The developmental nature of Children could also be written down as 'The way in which they do .. or don't do something to develop'.
The development of Children is very individual and can differ enormously for everyone.. regardless of age
Holistic means 'Hands on / whole body / engaging physically and intellectually so that things can be touched, tasted, handled, manipulated and explored in a way that's very 'tactile & active.
When holistic and the natural development integrate / combine with each other and the age is appropriate the learning might be considered to be of the highest opportunity.
An example could be - 8yrs olds building a den in the garden compared to / or including looking at the various stages of a den being built in a book.
A baby banging and mouthing play bricks - passing them from one hand to another - what is being learnt whilst the baby does those things and how does it help them develop?
This page of
Theories of learning gives an excellent explanation on holistic theory.
Treasure baskets are also a great 'tool for holistic learning as they combine many everyday and not so everyday objects for exploration.
I do sometimes think that when the holistic approach is considered no longer necessary or of any benefit it's because we immediately make an assumption of what that object/situation will be like, feel like or maybe taste like and then think we don't need the reassurance of physical exploration anymore *disclaimer
lol not sure whether that's true or not !!
Hope all that helps, if you find out other ideas for this please let us know ..