Growing Minds: Introduction to Developmental Psychology

 Objective: Define developmental psychology and explore the lifespan.

Discussion Topics:
What is developmental psychology?
Overview of lifespan development
Nature vs. nurture

Hands-On Activity: Lifespan Timeline Collage
Students create a timeline of the human lifespan (infancy to late adulthood) using drawings, magazine cutouts, or online images. 

 Objective: Understand major developmental theories.

Discussion Topics:
Piaget’s cognitive stages
Erikson’s psychosocial stages
Freud’s psychosexual stages (brief overview)

Hands-On Activity: Development Theory Charades
Students act out or draw scenarios from different stages (e.g., “Trust vs. Mistrust,” “Preoperational Thinking”) while others guess. 

 Objective: Explore early physical and brain development.

Discussion Topics:
Prenatal stages
Infant reflexes and senses
Brain development in the first year

Hands-On Activity: Baby Brain Builder
Students will “build” a baby’s brain and senses. They'll label the different areas of development (e.g., “hearing,” “touch,” “grasp reflex,” “vision,” “smell”) and add a fun fact or image about that function, based on what they learned. 

 Objective: Examine learning and language development in early childhood.

Discussion Topics:
Language acquisition
Attachment styles
Vygotsky’s social development theory

Hands-On Activity: Milestone Match-Up
Students will be given a list of common childhood developmental milestones (e.g., “says first word,” “learns to share,” “asks lots of questions,” “walks unassisted”) and they will sort them into age categories.