Developmentally Appropriate Practices & Suggestions

Infants (3-12months)

  • 3month old: Tummy Time

    • As they get older placing colorful items/toys within reach can help increase gross motor skills

  • Items/toys that create sounds as well as different types of textures helps with sensory stimulation

  • Songs + Stories supports their cognitive development

  • Talk to them regularly, recommend mirror talk (describing what they or you are doing as it’s happening)

Toddlers (12months-3years of age)

  • Self and Social Development

    • Child showing curiosity about environment and perhaps peers or sibling.

    • Self-help skills: For instance feeding themselves and as they get older drinking from an open cup, or perhaps dressing themselves, or helps with cleaning up

    • Pretend Play: using imagination to create different scenarios that can help with labeling emotions and learning about the self as well as the world around them

  • Language/Cognitive Development

    • Story time + music can help support language and social emotional development

    • Communicating with your toddler what you see indoors and outdoors on walks

    • Classifying certain objects according to similarities, for instance with shapes, sizes or identifying colors

  • Fine Motor development

    • Different ways to support their finger muscles : for instance crayons and markers, finger paints or playing with clay

    • Using eating utensils

  • Gross motor

    • a safe environment to support their desires to walk, run, and climb as they get older: for instance stacking pillows for 12month to climb or perhaps a 2 year old climbing large rocks or play structures with adult supervision

Preschool (Ages 3-5)

  • Self and Social Development

    • Allow many opportunities for them to do things independently; provide many choices for them to choose from

    • Pretend Play to enhance social emotional skills

  • Language/Cognitive Development

    • Story time to enhance vocabulary as well social emotional skills

    • Letter and number recognition

  • Fine Motor skills

    • Practice writing their names and other words

    • Using child safe scissors when creating art

  • Gross Motor skills

    • Give many outdoor safe opportunities as well as play sports as they explore the different body movements.

    • Skills you may see and want to support: skipping, running, kicking the ball, more balance and coordination, hopping on one or two legs, etc