Social interaction skills
Toddlers participate in a book sharing focused on how children around the world are alike in many ways.
[Invite several toddlers to join you to read a book about children.]
Our book has pictures of children. The children shown in our book live with their families in many different parts of the world. Some of the children in our book look different than children in our room or other children we know. The children shown in our book do many of the same things we do. They are like us in many ways.
[Show cover of book.]
Let’s open our book and talk about pictures of children.
[Open the book and hold it so each toddler can easily see the pictures. Read the text or use your own words to describe pictures.
Emphasize how activities shown in the illustrations are similar to some activities of children in your room. Examples: “The children in this picture are reading a book, just like we read a book. Do you think the children in our picture are reading a book we have read?” “You are pointing to the boys playing in the water, Angelo. The boys are having fun together. You like to play outside with your friends.”
Point out familiar facial expressions and gestures. Example: “The children in this picture are smiling. These girls are waving hello. These boys are smiling at each other. I think the boys are friends. Do we smile and sometimes wave at children in our room?”
Draw attention to pictured children’s characteristics that are similar to characteristics of some children in your room. Example: “Adeline is pointing to the picture of the boy who is wearing glasses. Adeline wears glasses, just like the boy in the picture.”]
The children in our book do many of the same things we do. The children smiled. The children had friends. The children were kissed by their parents!
Young children enjoy looking at pictures of other children. This book is an opportunity to support toddlers’ early awareness of self and others. Toddlers will differ in how much attention they give to the clothing and skin color differences beautifully represented in this book. The important theme of this activity is that children around the world are alike in many ways. Cognitively, toddlers are not able to develop a concrete understanding of the world, although they may have lived in other parts of the world or have family members who visit or stay for long times in another part of the world. The pictures in this book can support a beginning appreciation of cultural differences.
Extra support
Enrichment
Social interaction skills
A toddler participates in a book sharing, with a follow-up opportunity to use a handheld mirror to explore facial features and expressions.
Talk with the toddler about pictures in the book. Focus on facial features and expressions, especially smiles. Draw attention to ways the children’s faces are different and similar. After spending time with the book, offer the mirror to the toddler to hold and explore. Invite the toddler to look at his/her reflection and enthusiastically ask who the toddler sees. Encourage the toddler to say his/her name. Example: “Who do you see? (Pause for toddler to respond.) Yes, Carlos’ face is in the mirror!” Invite the toddler to look at his eyes, mouth, and hair in the mirror. Encourage the toddler to try smiling in the mirror, like the children in the book smiled. Close the session with a brief description of what the toddler did with the mirror. Example: “You saw yourself in the mirror! You knew the face in the mirror was you, Carlos! You looked at your eyes and your nose. You smiled, just like the children in the book smiled!”
Recognizing their own image in a mirror is an important step in toddlers’ development of a sense of self. The toddler will likely enjoy the experience of holding a mirror and looking at his/her facial expressions and features. Some toddlers may have fun making silly faces. Look for opportunities to connect the toddler’s exploration of his/her face to the faces of children shown in the book. Use of a mirror requires eye-hand coordination and spatial skills. Your assistance may be needed. See Extra Support tip.
Extra support
Enrichment
Social interaction skills
Toddlers draw a picture of self.
Invite several toddlers at a time to a low table to draw a picture of himself/herself. You may wish to remind toddlers that our face has eyes, a nose, and a mouth. Also remind toddlers that there is hair on our head that they may wish to include in their drawing. Talk with toddlers about what they are drawing. Some toddlers may wish to include another person or special toy in the picture. This activity is likely to be very short for most toddlers. Positively acknowledge each toddler’s effort to show what he/she looks like! Write names on the paper and post in your room (if possible). Or create a book that you make available for toddlers to enjoy.
This activity is about self-expression, not a finished picture. Emerging fine motor skills will lead to differences in the images and details toddlers include in their pictures. Toddlers are not expected to draw recognizable images, but the marks will be meaningful to the toddler and valuable to discuss. Some toddlers will be especially interested in securing specific colors of crayons to draw their eyes and hair.
Extra support
Enrichment
Materials Needed: All Kinds of People by Shelley Rotner & Sheila M. Kelly, several age-appropriate mirrors
Arrange the book(s) and mirrors on a low table. Invite toddlers to explore the book(s) and their reflections in a mirror. Talk with toddlers about what they see as they look in the mirrors. Some toddlers may enjoy playing a game of mimicking one another’s silly faces in the mirrors.
Materials Needed: Age-appropriate mirror for each baby, toddler, and child (or a large mirror for multiple children)
Children of all ages enjoy looking at their images in a mirror (Option 2). Invite children to play a copycat game of making facing in the mirrors. Invite an older child to make a face and encourage the group to attempt to imitate the face in their own mirrors. Give each interested child an opportunity to make a face for others to copy. Toddlers will enjoy watching their older peers making new faces as well as looking at their own reflections. Babies may imitate some simple facial expressions, such as sticking out their tongue or smiling. The copycat game can be done without mirrors too, although there is benefit in children seeing their own face in a particular expression.
© 2024 The Trustees of Purdue University | All Rights Reserved