You have just put a two-year old on the swing at the part. She is delighted going back and forth. After a couple of minutes she begins to look unhappy. You ask her, “Do you want to go faster?” She still looks distraught. You ask her, “Do you want to go slower?” Nothing. Now imagine […]
Can you imagine how smart we would be if we learned at the rate an infant does? Babies are born with all sorts of innate abilities to make sense of the world around them. Many of those are designed as self-preservation and many others are simply driven by a need to know more, understand more. […]
The other day I observed a room of younger toddlers, none of whom was older than 20 months. One child spent his whole morning playing with this large set of beads.They come with a long string that is easily pushed through the large holes. The string has a helpful plastic cylinder on the end that […]
Today is Pi Day!!!!! Nerds love Pi Day! Mathematicians love Pi Day! (holla Noah and Len) Physicists love Pi Day! I love Pi Day! Today – the children in your program will come to love Pi Day as well. Take a look at all of the Afternoon Snack Posts from this week to see how you […]
Pi Day wouldn’t be complete without PIE for lunch. Mini chicken pot pies are a perfectly balanced and delicious lunch that most young children really like. I often cook my own because I can make sure that they are super healthy by controlling the fat and the kind of chicken that is inside. Many home […]
I bet you already use the ASL hand gestures for some directions. The sign for “up” is a finger pointing up and the sign for “down” is a finger pointing down. These signs are useful for an infant who wants to be picked up or put down and allows them to tell you so without […]
Pi Day is a wonderful opportunity to reinforce some calendar concepts with the children. On Friday during circle time or large group, use 3.14 to explain that even though months have “names” and days have “names” they also have corresponding numbers. January is the first month of the year – so we call it “1.” […]
If you begin signing with the infants in your care you may want to explore this website a bit. The site is definitely selling a product but in my opinion, you don’t really need any more than what is available for free. There are videos showing babies signing, examples of how to teach the signs, […]
On Friday, prepare a beading activity that asks the children to create patterns of 3 – 1 – 4 The older children can create their own and the younger children can extend some examples you have prepared. Take long laces or strings and tape the ends to the table leaving the tails free for beading. […]
The following comes from the NAEYC position statement on Developmentally Appropriate Practice with Infants and Toddlers DAP with Infants and Toddlers, Ages Birth – 3–3 The earliest years are all about relationships. Infants and toddlers crave and develop attachments to the special people in their lives. Depending on how parents, early childhood educators, and others […]