Object inquiry skills
Infants engage in guided play with cups and small toys.
Be Prepared: This activity is for mobile infants. Select small toys or other play items that will fit fully inside the cups to be used in the activity. If possible, use cups that are larger than infants typically use in your setting. Place extra materials in a bag or basket for infants who join the gathering after you begin.
Invite several infants to join you on the floor. Give each infant one cup and one small toy. Present the two items separately so the infant can have the experience of putting the toy in the cup. Name each item when you offer it to an infant. Emphasize the toy is little and the cup is big. Explain that we can do different things with our little toys and big cups.
Demonstrate placing one toy into your cup and taking it out again. Emphasize the words in and out. Encourage each infant to put a toy into his/her cup. Example: “Angel, you have a little animal and a big yellow cup. Would you like to put the animal in your cup?” After a toy is inside a cup, draw attention to its new and partially hidden location. Example: Use a slightly dramatic tone as you ask “Where did it go?” Peek into the cup and say “There it is!”
Demonstrate placing a cup over a toy (so the cup opening is on the floor) and then removing the cup. Depending on the transparency of the cup, the toy may be partially hidden. Use a slightly dramatic tone again to ask “Where did my little toy go?” and then announce “Here it is! My toy is under my big cup!” when you remove the cup. Encourage infants to put their cup over their toy and then remove it. Describe their actions.
Help infants exchange toys, if this seems to be of interest, and repeat the actions. There also may be interest in exchanging cups if they are different colors or sizes.
The activity option offers opportunities for infants to use familiar items in interesting ways. Remember that your facial expressions and hand gestures are central to effective communications. Infants will not understand many of your words. Offer demonstrations slowly and in full view of infants so they can easily follow along. Watch their gaze to ensure your words and actions are aligned with their attention. Although the activity is intended as guided play, there may be things infants want to do with a cup and toy that differ from the suggested actions. Be flexible about and supportive of their approaches to object inquiry.
Extra support
Enrichment
Object Inquiry skills, Problem-solving
An older infant engages in open-ended play with toys initially lined up on the edge of a table.
Be Prepared: This activity is for an infant who can sit or stand without support. Select toys you anticipate the infant would like to look at and manipulate, such as chubby vehicles and farm animals. The toys do not need to represent a theme. Line up the toys on the edge of a table the infant can easily stand at. Use a lower table if the infant will sit at a table.
Invite an infant to join you in playing with some toys. Sit or kneel next to the infant. Name and describe each toy, one at a time. Pay close attention to the infant’s gaze so you can emphasize what seems to be the focus of the infant’s attention.
Give time for the infant to think about using the toys in ways he/she wishes. The infant may initiate an activity of dropping the toys to the floor. Helping and watching the toys fall to the floor is meaningful and appropriate at this age. Encourage the infant to pick up the toys and return them to the table. The infant also may initiate an activity of carrying one or more toys to a different place in the room. Carrying toys from one place to another, sometimes without an obvious purpose, is also meaningful and appropriate at this age. There are important considerations for the infant regarding how to carry toys (one or two hands?), how many can be moved at one time, and what to do with the toy(s) at the new location.
Become a partner in the infant’s activity if it seems the infant would like you to join him/her. Another option is to stay close and offer comments that let the infant know you are tuned in. Whatever approach you pursue, describe the infant’s actions with the toys. Examples: “Sean, you are dropping the toys on the floor one by one.” “Sammy, you’re using both of your hands to carry a truck and a car to another table. Moving things is a big job!” Repeat and expand upon the infant’s vocalizations.
Infants may differ in the amount of time they devote to solving the initial problem of what to do with the toys lined up on the edge of a table. For some infants, the toy placement is an instant invitation to knock the toys to the floor. This is a developmentally appropriate activity, as noted in the activity description. For other infants, the toys may be seen as transport opportunities. Carrying objects from one place to another is a fun activity for many infants and can pose some challenges, as noted in the activity description. Look for opportunities to describe the infant’s efforts without directing the play.
Extra support
Enrichment
Materials needed: scarf, stacking cups, muffin pan and six small toys, Baby Faces Peekaboo! by DK Publishing, and Where’s Spot? by Eric Hill
Create simple yet interesting arrangements of playthings on the floor for non-mobile infants to see, such as a small scarf inside a stacking cup. Build a tower with 2–3 stacking cups. Encourage early mobile infants to touch the tower and watch it fall apart.
Provide a muffin pan and six small toys for older infants to use for in and out actions. The suggested books are enjoyable for infants at this age. Supervised use of books with flaps or movable tabs is important because infants do not understand that if a book flap is ripped off, a peek-a-boo type book loses its special appeal.
Materials needed: craft sticks, paint, glue, paper plate, items to paint with (such as corks, berry baskets, cups, and small blocks)
The activity options in this block promote infants’ use of familiar toys in interesting ways. Provide complementary opportunities for older children in your setting. Toddlers enjoy using dot painters to make marks on a paper plate. Preschool-age and school-age children may enjoy painting craft sticks and arranging them in a pleasing order when dry. Children can create a design and attach it to cardboard with school glue. Preschool-age and older children will be pleased to experiment with paint and a variety of items for printing, such as corks, berry baskets, cups, and small blocks.
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