Activities for Responsive Caregiving: Infants, Toddlers, and Twos

By Jean Barbre

The first three years set the stage for a lifetime of learning. This book provides more than eighty activities and experiences to optimize very young children's intellectual, social, emotional, and physical development, as well as strategies that support responsive caregiving.

Jean Barbre, EdD, has thirty years of experience working with children and families as a preschool director, teacher, therapist, college instructor, national and international presenter, and guest presenter on public television.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Redleaf Press
• Release date: Nov 16, 2012
• ISBN: 9781605542621

Book preview

INFANT

All About Baby

LEARNING OUTCOMES

SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Sense of self

–Personal identity

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

–Perception

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

–Memory

–Connecting experiences

–Imitating others

LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

Concept words

–Receptive language

–Connecting words with real-world knowledge

–Using language in play

MATERIALS

Suggested Books

–Baby da Vinci: My Body by Julie Aigner-Clark

–Eyes and Nose, Fingers and Toes by Bendon Publishing

–Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes by Annie Kubler

–My First Body Board Book by DK Publishing

–The Pudgy Where Is Your Nose? Book by Laura Rader

–Where Is Baby’s Belly Button? by Karen Katz

HOW TO DO IT

Lay the baby on her back on a blanket or sit with her in your lap. Start by touching or holding her feet and naming them. While you name the feet, rub or lightly tickle them. Then touch or hold her legs and name them. Progress up her body, naming the body parts you touch or hold, such as her knees, tummy, fingers, hands, arms, mouth, nose, and eyes. End by gently touching or stroking her head and naming it. Read the suggested books, introduce the vocabulary words, and sing and chant with the infant.

Modifications for Toddlers and Twos

Sit on the floor with the children facing you. Touch your own body parts as you name them and invite the children to do the same. For example, say, Here are my hands. Where are your hands? Let’s clap our hands together.

Expand the Activity

While children play throughout the day or as you perform everyday routines—such as dressing and undressing the baby—name the body parts you touch or hold. For example, name her hands and arms as you slip them inside her sweater, and name her toes and feet as you place them in her socks or shoes.

BUILD LANGUAGE SKILLS

Vocabulary

–Feet

–Legs

–Knees

–Tummy

–Belly button

–Fingers

–Hands

–Arms

–Chin

–Mouth

–Nose

–Eyes

–Ears

–Head

–Hair

Questions and Things to Say

Where are your toes? Oh! Here are your toes! (Touch each toe one by one.) Where are your hands? Oh! Here are your hands! (Clap the baby’s hands together while saying hands.) Where is your nose? Can you wiggle your nose like this? (Wiggle your nose.)

Songs, Chants, and