Object inquiry skills
A toddler identifies and matches real and pictured items.
Be Prepared: Place the five cards on a low table with pictures facing up. Secure one of each of the items shown in the five cards: a book, crayon, toy vehicle, block, and doll. Put the items together on a nearby shelf or other table, not on the table with the cards.
[Invite a toddler to play a matching game. Encourage the toddler to sit or stand at the table with the cards and look at the cards with you.]
These are pictures of things children like to play with. We have these types of things in our room.
[Point to a card that shows an item of interest to the toddler.]
What do we see on this card?
[Encourage the toddler to name the item shown. Repeat the name of the item offered by the toddler and invite the toddler to tell how we use the item. If a toddler responds to your request by telling what is done with an item rather than saying the name of the item (such as “coloring” for crayons or “story” for books), acknowledge and expand on the description. Example: “Yes, the things in the picture are used for coloring. They are called crayons.”
Continue this process with each of the remaining cards.]
[Point to the nearby collection of similar actual items you gathered for the activity.]
Here are things from our room that are like the things shown in the picture cards. I think you will have fun putting each of these things next to the picture that matches the item. Things that match are the same or almost the same.
[Encourage the toddler to point to an item, say its name, and carry the item to the table that contains the picture cards. Encourage the toddler to put the picture card and corresponding item next to each other. Engage the toddler in a brief conversation about how the two items match. Example: “What is the same about our toy car and the picture of a toy car?” (wheels, shape, etc.)]
Finding things that match is fun! We talked about some things shown on picture cards. Then you put things from our room next to a picture card that matched the real thing. We talked about how things that match are the same or almost the same.
This activity supports a toddler’s understanding that a picture can represent a real thing. It builds on a Block 12 Communication/Language activity plan focused on connecting visual symbols to items and activities.
A toddler may wish to pursue the activity without much discussion, and maybe at a fast pace. The activity description’s suggestions for promoting talk are in support of language use in general and understanding the names of specific familiar objects. Gently encourage a toddler to talk about items. Beginning the activity with a picture card that shows an item of interest to the toddler may help stimulate talk. A toddler may enjoy telling you how he plays with the item in the room or at home.
The plan calls for a toddler to move an item to the table with the picture cards (rather than put cards by their respective items). This approach is intentional, aimed at helping a toddler connect with an object’s characteristics via touch.
Extra support
Enrichment
Object inquiry skills
A toddler finds items in the room that match pictures of similar items.
*5 picture and real matching cards (as shown)
*Printables provided
Be Prepared: Ensure the items shown in the five cards are available in their usual setting in your room.
This activity extends Option 1 by inviting a toddler to find things in the room that match items shown in picture cards. Begin by showing and discussing each picture with the toddler, one card at a time. Use the Option 1 strategies of encouraging the toddler to name the item and talk about how it is used in your room. Then invite the toddler to find an item in your room that matches the item shown in the picture card. Remind the toddler that match means things are the same or almost the same.
Ask the toddler what he/she would like to find first. Give the toddler the card that shows the item and hold the remaining four cards. Accompany the toddler on his/her search. Offer verbal support when appropriate. Example: “Where do we keep crayons in our room?” Alternatively, a toddler may prefer to go on an unaccompanied hunt for the item and bring it to the space where you reviewed the cards. This arrangement supports the use of self-regulation skills related to keeping focused on the task.
Talk with the toddler about how the real item and pictured item are a match. Acknowledge the toddler’s efforts.
This activity option supports a toddler’s understanding of how a picture can represent a real item and adds the challenge of finding the item in your room. Toddlers differ in their familiarity with a room’s materials, especially if they tend to play in one area only. You may need to provide clues about the locations of some items.
The decision about whether a toddler searches independently or with you in a follower role is important. The risk of an independent search, of course, is that a toddler becomes distracted and never returns with the desired item. If this happens, try the activity another time, with you accompanying the toddler’s search. You may wish to offer a mix, beginning with accompanied searches for several of the items and then several independent searches.
Extra support
Enrichment
Materials needed: *5 picture and real matching cards used in Options 1 and 2
Place the cards face up on a low table. Invite toddlers to find an item in the room that matches the pictured item and bring the item to the table, placing it next to the picture card. This is a version of Option 2 that involves independent searching. Talk with toddlers about where they found the item and how the pictured and real items are the same or similar and different.
*Printables provided
Materials needed: My Big Word Book by Roger Priddy
In addition to offering Options 1 and/or 2 to toddlers, invite preschool-age children to also participate. Their discussion of how pictured and real items are similar and different can be helpful to their own cognitive and language development as well as toddlers’ understandings of objects. Share My Big Word Book with children of different ages in your setting. The book is an engaging way to support familiarity with names of objects.
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