Children at this age love to be outdoors, whether to learn a game in physical education, play at recess, go on a field trip, or check on the weather. They love their classroom jobs and get excited to see what their new job will be each time their teachers changes the assignments. Likewise at home, they enjoy having a family job as long as it changes rather frequently. Novelty seems like a birthright to sixes—except when it comes to bedtime routines, to which they generally like to cling.

First grade was named for sixes, who love to be first at everything possible. That’s why teachers rotate line leaders and meeting leaders, message readers and door closers (because the next best thing to being first is being last). The enthusiasm of six is delightful and exhausting. It’s an age that, with so much going on, goes by in a wink. 

Sevens notice everything…in detail. Smallness is characteristic of their drawing, writing, and play constructions. Everything's reduced to the microcosm, miniaturized to an intricate and controllable world they're trying to make perfect.
 
Dioramas fit in shoeboxes, providing room enough for furniture, rugs, vases, with tiny  flowers, people and/or animals smaller than clothespins, cut out of cardboard and adorned with colorful costumes.

Printing is small also, anchored to the baselines of the paper. Illustrations are elaborate and intricate. Sevens are consolidating all that they know in a compact world of both precision and inward imagination. It is wonderfully illuminating to ask seven-year-olds about their drawings and other creative work in art and classroom projects as well as their pretend play inventions at home. They’ll inevitably tell you about details you’ve missed.

Sevens appreciate the beauty in the natural world that they can see with the naked eye and love using hand lenses and magnifying boxes to get a closer look. They likewise love to have order around them, generally keeping their desks just so, enjoying classroom clean-up, preparing snack, setting a table, organizing the blocks.

A predictable daily routine is helpful to sevens in every respect. They appreciate knowing what’s coming next, having time to get ready for it, having time to fully complete the task before them, in which they can become completely absorbed, often needing a reminder or two before the next transition.

Although sevens like working alone and are introspective about their developing skills, they also do well with partner work assigned by the teacher. They’ll demonstrate a strong ability to listen to and learn from what their partner has to say. Sevens also enjoy the company of one “best friend,” and although the best friend might change frequently, they focus intensely on the relationship while it engages them.

There is so much that sevens want to accomplish, but in small steps, in the division of the day. They are positive perfectionists who believe that to do anything in a personally satisfying way means to be able to reach a conclusion, finish what they have begun. They adore teachers and parents who structure their world to honor this essential nature of being seven.

When eight-year-olds wake up in the morning, new plans for adventure are percolating before their feet hit the floor. These plans usually involve a friend, or better yet, a group of friends to share adventures with in the neighborhood or at school. It can be as simple  as rounding up a game of kickball or as complicated as starting a club for future astronauts or jazz dancers, for this is an age of invention, creation, and cognitive curiosity.

And as you can imagine or are experiencing, eights are in a hurry and very industrious. In school they tackle their assignments with high energy and speed. Getting volumes of work done is the goal as opposed to detail and accuracy. They are first draft fanatics. Journals and diaries are filled with beginnings, illustrations, letters, stories, and poems. Social studies and science projects are favorite activities. Field trips are the best, allowing for new experiences and learning with lots of moving around a museum or exploring an outdoor environment with their classmates and a clipboard. You can’t get much closer to summer camp than that in a school setting.

Speaking of camp, many children have their first successful weeks away from home as eight-year-olds at overnight camp. Eights generally adore day camp, too, whether in a city recreation program or a rural setting.

Eights demonstrate a growing sense of confidence and competence. They’re generally enthralled with learning the tools of their trade, whether pencil, pen, and ruler or computer applications. They also love keeping track of progress on their math facts, how fast they can run, the new dance steps or soccer moves they’re learning. Eights also take special pleasure in comparing and competing, especially on teams in sports and cooperative activities in the classroom.

As quickly as eight-year-olds begin something new, that’s how quickly they’re likely to drop that something in favor of something else new. See this exploratory excitement and enthusiasm for the positive attributes they are, but also realize this is the age to rent musical instruments, not to purchase them!

Children at eight tend to hang around more with their own gender and find comfort and support in this. Not that they can’t enjoy working together in school or at camp—but interests often do tend toward more gender-separated activities in sports, the arts, and whatever fad or toy has their attention.

Children at this age need the sensitivity of adults to respond positively to their changeability. They also need adults to be proactive in keeping up with this energy by changing things frequently. Assigning new chores at home before they get tired of the old and giving new responsibilities on the school job chart each week are examples of really knowing what eight-year-olds need. And surprises! There is no age that benefits more from a positive surprise than the eights. Just something small and unusual can light up an eight-year-old's day. Ice cream for breakfast?