sense if you think of the attachment as providing a secure base to move out from. Toddlers explore with their hands and use their other senses as well. They bang new things, smell them, try to pull them apart, maybe throw them, and quite often taste them. Toddlers are 'doers' but not 'producers.' And exploration increases as children move toward autonomy.

Answer 1

Toddlers experience rapid physical and cognitive development, gaining motor skills, language, and self-recognition. They exhibit autonomy through choices and experience a 'me do it' stage, balancing between the desires for independence and the guidance from a secure attachment with caregivers.

Step-by-step explanation:

The toddler years, spanning from one to three years old, are a time of rapid physical development and cognitive growth. In the context of childhood development, toddlers enhance their motor skills, which include walking, manipulative actions like banging blocks, and using a pincer grasp. They are rapidly learning language, able to use simple words and phrases, understanding more words, and by age three, holding conversations in short sentences.

Cognitive milestones are essential during this period as well. Toddlers develop object permanence, begin to solve problems through trial and error, mimic adult behaviors, and demonstrate self-recognition. They engage in exploratory play, often through sensory experiences like tasting and touching, indicative of secure attachment and increasing autonomy.

As toddlers grow, they start to demonstrate a desire for independence, sometimes signaled by using the word "no" and possibly exhibiting temper tantrums. This reflects their ongoing development, as they resolve Erikson's theory of autonomy versus shame and doubt. That autonomy is often expressed through selective clothing choices or deciding which toy to play with, reinforcing their sense of self and independence.