The development of proxemic spacing behavior: children's distances to surrounding playmates and adults change between 6 months and 5 years of age.

The patterns of distances maintained between 30 children and 15 adult caretakers were measured to determine developmental trends in children's patterns of interpersonal spacing toward adults and playmates. Children's positions during free play were photographed at 60-sec intervals and analyzed with a computer to determine the mean distances children maintained toward their 1st through 5th nearest adult caretakers and toward their 1st through 5th nearest playmates. Children's distances from adults increased with age, while distances from playmates and spatial variability decreased with age. Only infants (6-18 months) stayed significantly close to any of their adult caretakers; toddlers (19-27 months) and preschoolers (30-60 months) avoided proximity to their 3rd through 5th nearest adult caretakers more than could be expected by chance. All age groups significantly avoided proximity to their 4th and 5th nearest playmates; avoidance of playmates' space decreased with age.