As the child grows, the arena for relating to others moves from caregivers to peers to larger groups. Over the course of childhood, kids move from parallel play to taking turns, shared pretend games, expressing preferences and explaining themselves, learning to enter games with peers as a preschooler, then in the grade school years dealing with more challenging peer relationships, playground politics, and developing the social skills to negotiate within and among groups. Then in adolescence, they form intimate relationships, closer friendships that are more reflective and revealing. Their world expands, and they must face challenges of exploring their sexuality, making decisions about risk taking, and understanding their own values as related to others. Upon entering adolescence, the clearer their understanding about who they and what they value, the better they will be able to form satisfying relationships with peers.
