Executive function
A toddler moves his/her arms in response to watching and listening to a caregiver.
None
[Invite a toddler to join you to play a game of moving our arms together.]
Let’s have some fun by moving our arms together! You can watch me move my arms in different ways. You can listen to me tell what I am doing with my arms. Then we can move our arms together.
[Point to your eyes and ears as you describe each to affirm the toddler’s response to your questions.]
We use our eyes to watch something. We use our ears to listen to something.
I am going to move my arms and tell what I am doing with my arms.
[Stand facing the toddler. Demonstrate and describe each of three arm positions, as suggested below. Move slowly. Move both arms at the same time. Hold arms in position briefly so each action is separate from the others. Emphasize the words up, down, and front.]
I am moving my arms up. I am holding my arms up high for a little while.
I am moving my arms down to the side of my body. I am holding my arms down for a little while.
Now I am putting my arms in front of my body. Look at how I am holding my arms in front of my body.
You used your eyes to watch me move my arms. You used your ears to listen to me tell how I moved my arms.
I’ll move my arms again.
[Repeat the demonstration and description of each arm position.]
Now let’s move our arms together. This will be fun!
[Encourage the toddler to join you in moving his/her arms the way you move your arms. Again, move slowly. Demonstrate and describe each of the three actions. Emphasize the words up, down, and front.
Comment on the toddler’s efforts. Example: “We are moving our arms together. I am holding up my arms. You are holding up your arms.”
Repeat the arm actions with the toddler. After the first or second action, ask the toddler what we do next with our arms. Pause to provide a clear opportunity for the toddler to respond. If the question seems to be of interest to the toddler but he/she does not show or tell what to do next, demonstrate and describe two possibilities for the toddler to consider. Example: “Do we put our arms in front of us or do we put our arms down?”
If the toddler seems interested, offer a third round of moving arms together. See Enrichment tips for adding slightly more challenge.]
We moved our arms together. We held our arms up, we held our arms down, and we held our arms in front of our bodies. How did you know what to do with your arms? (watch, listen)
Extra support
Enrichment
Executive function
A toddler moves his/her arms in response to listening to a caregiver.
None
Be Prepared: Determine a three-part sequence of arm actions you think will be sufficiently interesting and challenging for the toddler to do without ongoing demonstrations. Possibilities include: holding arms up, down, in front of body, or holding arms out to the side. If the toddler participated in Option 1, reflect on his/her responses in determining an appropriate set of three actions.
Invite a toddler to join you for fun in moving our arms. Stand facing the toddler. Encourage the toddler to watch and listen as you demonstrate and describe three arm actions. Treat each as a separate action. Emphasize the word associated with the action (possibilities: up, down, front, out).
Encourage the toddler to do the three arm actions. Explain that you will tell what to do with his/her arms. Encourage the toddler to listen and to remember. Do not demonstrate any of the actions you name unless it seems the toddler is not clear about the meaning of an action. Do not encourage the toddler to guess.
Invite the toddler to do a second round of the same arm actions. This time, do not say the name of the second or third action. Example: “What do you do next with your arms?”
If the toddler remains interested, encourage him/her to do a third round of the same arm actions or a sequence in which you change the third action. Example: up, down, or out (instead of up, down, front). Demonstrate and describe a slightly revised sequence before you invite the toddler to do actions you describe but do not demonstrate unless needed. Continue to treat each as a separate action. If the toddler wants to do the slightly revised sequence again, consider not saying the name of the third action; ask the toddler what happens next.
Support a fourth round of arm actions if the toddler is interested. (See Enrichment tip.)
Close the activity by enthusiastically describing the toddler’s efforts. Ask, “how did you know what to do with your arms?” Emphasize that the toddler listened to what you said and remembered what to do.
Extra support
Enrichment
Both activity options support the development of several simple building blocks of executive function: paying attention and remembering an arm action associated with a key word, such as up and down. The activities also support short-term memory skill if the toddler is asked about the sequence (“what do we/you do next?”). Skill in flexibly shifting focus is promoted if a different arm action is introduced in the sequence or the order of actions in the sequence is changed.
A toddler may place arms in front of his/her body in less precise ways than you demonstrate. Example: a toddler may put arms in front of stomach instead of chest, as suggested in the adjacent illustration. Be flexible about the toddler’s approach. What’s important is putting arms in front in response to your request.
Option 1 extends the practice of watching promoted in the Block 3 Self-Regulation activity. Option 2 emphasizes the role of listening, a skill that is promoted in a more advanced way in the Block 9 Self-Regulation activity. Option 2 is more challenging than Option 1 because a toddler is dependent on one sense (listening) for responding to an action request. The laddered options make it easy for you to transition from Option 2 into Option 1 if a toddler has difficulty responding to verbal requests alone in Option 2.
Materials Needed: *toddler arm action pictures
Invite one or several toddlers to move their arms in the ways shown in curriculum-provided pictures. Select pictures of actions that you anticipate will be of interest to toddlers. You may wish to demonstrate putting arms out to the side of our body if this action was not used in an activity.
Here are three different ways the picture cards could be used in your Interest Area. (1) Post the cards on a wall or board. You may wish to put the cards in the sequence that was most commonly used in your approach to the Option 1 activity. Invite a toddler(s) to move his/her arms in the way shown on each card. (2) Put the cards in a basket. Invite a toddler to pull one card at a time and move his/her arms in the way shown on the card. (3) Invite a pair of toddlers to move their arms together. Put the cards in a basket. Invite one toddler to pull one card at a time and move his/her arms in the way shown on the card for the other toddler to follow. Help the toddlers take turns as the leader.
*Printables provided
Materials Needed: none
Invite a preschool-age or school-age child to offer the arm actions suggested in Option 1. The leader child will need your explicit orientation to the actions and sequence prior to participating with a toddler. Older toddlers may wish to participate with you in Option 2.
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