Children of this age need 10 hours to 12 hours of sleep each night. Hand skills and eye-hand coordination needed for activities such as writing and shoe lacing continue to develop as children gain small motor skills. Projects will often appear messy as children work to polish these skills. Building both skill areas is important for physical development. Around age 7 or 8, children begin to think about their own behavior and about things they can easily imagine, such as sharing with a friend or going on a drive.
Adults can do simple reasoning with children now.
The next level of mental development is sequencing and ordering, preparing the way for math skills. During the early part of this stage, children cannot be expected to read and write skillfully, but should be quite self-assured in these areas by the end. During this stage children form a basic understanding of numbers. Encourage these skills by letting them read signs, make lists, count or write prices of objects they buy. They can think through their own actions and situations to understand causes of events.