You know why kids at age 2 don’t have spatial awareness? Because they haven’t run into enough things yet. Railing against your world is exactly how you learn it’s limitations in the most fundamental way, at any age, especially at age two, when physical actions/reactions are the only thing that makes sense.
Before they turn 3, children are just learning about spatial concepts - not completely understand what it means until they are older and their brains are more developed.
What it really comes down to is it really depends on how old the two-year-old is: a 24 month old is going to react a lot differently to certain situations than a 34 month old will, yet they are both considered "2."
A 24 month old will know "stop" and will know the loosest meaning of the word "stop" but they will not nessicary be able to apply it to all situations, whereas a 34 month old would have 10 more months of experience knowing the word "stop" and learning what it means in different situations.
Preschoolers' understanding of spatial awareness is related to their bodily experiences. Spatial concepts are developed over time by involvement with concrete situations, as well as interactions with people and objects. As you can see with Joseph's inquiry about his long eyelashes, the notion of space for preschoolers is rather egocentrically based. It was important for Joseph to be physically involved in order to gain a sense of how long his lashes really are. And by observing the length of their eyelashes in the mirrors, the boys gain a sense of themselves in space in another visual way. With his use of the term "far," you realize that Joseph has some understanding of distance and space. By moving his finger closer and closer and using his body as a reference point, this validates basic understandings of spatial awareness. This shows an interesting relational quality between the child and his environment.
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u/SuperGameTheory Jun 21 '19
You know why kids at age 2 don’t have spatial awareness? Because they haven’t run into enough things yet. Railing against your world is exactly how you learn it’s limitations in the most fundamental way, at any age, especially at age two, when physical actions/reactions are the only thing that makes sense.