The caregiver's face and a baby's own body parts—fingers, toes, belly—are some of the most intriguing play toys that an infant can explore. Help him learn about himself and others.
Infant-toddler professionals should nurture development in babies from the very first days of life, giving them engaging experiences that prepare them for later, more specific, learning in areas like math, science, music, and literacy. "Children are born with an incredible capacity and desire to learn…it is essential that children's first experiences are robust ones, steeped in activities that develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills, a deep understanding about themselves in a social society, and age-appropriate content" (PDE and DHS 2014). The goal of these encounters is to create opportunities for the baby to fully explore the world through her senses. These events will create "habits of mind" (Austin and Hynes-Berry 2015).
Developmentally appropriate choices
Teachers should intentionally select activities that match the observed interests or skills of a specific child. Engaging, developmentally appropriate activities should extend an already known ability or present an opportunity for the child to explore a developmentally appropriate "next step." For a reminder on typical infant development, download this infant development milestone chart.
Who am I? Who are you?
The caregiver's face and a baby's own body parts--fingers, toes, belly--are some of the most intriguing play toys that an infant can explore. Help him learn about himself and others. "Damian, I see you found your fingers. Those are YOUR fingers. Do they taste good in your mouth?"
Display family pictures and talk about who is in the picture.
With a baby seated on a caregiver's lap, take her hands and clap each syllable of her first name, "Mel-a-nie." Next, clap the caregiver's name, "Kei-sha." Continue by adding middle name and last name.
Name feelings--"You are frustrated." "You are startled." "You are hungry." "Your stomach hurts."
Secure floor-level, unbreakable mirrors (acrylic mirror sheets) in the room. Ask, "Where's baby?" Move away and then ask, "Where did baby go?" Move back in front of the mirror and say, "There's the baby!" Repeat as the baby shows interest in her own reflection and in yours. Describe her eyes, nose, mouth, ears, hair, etc., while looking in the mirror.
Place an acrylic mirror on the floor and allow the infant to finger paint on it. Press a piece of paper on the finger-painted creation and then carefully lift it off. A print of the work on the mirror will be captured to save and share with the family or display in the room.
If a newborn is crying a lot and isn't soothed by the typical responses, consider that the baby may be overstimulated. Dim lights, reduce noise in the room, or change the baby's clothes. Sometimes the texture of a onesie or sock is irritating and the baby cannot communicate the discomfort except by crying.
How the world works
Figuring out how the world works is in children's DNA. By their first birthday, babies have watched, listened, touched, tasted, and smelled for thousands of hours. Their rapidly developing brains have noticed differences, routines, and how to make things happen. According to the Early Math Collaborative, (n.d.) when a baby learns attributes of an object, that is a "precursor" math skill. Adults can help nurture this foundational cognitive work.
Provide books with real photographs of natural objects, animals, and people.
As a caregiver mixes water into formula or thins pureed food with juice, let the baby watch. Invite her to mix water with food coloring or mix cornstarch and water on a feeding tray. As the child feels the texture of the ingredients, describe in words what she is experiencing. "It's getting lumpy. It's sticking to your fingers." "Oh, look, the blue color moves up there when you drag your finger through the puddle."
Allow the infant to touch her pureed baby food or to squish diced vegetables between her fingers.
Ask if a child wants help before solving a situation (e.g., "You want the ball. Can you reach it?").
Allow infants to play with plastic, translucent shapes, and look at the world through these colored filters. Place sheets of colored cellophane on the windows. The sunlight will take on a new color as it shines through the sheets.
Simply sitting up and tapping on a soft playground ball helps an infant get her first, basic understanding of spheres and motion. Roll balls, cylinders, and toys back and forth.
A child with a disability such as cerebral palsy may require adaptive seating as he grows. Adaptive seating helps with trunk support and increases his participation with peers.
