Developmental Milestones: 8 Years
Learning is starting to move on, into the unknown. Trial and error is being complimented with predictions, expectations and experimenting to find out new answers.
Children will need support and help to understand friendship issues and the influences peers can create. Positioning themselves in existing stereotypes such as arty, sporty or clever may be starting.
It is important to still keep communication flowing between adult and child throughout this stage, reading together, playing games and chatting about personal interests are all great ways to keep communication flowing. Try and make your child feel comfortable and able to talk to you, share their experiences and to seek your support when needed, especially as they grow older and need that support.
Sports are being taken more seriously now and competitiveness may start to become a feature in this area.
Please keep in mind that these milestones are guidelines only, as all children are different and develop at their own pace. Do not be concerned if your child does not perfectly ‘tick all the boxes’ and avoid comparing your child to other children of a similar age. If you are worried that your child’s development is particularly delayed, visit your GP.
- Trial and error learning is being complimented by predictions and expectations. “I wonder what will happen if I do…” changes to “I think…will happen if I do this, but let’s just see”
- Children often test boundaries and try and break some of the rules to confirm or refute their understanding of how the world works. However, complex planning and understanding of consequences is still not common within this age group so their apparent lack of logic can be frustrating for adults
- Peers and external influences are increasingly powerful but children are often not as ready to stand on their own two feet as they pretend to be
- Help children make sense of friendship issues and their role in the wider society by finding time to talk to them and giving them plenty of opportunities to tell you what’s on their minds. Playing games with children is a great, pressure free way of keeping those lines of communication open
- Thinking about their future can be a topic of interest between peers, they may start talking about what they want to be when they are older
- Group work and team sports are thoroughly enjoyed
- Strength and stamina take a surge forward around now and children may find they have a talent for a particular sport or physical skill
- This is a great age to join a sports club or try out a variety of new activities to help find their strengths and passions
- Competitiveness may start between peers, particularly in sports and social games
- At this stage in the child’s speech and language development children are often confident enough to give short answers when questioned by an adult
- They should be able to control the rate, pitch and volume of their speech and adapt it to the given situation. For example, whispering in the library and shouting in the playground
- They will be learning new words and phrases daily from school and starting to look at using these in their writing. It is important to introduce as many descriptive words as possible around children to help widen their vocabulary
At 8 years old, a child’s understanding of the world is being guided by the National Curriculum subjects.
Children love to play and this is a great way to support their development and learning. See below for our independently tested and approved toys and apps to support your 8 year old’s development.
