Objectives

The information in this module will equip providers to promote quality practices in the classroom by using developmentally appropriate furnishings and materials. This training will offer evidence-based information and short vignettes to demonstrate intentional teaching strategies when engaging young children in play.

Early Care and Education professionals need to have specific knowledge, competencies, and characteristics to work effectively with very young children. This training promotes Kentucky’s Early Childhood Core Content, specifically addressing the areas of Learning Environments and Curriculum. The competency speaks to how positive interaction with age-appropriate materials fosters a child’s physical, cognitive, communicative, creative, and social development.

1. Identify age-appropriate materials with varying skill levels to support infant/toddler play
2. Understand how materials supports cognitive, physical, and social-emotional skills of infants and toddlers
3. Design exciting interest centers that invite very young children to interact safely with materials

Essential Elements to Support Quality

All early care settings should include the following essential elements to support and promote quality.

1. Ensure all children are healthy and safe.
2. Ensure all children have the opportunity to interact and build relationships with peers, adults, and the community.
3. Ensure all children have a variety of experiences to engage and use age-appropriate, hands-on materials within the learning environment.

Your role is critical because YOU determine the classroom design and the kinds of experiences children will have while in your care. You may ask: How do I arrange an effective learning environment for infants and toddlers? What materials will I need? How can I provide active learning for this age group?
To help you create a positive learning environment for infants and toddlers, we will examine four (4) key components to help you set the stage for learning:

1. Developmentally appropriate environments
2. Discuss activities and play experiences
3. Examine daily routines and transitions
4. Share strategies to support and extend learning

Designing Spaces for Infants and Toddlers

One important way infants and toddlers learn is by exploring their environment. At birth, infants begin using their hands to explore their own bodies and the world around them.

Sketching Your Infant and Toddler Classroom

Sketch your room’s arrangement using the classroom sketch template provided here, or in your handout. Include the interest areas you currently have available for the age group you serve.

Once you complete your simple illustration, make a note or highlight the top two (2) areas you would like to enhance. Keep the sketch close by, as you will be asked to note ways to improve the areas you have highlighted.

These are the questions you should be asking yourself as you move through the rest of this module:

• Does my learning environment provide enough space for various activities to take place at once without causing stress or competition for space?
• Does my classroom provide a comfortable, cozy, and supportive environment for infants and toddlers to learn?
• Does the classroom setting provide children with opportunities to freely explore all the materials in a safe and healthy way?

Enhancing Playspaces

A properly designed learning environment is essential for infant and toddler development. When considering the space and furnishings in an infant or toddler setting, ensure it is neither too crowded nor too open.

Remember that non-mobile infants need protected areas and cannot safely be in a large space with mobile infants. For toddlers, there should be adequate space for push-and-pull toys, block building, jumping, and, of course, a cozy area.

Also, look at your environment to ensure there are proper spaces and furnishings that promote self-help skills, such as step stools, child-sized furniture, and low shelving.

Remember: A well-organized classroom design should allow for quiet or active play and provide well-equipped interest areas with enough hands-on, age-appropriate materials to prevent conflicts from arising. This type of environment supports and contributes to the overall quality of the program.

Revisiting your Sketch

Take a look at the classroom sketch you made earlier, review the areas you highlighted, and note what you would like to change.

• Does my learning environment provide enough space for various activities to take place at once without causing stress or competition for space?
  • Is the room cluttered or disorganized?
  • Are the materials within reach for the child?
  • Is there ample room for infants to work on motor skills, such as rolling and crawling

Mobile infants and young toddlers are able to explore and learn when their environment is well organized and the materials they need are within reach.

• Does my classroom provide a comfortable, cozy, and supportive environment for infants and toddlers to learn?
  • Do you offer a soft place for children?

Cozy areas can be designed with thick mats covered in soft fabric or oversized padded rugs. Provide plush dolls, stuffed animals, and large pillows. Place cozy areas in a quiet corner of the classroom, away from active centers such as the block area or music area, and in clear view for appropriate supervision.

• Does the classroom setting provide children with opportunities to freely explore all the materials in a safe and healthy way?

Meaningful Play Experiences

The classroom design sets the baseline for a supportive learning environment. Embedding activities and meaningful play experiences for children is the next step toward encouraging and promoting quality practices.

For infants and toddlers, play is instrumental in their early years of development. At birth, infants begin to use their hands to explore their own bodies and the world around them. Understanding basic child development and the expectations for this age group helps you choose materials and activities that meet each child’s unique needs and interests. As infants mature into toddlerhood, their skills develop. The more they learn to do with their hands, the more resilient these skills become.

