According to Thomas and Chess (1977), children’s temperament can be categorised into three types: Easy, slow to warm up, and difficult children.

The easy child smiles frequently and approaches new toys, situations, faces with a willingness to experiment.

The slow to warm up child looks at new people, toys, and events around and instead of approaching immediately hangs on to an adult and observes the full situation prior to engaging in play or in conversation.

The difficult child looks at any change in routines with caution and is wary of strangers. He/she cries easily and is willing to show a lot of resistance or “stubbornness” when faced with new material, adults, settings, or even small changes in the immediate environment.

The same interface applies to food intake and children’s experimentation with new types of food.

Children display those types unconsciously. However, this could become an issue depending on how the adults react to the child. The caregiver needs to be willing to work with children and to give them the space and time needed to become familiar with new situations and new environments.

Even the easy child could have issues with an overly cautious adult. If scolded for being open, the child will learn to doubt himself or herself.

When children grow up in an understanding environment, they will learn to experiment and to trust themselves and the future.

For further reading, refer to:
Thomas, A., & Chess, S. (1977). Temperament and development. New York, NY: Brunner/Mazel.

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