Ace the Ontario Early Childhood Educator Exam 2025 – Play, Learn, and Pass with Flying Colors!

The correct choice is the preoperational stage, which is characterized by children ages 2 to 7 engaging in symbolic thinking and imaginative play, but still lacking the ability to perform operations mentally. During this stage, children begin to use language to express their thoughts and ideas and can engage in role-playing activities, which illustrate their growing cognitive abilities.

In this developmental phase, children start to understand the world through visual representations and symbols rather than logical operations. For instance, they can recognize that a drawing of a dog represents a real dog, demonstrating their use of symbols. However, they are often egocentric, meaning they have difficulty understanding perspectives different from their own and find it challenging to comprehend the concept of conservation—the idea that quantity remains the same despite changes in shape or arrangement.

The other stages described are distinct from the preoperational stage. The sensorimotor stage, which occurs from birth to about 2 years, focuses on infants learning through their senses and motor actions. The concrete operational stage, which follows the preoperational stage, involves children ages 7-11 beginning to think logically about concrete events and understanding the concepts of conservation and classification. Finally, the formal operational stage occurs from age 12 onward, where individuals develop the ability