Social interaction skills, Awareness of emotions
A young infant participates in responsive interactions with a caregiver, focused on pictures of baby faces.
[Sit with the young infant reclined in your lap. Support the infant’s head in the bend of your arm. This will allow for your hands to hold the book and turn the pages while also securely holding the infant.
Smile and talk with the infant about his/her most recent activity. Example: “Hi, Daniel! You woke up and had your bottle. Would you like to read a book with me now?” Pause for the infant to respond to your attention. The infant may look at you intently, move his/her body, or vocalize. Respond to the infant’s interest and imitate any vocalizations. Example: “You are looking at me and smiling, Olivia. I can hear you talking! You are saying ‘ma-ma-ma-ma.’ I think you are ready to read our book!”]
[Hold the book about 12 inches from the infant and point to the picture on the cover.]
I have a book for us to read together! Look! Do you see the baby?
[Pause for the infant’s response. Imitate any facial expressions or vocalizations of the infant.]
[Begin looking at the pictures in the book with the infant. It is not necessary to read the text. Focus on the pictures of the babies and their facial expressions. Example: “Look at this baby! This baby is smiling. She is feeling happy.”
Continue to look at and describe the faces of the babies in the book. Comment on any verbal or non-verbal reactions the infant may have to a picture. Example: “You are looking closely and batting at the picture of this baby. The baby is making a silly face! I think you like this picture of the baby.” Invite the infant to look in the mirror located at the end of the book. Talk with the infant about what he/she may see. Example: “You are smiling at the baby in the mirror! The baby in the mirror is you, Mariah! You are the smiling baby.”]
[Offer a brief description of what happened during the activity. Example: “Today we looked at pictures of babies in our book. You looked at the picture of the silly baby for a long time, Rowan. You smiled at your reflection in the mirror at the end of the book! Thank you for sharing time with me.”]
Social interaction skills
An infant participates in responsive interactions with a caregiver, focused on imitations of facial expressions.
Invite an infant to sit with you near a large mirror. Encourage the infant to look at you and make eye contact with you. Make an exaggerated facial expression, such as a silly face. (You may wish to copy some of the facial expressions from the Optional Reading book.) Invite the infant to imitate your facial expression. Example: “I am making a silly face! My tongue is out and my eyes are big! Now it’s your turn! Can you make a silly face like I am?” Describe and imitate the infant’s responding facial expressions and/or vocalizations.
After several moments, invite the infant to play the imitation game in the mirror. Sitting close to the infant, encourage him/her to notice the reflection in the mirror. Repeat the process of making an exaggerated facial expression and encouraging the infant to imitate you. Some infants may gaze at the reflections in the mirror, whereas others may prefer to look directly at you. Allow the infant’s responses to lead the direction of the activity as well as determine how long to continue the interaction.
For some infants, this activity will primarily involve you imitating the infant’s facial expressions. Some infants may enjoy imitating your expressions and enjoy a turn-taking approach to imitations. Emphasize the positive interactions between the two of you and affirm the infant’s efforts to focus on your face during the activity.
Social interaction skills, Awareness of emotions
Older infants participate in responsive interactions with a caregiver during a song that emphasizes facial expressions.
None
Sit on the floor facing several older infants to share a song. Some infants may wish to sit close to you, whereas others may prefer to stand close by. Smile and talk with the infants as you introduce the song. Modify the familiar song, “If You’re Happy and You Know It,” to reflect several different facial expressions. Infants will likely delight in hearing this familiar song presented in a new way. Begin by making a large smile. You may use the following suggestions to modify the song:
If you’re happy—make a smile
If you’re sad—make a frown
If you’re silly—stick out your tongue
Sing the song with enthusiasm and use exaggerated facial expressions. Make eye contact with each infant and encourage them to participate in ways of their choosing. Some infants will respond to your facial expressions and others may wave their arms or bounce their bodies to the song. Some infants may prefer to watch and listen. Acknowledge each infant’s participation in the song activity.
Each of these options encourages warm and responsive interactions with infants. The activities build on infants’ natural interest in closely watching faces of others, including expressions of familiar adults. Responding to infants by making similar facial expressions and sounds in response to their actions will encourage infants’ efforts to gain and hold the attention of others. Some infants will enjoy imitating your expressions as well, perhaps moving to a turntaking approach to making and/or imitating facial expressions.
Maintaining eye contact may be uncomfortable for some infants, especially after a minute or two. Watch for signals, such as the infant looking away, fussing, or turning his/her body away from you. You may wish to shift the activity to provide a break in the interactions, or end the activity and try again at a later time. Emphasize positive interactions and affirm an infant’s efforts to focus on your face during the activity.
Extra support
Enrichment
Materials Needed: Baby Faces Peekaboo! by DK Publishing, large mirror, several sheer scarves
Provide opportunities for infants to explore their reflections alongside each other in a large mirror. Briefly share the book with the infants, engaging them in a game of Peekaboo with the pictured babies. After the book sharing, invite the infants to interact with the scarves in front of the mirror. Some infants may use the scarves to play Peekaboo. Some may have other ideas for the scarves. Many infants may not recognize their own reflections in the mirror, but will enjoy looking at all the baby faces reflected back at them!
Materials Needed: several books with photos of babies making different facial expressions, such as Baby Faces Peekaboo! by DK Publishing, several age-appropriate handheld mirrors, basket or display shelf for the books
Place the books and mirrors in a comfortable area. Invite several toddlers and children at a time to explore the faces in the books and to examine their own reflections in the mirrors. Encourage children to experiment with making different faces in the mirrors. Help infants look into a mirror. Describe facial expressions you observe. Infants and young toddlers will enjoy watching the facial expressions of their older peers.
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