Erikson’s Stage: Initiative vs. Guilt (ages 3 to 6 years)
Description of the Stage According to Bjorklund & Blasi, this stage of development includes the years of early childhood ages three to six years old. Children in this stage seek more independence in activities and begin to use their imaginations more. According to Ramkumar, in early childhood children make decisions and then carry them out while they are playing (2002). They also feel more empowered during for the completion of their plans (Ramkumar, 2002). Initiative is achieved when parents allow their child to explore the environments without limits, not including safety measures, and playing with other children their age. The following section will explains some …show more content…
They assert themselves into their activities and feel proud of them. They learn right from wrong in this stage. They also pick up on different social cues such as prejudice, bias, and values (Perry et al, 2014). Children in this stage play house, or pretend like they are someone else they have seen on TV or family members. In this stage children perform more risk taking activities, such as sliding down the slid head first or jump off the bed. Although safety is important, there has to be a fine balance between letting them explore the environment and act out there imagination. A child who feels like embarrassed, or like they are a bothering their care giver develop a since of guilt. They begin to ask more questions. Some successful behaviors include being able to lead others, adapting to change, and being more independent. Another behaviors is being able to make a plan of things they want to play and what order to play them. They develop a sense of responsibility and accomplishment, and are able to handle …show more content…
If the order of when you are going to do something does not matter as long as it is done, allow the child to choose the order. All these will support the development of decisions and planning.
An action that will assist in developing responsibility and a feeling of accomplishment is growing a plant in a cup. Preferably the choice of what to plant something that will sprout quickly such as beans. These plants could be placed in the windowsill. While growing them encourage the child to water the plant and watch it grow (Squires & Bricker, 2009). Let the child help prepare a meal or picnic (Squires & Bricker, 2009).
All of the above actions support the successful completion of the Initiative vs guilt stage. They help the child develop an intellect accomplishment, pride, leadership and responsibility. Anything that encourage the use of the imagination, will also help in this stage. There are several activities and things that a parent to choose to perform to influence the successful completion of this stage. I recommend that parents look at other resources to get ideas from, such as parenting books, websites, and the schools. One resource is the Ages and Stages Questionnaire Third Edition (ASQ-3) created by Squires & Bricker explain different activities that benefit in different parts of development and what is normal for a child age