Infancy and Early Childhood

Active learning helps Year 5 students grasp the dynamic progression of infancy and early childhood, where physical, cognitive, and social changes intertwine. When students move, observe, and sequence real examples, abstract milestones become concrete and memorable, building both empathy and understanding.

• Year 5
• Science
• 4 activities
• 25 min–45 min

Learning Objectives

1. Compare the motor skills of a newborn with those of a six-month-old infant.
2. Describe three significant physical or cognitive changes a child experiences between the ages of one and five.
3. Explain how practice and experience contribute to a young child's developing abilities in movement and speech.
4. Sequence key developmental milestones from birth to age five.

Timeline Challenge

⏱ 45 min·Small Groups

Timeline Build: Infancy Milestones

Provide card templates with ages from birth to five. In small groups, students research and draw one milestone per card, such as 'sitting up at 6 months,' then sequence them on a class timeline. Discuss influences like play on development.

Prepare & details

What can a baby do at six months that a newborn cannot?

Facilitation Tip: During Timeline Build, provide real baby photos or short video clips to ground abstract ages in observable evidence.

Setup: Long wall or floor space for timeline construction

Materials: Event cards with dates and descriptions, Timeline base (tape or long paper), Connection arrows/string, Debate prompt cards

• Remember
• Understand
• Analyze
• Self-Management
• Relationship Skills

Timeline Challenge

⏱ 35 min·Pairs

Role-Play Relay: Growth Stages

Divide class into stations for ages 0-6 months, 6-12 months, 1-3 years, 3-5 years. Pairs act out typical movements and sounds at each, rotating stations. Peers record observations on clipboards for plenary share.

Prepare & details

Describe three ways a child's body changes between the ages of one and five.

Facilitation Tip: In Role-Play Relay, set up clear stations with props so students physically experience the effort behind each milestone, such as using weighted wristbands to simulate early arm control.

Setup: Long wall or floor space for timeline construction

Materials: Event cards with dates and descriptions, Timeline base (tape or long paper), Connection arrows/string, Debate prompt cards

• Remember
• Understand
• Analyze
• Self-Management
• Relationship Skills

Timeline Challenge

⏱ 30 min·individual then pairs

Comparison Charts: Newborn vs Six Months

Hand out tables listing body parts and abilities. Individually, students fill in differences using videos or images, then pair up to add language and movement examples. Class votes on most surprising change.

Prepare & details

How does a young child's ability to move and talk develop as they grow?

Facilitation Tip: For Comparison Charts, provide sentence stems on sentence strips to scaffold students’ observations and comparisons between newborn and six-month abilities.

Setup: Long wall or floor space for timeline construction

Materials: Event cards with dates and descriptions, Timeline base (tape or long paper), Connection arrows/string, Debate prompt cards

• Remember
• Understand
• Analyze
• Self-Management
• Relationship Skills

Timeline Challenge

⏱ 25 min·Whole Class

Milestone Matching Game: Whole Class

Prepare cards with photos/descriptions of milestones and matching ages. Students work whole class to match and sort into timelines on the floor, justifying choices with evidence from prior learning.

Prepare & details

What can a baby do at six months that a newborn cannot?

Facilitation Tip: In Milestone Matching Game, use peer teaching by having students explain their matches to each other before revealing answers, reinforcing language and reasoning.

Setup: Long wall or floor space for timeline construction

Materials: Event cards with dates and descriptions, Timeline base (tape or long paper), Connection arrows/string, Debate prompt cards

• Remember
• Understand
• Analyze
• Self-Management
• Relationship Skills

Teaching This Topic

Teachers should connect abstract milestones to concrete, observable actions students can perform or witness. Avoid teaching isolated facts; instead, use movement and discussion to show how motor, language, and social skills develop together. Research shows that when students physically act out stages, neural pathways strengthen, making abstract timelines meaningful. Keep activities grounded in real examples to counter oversimplified views of development.

What to Expect

At the end of these activities, students will confidently describe key milestones, recognize the range of normal variation, and explain how practice and experience drive development. They will use evidence from their own observations and role-play to support their ideas.

Watch Out for These Misconceptions

Common Misconception

During Timeline Build, watch for students who assume all milestones happen at the same age for every child.

What to Teach Instead

During Timeline Build, have students plot multiple real examples on the same timeline to reveal ranges, then facilitate a discussion where students explain why some babies roll over at 4 months and others at 6 months.

Common Misconception

During Role-Play Relay, watch for students who believe growth is only about getting taller.

What to Teach Instead

During Role-Play Relay, pause after each station to ask students to name both a movement and a sound or word they observed, making explicit the link between motor and language development.

Common Misconception

During Milestone Matching Game, watch for students who think milestones happen suddenly overnight.

What to Teach Instead

During Milestone Matching Game, ask students to sequence matched pairs in order of difficulty, then discuss how each skill builds gradually through practice over weeks or months.

Assessment Ideas

Quick Check

After Timeline Build, present students with a list of actions (e.g., 'grasps finger', 'lifts head', 'walks independently', 'says first word'). Ask them to sort these into 'Newborn', 'Six Months', or 'One Year Old' categories and explain their reasoning for one placement.

Discussion Prompt

During Role-Play Relay, pose the question: 'Imagine a child who could not practice walking or talking. How might their development be different?' Facilitate a class discussion afterward, focusing on the role of experience and practice in development.

Exit Ticket

After Milestone Matching Game, give each student a card with a picture of a child at a different age. Ask them to write one sentence describing a key skill that child has developed and one skill they are likely to develop next.

Extensions & Scaffolding

• Challenge: Ask early finishers to research and add cultural practices that support early development (e.g., baby-wearing, storytelling) to their timeline.
• Scaffolding: Provide a word bank with key terms (e.g., reflex, pincer grasp, babbling) for students to reference during discussions.
• Deeper exploration: Invite students to interview a family member about their own early milestones and present one finding to the class with evidence.

Key Vocabulary

Reflex	An automatic, involuntary response to a stimulus, such as the grasping reflex in newborns.
Milestone	A significant point or stage in development, marking a new ability or achievement, like sitting up or walking.
Gross Motor Skills	Abilities that involve large muscle groups, such as running, jumping, and climbing, which develop significantly in early childhood.
Fine Motor Skills	Abilities that involve small muscle groups, such as grasping objects or using utensils, which also develop during early childhood.
Cognitive Development	The growth of thinking, problem-solving, and language skills, which progresses rapidly from infancy through early childhood.