During a developmental assessment, a nurse asks a 2-year-old child to build a tower with blocks. What is the expected number of blocks the child can stack at this age?

1. A

   2-3 blocks

2. B

   6 blocks

3. C

   9 blocks

4. D

   12 blocks

Appeared in: NORCERT 8 Mains-2025

Explanation

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• 6 blocks, which aligns with the established developmental milestones for a 2-year-old child.
• At 24 months, a child's fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination have developed sufficiently to allow them to balance and stack about 6 to 7 blocks.
• This milestone demonstrates the child's ability to manipulate small objects with increasing precision.
• Sources like Ghai Essential Pediatrics and Kaplan & Sadock's Synopsis of Psychiatry confirm that a tower of 6-7 blocks is the standard expectation for this age.

Why Other Options Were Wrong

• Option A: Building a tower of 2-3 blocks is a milestone for a younger child.
• Option C: Building a tower of 9 blocks is a more advanced skill than expected for a 2-year-old.
• Option D: Building a tower of 12 blocks is a significantly more advanced skill.

Related Visual

• Visual 1: Chart - A developmental milestones chart showing the progression of fine motor skills (like block stacking, drawing, and self-feeding) from 1 to 5 years of age.
• Visual 2: Infographic - An infographic comparing the block towers built by children at different ages (18 months, 2 years, 3 years) to visually represent the expected progression.

Clinical Relevance

• Nursing practice connection: Use the key finding related to Pediatric developmental milestones: Fine motor skills (block stacking) to guide bedside assessment, documentation, and the next nursing action.
• Developmental screening is a core nursing function in pediatric care. Using tasks like block building helps in the early identification of potential developmental delays.
• Nurses must educate parents that developmental milestones are a range, not a rigid schedule. However, significant deviations warrant a more comprehensive evaluation by a specialist.
• What if? If the 2-year-old child could only stack 2 blocks and struggled to manipulate them, the nurse should note this as a potential delay in fine motor skills and recommend a follow-up screening and possibly a referral to a developmental pediatrician or occupational therapist.

How to Approach the Question

• First, identify the key information in the question stem: the child's age (2 years) and the specific task (building a tower with blocks).
• This is a factual recall question that requires knowledge of standard pediatric developmental milestones.
• Recall the specific fine motor skills expected at 24 months.
• Compare the recalled milestone (stacking 6-7 blocks) with the given options.
• Select the option that most closely matches the established norm for a 2-year-old.
• Mentally review the milestones for the other options to confirm they correspond to different ages, reinforcing your choice.

Concept Tested & Keywords

• Concept Tested: Pediatric developmental milestones: Fine motor skills (block stacking)
• Stem keywords: developmental assessment, 2-year-old child, build a tower, blocks
• Lead-in keywords: expected number
• Clinical cues: Age: 2-year-old - This is the most critical piece of information for determining the correct developmental milestone.

Question ID

QUiApM0yYhxzR_Q9Bc5usq

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