INFANTS - 3 weeks to crawling time

Massage is given to a young infants involving tactile and kinesthetic stroke and rubbing stimulation as a therapy to enhance their cognitive and physical development. Such contact is also found in other mammals where the mother provides tactile stimulation as part of their care through licking, grooming, and physical contact. Infant massage is widespread in traditional societies. Research finds that massage enhances neural development and body growth in rodents and humans and is particularly important for preterm infants.

TODDLERS - walking to 3 years.

During the toddler stage, the child also learns a great deal about social roles, develops motor skills, and first starts to use language. Children who are being raised in a hurried and pressured style may limit the protective benefits they would gain from child-driven play.

PRESCHOOLERS - ages 3 to 6 years   

Preschool is generally considered appropriate for children between three and five years of age, between the toddler and school stages. During this stage of development, children learn and assimilate information rapidly, and express interest and fascination in each new discovery. Play allows children to create and explore a world they can master, conquering their fears while practicing adult roles, sometimes in conjunction with other children or adult caregivers.^[6] Undirected play allows children to learn how to work in groups, to share, to negotiate, to resolve conflicts, and to learn self-advocacy skills. However when play is controlled by adults, children acquiesce to adult rules and concerns and lose some of the benefits play offers them, particularly in developing creativity, leadership, and group skills.

SCHOOLERS - ages 6 to 13 years

Play is essential to the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being of children.^[6] It offers children opportunities for physical (running, jumping, climbing, etc.), intellectual (social skills, community norms, ethics and general knowledge) and emotional development (empathy, compassion, and friendships). Unstructured play encourages creativity and imagination. Playing and interacting with other children, as well as some adults, provides opportunities for friendships, social interactions, conflicts and resolutions.

ADOLESCENTS - ages 13 to 19

It is a transitional stage of physical and mental human development that occurs between childhood and adulthood. This transition involves biological (i.e. pubertal), social, and psychological changes, though the biological or physiological ones are the easiest to measure objectively.  This generation is seen as an important target. Mobile phones, contemporary popular music,movies, television programs, websites, sports, video games and clothes are heavily marketed and often popular amongst adolescents.  

 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia