Social interaction skills
Young infants play with toys close to one another.
Be Prepared: This activity is for infants who are learning to reach and/or grasp. Select 2–4 toys that will be visually interesting to infants in this activity and appealing to touch or grasp. Your toy selection will probably vary across infants.
[Gently place two infants on their tummies, facing one another. Arrange several toys between the infants, close enough for each infant to reach.]
[Encourage each infant to reach for and grasp a toy of interest. Move a toy(s) if an infant is having difficulty reaching it.
Describe each infant’s actions, including toy explorations and an infant paying attention to the other infant. Examples: “Manuel is playing with a rattle. He is moving the rattle.” “Jasmine, you are watching Manuel. You are smiling!”
Move an infant to another activity if he/she shows discomfort or fussiness. Notice whether the remaining infant seems interested in relocating, too.]
[Briefly describe highlights of the play, including any awareness of one another. Example: “Jasmine and Manuel, you played with fun toys. Manuel, you watched Jasmine play. You smiled at Jasmine.”]
Social interaction skills
Older infants play alongside each other using shared materials, with guided opportunities to notice what others are doing.
Be Prepared: This activity is for infants who can sit independently and reach and grasp small items. Place most of the blocks in the basket. Arrange the remaining blocks in an interesting display on the floor.
Invite 2–4 infants to join you on the floor to play with blocks. Introduce the materials by pointing to and describing the display of blocks you created and by showing there are more blocks in the basket. Place the basket in a central location, near your block creation.
Invite the infants to play with the blocks. Encourage each infant to play as he/she desires. This activity offers opportunities for parallel play, and is not intended to be a group effort. Offer prompts that support each infant’s play.
As the infants play, encourage awareness of one another’s actions without interrupting or directing the play. Example: “Our friend Abigail is dumping the blocks out of the basket. Look at all the blocks we can play with!”
Point out any instances of an infant paying attention to another infant’s efforts. Example: “Abigail, you are watching Elias put his blocks in a line.”
The activity options extend prior offerings of play opportunities designed to help an infant notice what another infant is doing. The structure of the two activity options sets the stage for an infant to notice a peer(s), which is an important early skill in getting along well with others. Whether an infant notices another infant is influenced by many factors a caregiver cannot manage without the risk of disrupting the play. The play itself can be beneficial without an infant noticing what another infant is doing.
Option 2 offers more potential challenge than the similar Option 2 in Block 24 by involving more than two infants. Although there should be a sufficient number of blocks to meet each infant’s interests, the activity may provide early experiences in sharing materials. Draw attention to an infant who shows interest in a peer(s) by watching or imitating another’s actions with the materials. Interactions among infants are more important than how the blocks are used.
Extra support
Enrichment
Materials Needed: assortment of blocks
Extend Option 2 by providing different types of blocks for infants to explore freely. Briefly describe what each infant is doing with the blocks. Point or gesture as part of communicating with infants. Recognize all forms of interaction with the blocks.
Materials Needed: assortment of blocks arranged by age level, toy vehicles, animal and people figures
Toddlers and preschool-age children enjoy playing with blocks and typically appreciate the availability of materials that can enrich the play, including toys suggested here. Parallel play may be most prevalent with blocks at this age, but there may be opportunities to suggest joint constructions or theme-based play involving several older children.
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