As we strive to offer a variety of materials that capture the interest of infants and toddlers, selecting them can be a challenge for even the most seasoned professionals.

The role of the Teacher is to provide children with a variety of choices in their areas of interest, such as blocks, books, music, movement, and housekeeping. In this segment, examine several different areas of interest that foster learning opportunities through play.

Fine Motor Materials

Fine motor skills are the coordination of small muscles, especially in the wrists, hands, and fingers. Fine motor materials, then, are toys and activities that support and engage young children depending on their stage of development. As teachers, we can intentionally select toys that foster curiosity, promote eye-hand coordination, support problem-solving, and develop language skills.

When we offer these resources, we simply provide opportunities for infants and toddlers to use their smaller muscles.

Learning through Music and Movement

To create an interest area that safely exposes very young children to music and movement, teachers should provide a variety of sound-making instruments and props. Teachers need to respond to the child’s need to engage in movement, create, and experience sounds through this form of art.

Not only should music and movement experiences allow for young children’s active participation, but they should also foster opportunities to explore various rhythms, textures, and sounds. Select a variety of sensory play toys, such as instruments, scarves, ribbons, and sound-making toys.

Creating a Construction Zone

Enticing Science Exploration

Infants and toddlers use all their senses to discover their world. Offering an interest area specific to nature and science contributes to the development of observation and exploration.

Here are a few ideas for science interest areas:

• Realistic-looking animals,
• Puzzles,
• Sensory bottles,
• Photos of items found in the outdoors (i.e., plants, flowers, and butterflies),
• A birdfeeder close to a window where children can watch and observe,
• Oversized floor puzzles, which create larger-than-life pictures of nature,
• Adding an aquarium or a classroom pet, or
• Plants that are non-poisonous for children.
  

Nurturing Pretend Play

Whether in a family-certified home or a licensed program, a Dramatic Play center is common in any early childhood setting. When we provide dolls, dress-up clothes, pots and pans, soft animals, and toy telephones, we help very young children make sense of their world.

Sensing the Arts

Establishing Routines and Transitions

Try these activities during transitions:

• Finger Plays
• Countdown Songs
• Puppets

When teachers are involved in children’s routines and play experiences, they help them make sense of their world and foster a sense of discovery. When we set the stage for learning by establishing a developmentally appropriate environment and play experiences, providing consistent routines and smooth transitions, and taking advantage of teachable moments, young children reap the benefits.

Summary and Wrap-Up

If you would like free technical assistance with your room arrangement, contact your Child Care Aware Quality Coach. If you have any further questions about this online module or course credit, contact Inspire Learning Hub.

Resources

References

• Copple, Carol, Sue Bredekamp, Derry Gosselin Koralek, and Kathy Charner. Developmentally Appropriate Practice: Focus on Infants and Toddlers. Washington, D.C.: National Association for the Education of Young Children, 2013.
• Cryer, Debby, Thelma Harms, and Cathy Riley. All About the ITERS-R. New York: Teachers College, 2003.
• Curtis, Deb, and Marg Carter. DESIGNS for Living and Learning: Transforming Early Childhood Environments. St. Paul: Redleaf, 2003.
• Curtis, Deb, and Margie Carter. Learning Together with Young Children: A Curriculum Framework for Reflective Teachers. St. Paul, MN: Redleaf, 2017.
• Guyton, G. (2011). Using Toys to Support Infant-Toddler Learning and Development. Young Children, 66(5), 50-56. Retrieved from https://educate.bankstreet.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1006&context=faculty-staff.
• Kostelnik, Marjorie J., Anne Keil. Soderman, and Alice Phipps. Developmentally Appropriate Curriculum: Best Practices in Early Childhood Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall, 2007.
• Luckenbill, Julia. “12 Ways to Support Language Development for Infants and Toddlers”. NAEYC For Families. Web. Retrieved from https://www.naeyc.org/our-work/families/support-language-development-infants-and-toddlers.
• Rous, B., Howard, M., Chance, L., DeJohn, M., & Hoover, D. (2011; 2008). Overview of Kentucky’s professional development framework. Lexington, KY: University of Kentucky, Kentucky Partnership for Early Childhood Services.
• Rous, B. & Townley, K. (Eds.). (2006, 2013). Building a strong foundation for school success:
  Kentucky’s early childhood continuous assessment guide. Frankfort, KY: Kentucky Department of Education.
• “Tips on Playing with Babies and Toddlers”. ZERO TO THREE. Web. April 2016. Retrieved from https://www.zerotothree.org/resource/tips-on-playing-with-babies-and-toddlers/.