Place two sensory balls of different sizes near an infant who can sit unsupported. As the infant reaches and mouths or squeezes the ball, use comparison words to narrate what she is doing. "You picked the small bumpy ball. Oops, there it rolled away. I'll get it. Do you want the big bumpy ball or the small bumpy ball now?" Introducing size words begins to establish a child's math measuring skills.
Gently bounce an infant on your knees, saying out loud "Bounce, bounce, bounce." Then clap their hands together, saying "Clap, clap, clap." This introduces the baby's mind and body to patterning. When repeated, the baby gets his body ready to bounce when it's time for the bounce in the sequence.
Hold baby's hands under running water to wash after a diaper change. Allow baby to splash her hands in a very tiny amount of water on a cafeteria tray. Or offer a water-soaked washcloth for an infant to squish and squeeze on a tray. This sensory play builds fine motor strength.
Many providers use food, such as pudding or applesauce, for creative sensory exploration. In other programs, this practice is discouraged or prohibited. Sometimes this rule is in place to be consistent with restrictions at the preschool level. Children may be confused about when they can play with food and when they can't. If the longer-term goal is for children to know the difference, providers may decide to use nontoxic substances that are not especially tasty for creative play.
Blow bubbles near a child who is sitting up. Allow her to reach for, swat at, or crawl after the bubbles.
Encourage the baby to reach or crawl by wiggling a soft, brightly colored fabric streamer.
Place a metal pot and a wooden spoon near an infant. Show the baby how two objects can make a funny sound when banged together. Make up a silly song as he bangs on the pot like a drum.
Place an unfamiliar object like a small, plastic colander, a square of aluminum foil, or a gourd near the infant to observe and explore. Encourage the infant to switch hands by offering a second object to hold. Relaxing a hand into a flat palm and releasing an object is an important development achievement.
Repurpose a plastic snack barrel as a "drop and dump" toy. The infant drops toy shapes, blocks, or metal lids into the container, dumps them out, and repeats.
As a child explores natural items in a basket, count them. If she is sitting taking river rocks out of a bucket and putting them on the ground, count "1 rock, 2 rocks…"
Build small ramps. Count each object as it rolls down. Hand-over-hand, hold a little car or a ball at the top of the ramp. Help the infant release her grip and watch the toy roll down. A small section of vinyl gutter can be a great rolling trough. With a gentle slope and light-weight items, the baby can sit unsupported at the bottom of the chute and "catch" the item or allow the moving toy to bump his toes.
With adventurous teachers, infants can paint. At any age an infant can experience non-toxic paint on her hands, toes, or belly. This works best when an infant wears only a diaper. Once an infant is able to sit up and crawl, she can "paint" with her body--patting in puddles of paint and then moving over a big sheet of paper. She can drag paint-dipped fingers over paper taped to a tray. Paint with one or two infants at a time. Have extra staff on hand to help with clean up. A few drops of dish detergent in the paint makes clean up easier. Occupy other children with play experiences at another space in the room.
As early as 6 months, help infants transition by encouraging them to wave "bye-bye" to an area or experience, to Mommy, to the swing, or to a ball.
References:
Austin, Ben and Mary HynesBerry. 2015. "Collaboration with the Ounce Highlights Math Development in Children Ages 0-3." Erikson Early Math Collaborative.
Child Health Explanation. n.d. "Motor Skills Development Process."
The Early Math Collaborative. n.d. "Precursor Concepts." Erikson Institute.
Gonzalez-Mena, Janet and Dianne Wedmeyer Eyer. 2009. Infants, Toddlers, and Caregivers: A Curriculum of Respectful, Responsive Care and Education, 8th ed. McGraw Hill.
National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care and Early Education (NRC). Updated 2012. "Frequently Asked Questions: CFOC3 Clarifications."
Pennsylvania Departments of Human Services and Education. 2014. "PA Learning Standards for Early Childhood--Infants and Toddlers." Office of Child Development and Early Learning.
Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning. n.d. "Building Blocks for Babies."
Zero to Three. 2016. "Brain Wonders. Nurturing Healthy Brain Development from Birth."
