What Is The Difference Between A Kid, Tween And Teen?

What is the difference between kid, tween and teen?

• Newborns -1 year age are called infants.
• 2 year to 3 years of age baby is called a toddler.
• 4 years to 9 years age children are called kids.
• 10 years to 12 years child is a tween.
• 13 years to 19 years is a teenager.

Kids: Personality Development

It is also referred to as play age or middle childhood. This is  the age where a child steps out of the house to socialize, learn and gets new experiences and friends. Kids are enrolled in playschool/ pre-school and then enrolled in school.

Preschoolers:

• Learn to use imagination.
• Able to focus, understand and follow the instructions.
• The early part of this stage can also include stormy tantrums and stubbornness depending on the child’s temperament.
• Become very curious and question everything.
• Have a sense of confidence and pride.
• Able to communicate what they learned at school and show off their skills.
• Learn to share with other kids at school.
• Express emotions, likes and dislikes.
• Will master motor skills and coordination.

School going:

• May help you with house chores.
• Kids show emotional maturity at age 8 years. They know masking their emotions and understanding the reactions a situation needs.
• The reasoning ability develops.
• Coordination continues to improve.
• Understands the social community and behavioral maturity develops.
• Aware of physical appearance, clothes and body image.
• May get significantly taller due to a growth spurt.

Tween: Personality Development

This is a pivotal time for a child. He is aware of his personality, interactions and has a mature level of understanding. It is a phase between childhood and adulthood. Being 10 is all about change. It is a period of transition that can offer challenges and delights as children start to embrace the approach of adolescence.

• Begins to show signs of puberty such as oily skin, increased sweating and hair growth in the genital area and under the arms.
• Better sense of their personality and navigate their social surroundings.
• Thinking power develops. Question everything and able to compare everything. Remember things and react accordingly.
• Have his opinions and goals.
• Understand the consequences of his actions.
• Able to differentiate between right and wrong.
• There is a little anxiety and a sense of fear.
• Sense of differentiating between genders.

A tween needs a good rest of about 9-11 hours. Maybe clumsy and lazy, but you need to have a conversation and listen to everything he has to say even it makes no sense to you or you have heard it before. It gives the child a sense of security and assurance that parents are always there for him.

Teenager: Personality Development

13 is the onset of the teenage years. It is a shift of a child to his adolescence. There is a mental, physical and emotional shift. After 19, he is considered an adult. Teenage years are critical years of a child’s life. As a parent, you need to be careful at each step. You need to transition from an adult authority to friends, whom he can trust and share.

• Sensitive to body changes and physical appearance.
• Attention seeking.
• A sense of distrust in parents and hence questions authority.
• Aware of his interests and talents.
• Recognize strengths and weaknesses.
• Undergo mood swings.
• Has a large social circle. Friends tend to be more important.
• Preferences about subject liking and career (16+).

Puberty develops throughout the teen years. You see a major transformation in behavior and character development from 13 years to 19 years of age.

Also read: 12 Play-Date Ideas For Toddlers

#child #teenage

#child #teenage