e to talk with adults, ask questions, listen longer to stories, have a 250-900 word vocabulary, can identify big and little, and can point to parts of the body. Given these cognitive behaviors, can we expect the child to understand the meaning of "getting old?" The three-year-old will at least be able to appreciate that people change in size as they get older. Parents should explain that babies start out small, but that they grow bigger as they get older. The child, whose socioemotional behavior would include helping with adult house activities, will realize that there are activities that will have to wait until he or she gets older, such as reaching for high things. Only older people can reach those. The child may enjoy dress up clothes, and a parent can emphasize that these are clothes for older people.
As to the "why" of getting older, parents can show that all things change into older things. The day starts out young, with the morning sun, but ends at night, with the evening moon. We start out as babies, but we grow old like parents. A physical change in appearance will signify the concept of age to the child.
A three-year-old should be able to tell the action in a picture, so the parent could show a picture book of a baby who grows into a little girl or boy and ask, "What happened to the baby?" The child should be
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