Play naming games and sing songs about parts of the face or body as you hold your child. You can also play these games as you hold your baby in front of a mirror. New Jersey Council for Young Children. (2013). New Jersey Birth to Three Early Learning Standards. Retrieved from: https://www.nj.gov/education/ece/guide/standards/birth/standard s.pdf Rochat, P. (2003). "Five levels of self-awareness as they unfold early in life" (PDF). Consciousness and Cognition. 12 (4): 717–731. doi:10.1016/s1053-8100(03)00081-3. (Level III) Lewis, M., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (1979). Social cognition and the acquisition of self. New York: Plenum Press
Self-awareness in young children begins in infancy and develops in stages. The development of self-awareness in the early years reveals layers of processes. These processes expand from body perception in action to the evaluative sense of self as perceived by others.
Researchers Lewis et al. carried out two studies on 71 infants from 9-24 months to explore how self-awareness developed. The researchers applied a red dot to an infant's nose and then brought the child to a mirror. Children who recognized themselves in the mirror would reach out and touch their noses rather than the reflection in the mirror, indicating that they had some level of self-awareness.
The studies found that almost no children under one year old would reach for their nose rather than the reflection in the mirror. About 25% of the infants between 15 to 18 months reached for their noses, while about 70% of those between 21 to 24 months also touched their noses. At this time, children are learning that they are different from other people and becoming more aware that others may have beliefs, desires, and feelings that differ from their own.
Once young children reach this level of self-awareness, new emotions like embarrassment, envy and empathy emerge. This suggests that expressing emotions involves self-awareness as well as an ability to think about oneself in relation to other people.
Young children develop self-awareness when they have social interaction with adults. For example, when parents interact with their baby and acknowledge their baby's responses by smiling back or expressing happiness when their baby smiles, the baby's presence is affirmed.