COVID-19 and child development: educational material for family members

Figueiredo, Mirela de Oliveira; Alegretti, Ana Luiza; Magalhães, Lilian

doi:10.1590/1806-9304202100S200010

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Revista Brasileira de Saúde Materno Infantil

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SPECIAL ARTICLES • Rev. Bras. Saude Mater. Infant. 21 (Suppl 2) • May 2021 • https://doi.org/10.1590/1806-9304202100S200010 copy

COVID-19 and child development: educational material for family members

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

Abstract

Objectives:

to describe methodological procedures, theoretical foundation, activities and guidelines that compose an educational material designed for family members with a focus on the development of babies and children from 0 to 5 years old during the pandemic period.

Methods:

methodological research was applied to the preparation and validation of the educational material. The elaboration involved a literature review, graphic material creation and a validation by experts.

Results:

the literature review provided materials and background on child development principles and forms of stimulation through the realization of child occupations. The stage of validation by specialists provided a greater degree of reliability regarding the potential to stimulate activities and adequacy of the written elements of the material.

Conclusions:

the methods employed made it possible to develop, evaluate and improve the educational material, ensuring greater quality to guide and assist families in the daily stimulation of their children and in the management of occupational disruption. The material can also be useful for education and health professionals, support undergraduate education and/or university extension activities that focus on child development.

Key words
Child development; Child health; Health education; COVID-19

Development milestones

Early childhood (0 - 3 years)

Middle childhood (3 - 6 years)

Motor and Sensorial-motor

Head control: capability of turning the head for one side to another when laid in supine position and raising the head for seconds when laid in prone position since birth. From 2 to 3 months, the head is raised higher in order to maintain it erect when held or sat with support, with 4 months.

Hand control and fine motor skill: presence of reflex of grasping, which makes the hand to close when touched in the palm, it will cease to be involuntary around 3 months and a half, making possible to hold an object of moderate size, like a rattle. Around 6 months, starts to hold objects in one hand and place in the other.

Body control, global motor skills, balance and locomotion: the capability of deliberately turn occurs after 3 months, initially turning from prone to supine positions, to the reverse. At 6 months sits down without support and 10 months moving by him/herself, crawling in different manners, standing with support to stand alone with 11 months.

Hand control and fine motor skill: at 3 years children are capable of building a bridge with blocks and holding a pencil. At 4 years, they place a line in a big hole and copy a circle. At 5 years, drawn straight lines following a model, solve mazes and paint without getting outside the drawn.

Body control, global motor skills, balance and locomotion: at 3 years, they will be able to lean the thorax frontwards and maintain corporal balance, to jump, take stairs without support and alternating feet. At 4 years, they will have a more effective control to stop, start and turn, jump higher, to go downstairs without support and stand on tiptoe. At 5 years, these skills become enhanced for higher jumps and distances, for example, jumping in one feet.

Cognitive, sensorial-perceptive, Emotional and Language.

A 1-month-old baby is capable of following a moving person with the eyes, at 3 months raises the arm to reach a hanging ring, at 6 months is interested for details in objects and at 12 months starts to imitate. At 26 months, combines 4 colors. Onset of development of body scheme as recognition of his/her own body.

Babies up to 6 months babble, at 9 months expressively chatter, with 14 and 16 months are capable of using 2 different words appropriately, after 20 months reproduce simple sentences with two words and know the name of up to three objects, at 32 months speak six to seven words and use preterit.

Spatial organization starts with the displacement of baby performed by the family associated with the discovering of hand/foot with the mouth, being enhanced while the baby sits and starts to experiment the space which is around him/her vertically and with liberation of upper limbs. After the child learns to locate him/herself in relation to objects, he/she starts to locate and place objects, at 2 years they are able to correctly place simple pieces of geometrical figures in their respective spaces in a table or toy.

The children will have egocentrism, but will gradually comprehend other people's point of view, will develop illogical ideas about the world and events, memory and language will improve.

Improvement of body scheme represented by the acquisition of conscience that the body is constituted by parts/limbs, which each part of the body has a function and with this, there is possibility of action with the body and its parts.

Improvement of the orientation of the child in the space in relation to static objects/people and objects/people in movement. At 3 years, they identify which object is shorter or longer, with 4 years solve simple puzzles according to a model and at 5 years, identify right and left in themselves.

After 3 years, the children will be capable of numerical counting and at 4, to speak gradually more complex sentences, both in number of words and in meaning.

Age range	Activities and guidelines
0 to 4 months	In order to develop cervical, visual and cognitive control, it is suggested that the baby is placed in prone and supine positions, for up to 4 minutes a few times per day. Adults may hold a toy in the height of the baby's eyes for, respectively, stimulate the rise of the head, visual fixation and attention. For fine motor coordination and handgrip, it is indicated to place one of the fingers in each one baby's hands, or soft and light toys, stimulating the baby to perform the grip movement. For cognitive and language stimulation, it is recommended to talk, sing, play and imitate the sounds of the baby.
4 to 9 months	Continuity of laying the baby in prone and supine positions, showing a toy at the height of the eyes, the toy should be moved to stimulate the baby to follow it visually, in vertical and horizontal ways, whilst cervical control is strengthened. Continue to offer toys for babies to hold and create movements for joining hands, to stimulate handgrip and bringing upper limbs to the middle line. Start the positioning of the baby in the vertical position with feet placed on the ground, stimulating coordination of lower limbs and global motor skill. Indication of hide and seek plays, reading of books with colorful figures, naming of figures and ways of inciting the baby to babble, for cognitive and language stimulation.
9 to 12 months	Continuity of laying the baby in prone or supine positions, being recommended that toys be placed out of reach, stimulating the baby to roll, besides the cervical control and visual following. It is indicated ways of clapping hands and sitting with support in order to stimulate global and fine motor coordination, the control of body and balance. For cognitive and language stimulation, we suggest the continuity of reading of books with illustrations, pointing at them, naming and describing them, and ways to incite the baby to verbalize.
1 year to 1 year and 6 months	Many options are provided to stimulate the fine motor skill, body scheme, cognition and language of the child, such as dawning with pencil or chalk; searching for toys by means of clues about size, color, format; while reading books asking the child to turn the pages, to reproduce sons from the illustrations and to try to verbalize what is being pointed; showing photos and naming familiar and significant people and places; to identify and name body parts at shower time, when dressing and during meals. It is recommended to motivate the execution of desired behaviors and a routine to sleep and prevent reluctances or night wakes.
1 year and six months to 2 years	For cognitive and fine motor coordination, it is recommended blocks to build towers; placing big beads or straws in a string; solving of puzzles of 4,6 up to 8 pieces with forms, colors, animals, fruits or transports; toys/objects for squeeze/pull/push/spin a button or handle; drawing and painting with wax chalk and thick pencils or with the fingers with gouache paint. For cognition and language, to maintain the indication of reading books every day, asking the children to speak the names of animals, colors, shapes, sizes and body parts. It is suggested to ask the children to help in simple tasks at home, with the recommendation of positive reinforcement for stimulating and maintaining good behaviors.
2 years to 2 years and 6 months	In order to stimulate global motor coordination and body scheme, it is indicated plays such as “Simon Says” with request of actions with body parts; of grabbing balls of different types and sizes; up and down steps. For cognitive and language stimulation, it is recommended, together with reading books, ask the children to describe details of figures/drawings; to teach the number/concept “one” using objects; to teach the concept of “me”, “mine”, “you” and “yours” by means of “who” questions. Fine motor coordination and handgrip can be stimulated with drawing and painting with wax chalk and pencil, training grip with the indicator and thumb fingers.
2 years and 6 months to 3 years	It is indicated, in order to stimulate fine motor skills and cognition, to draw lines and shapes; to color inside figures; stacking rings, boxes or blocks according to the size; put beads/big straws in a string. For stimulation of the cognition and language, it is indicated to continue reading books and pointing at figures, requesting to name and describe what is seen; to teach the concept of “two” using objects, to find identical colors and images; Pretend Play. For global motor coordination and balance, it is recommended to play with obstacles.
3 to 4 years	There is an indication of various activities for stimulating cognition and language such as continuity of book reading, with the addition of repetition of the words, by the children, after the familiar reads, and of counting with their own words what they see in the book. Altogether, to include in the conversations with children, requests for saying name, full name, mother/father/brother/sister's name, the use of pronouns “he” and “she”, to think and explain “why” and “how” regarding things, to teach the opposites by means of objects/actions; classification of similar colors and images, although not identical. For global motor coordination and balance, it is recommended to play with balls while sat, using hands and/or feet, walking and overcoming a path with obstacles. The indication for fine motor coordinating and optimization of handgrip occurs by means of coloring pages and dot box games.
4 to 5 years	For cognition and language, it is still recommended the reading of books, including asking the child to tell what happened in the story, to think and tell what can happen in new stories. For stimulation of temporal and spatial organization, cognition and motor coordination, it is suggested the creation of a calendar with the daily activities of a week; playing “Simon Says” in order to practice “inside, outside, low, high, unturned, turned, next, far”; puzzle and construction toys; drawing with pencil the first letters and human figures with 2 to 4 body parts.

Instituto de Medicina Integral Prof. Fernando Figueira Rua dos Coelhos, 300. Boa Vista, 50070-550 Recife PE Brasil, Tel./Fax: +55 81 2122-4141 - Recife - PR - Brazil
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