Newborn to 1 Year

Throughout the first year, infants grow at a tremendously fast rate. In fact, by the end of the first year they will have tripled in birth weight. By their first birthday, most infants will be crawling and even may be taking a timid first step!

The most essential ingredient in infant care is a warm, responsive, and dependable adult caregiver. Try to spend lots of time holding, cuddling, and playing with the infants in your care. You will be richly rewarded with babbles, smiles, and squeals of laughter.

Physical Development	Intellectual Development	Social & Emotional Development
lifts head and chest when lying on stomach follows a moving object or person with eyes grasps rattle or finger	explores object with mouth plays with fingers, hands, toes recognizes bottle or breast reacts to sound of voice, rattle turns head toward lights	cries (with tears) to communicate pain, fear, discomfort, or loneliness loves to be touched and held close responds to peek-a-boo games babbles or coos, returns a smile

Physical Development	Intellectual Development	Social & Emotional Development
drinks from a cup with help rolls from back to stomach and stomach to back sits alone without support and holds head erect	cries in different ways to say he is hurt, wet, hungry, or lonely recognizes and looks for familiar voices and sounds looks for ball rolled out of sight	responds to own name imitates sounds, actions, and facial expressions made by others shows mild to severe anxiety at separation from parent

Physical Development	Intellectual Development	Social & Emotional Development
begins to eat finger foods crawls well pulls self to a standing position enjoys drinking from a cup	says first word says da-da or ma-ma or equivalent interested in picture books pays attention to conversations	likes to watch self in mirror wants caregiver or parent to be in constant sight offers toys or objects to others but expects them to be returned

• Place babies in new places and new positions so they can see you and others from different angles.
• Respect a baby's natural schedule.
• Baby-proof everything!
• Provide interesting object for infants to feel, touch, mouth, and explore.
• Provide an environment rich with sound.
• Expose babies to bright colors and a variety of objects to look at.
• Talk to infants. Read to infants. Play peek-a-boo. Stay with infant when someone new is around.
• Encourage older infants to feed themselves by offering pieces of banana and soft bread sticks. Expose older babies to a variety of tastes and temperatures in food.
• Give babies the freedom to move around. Older infants need space and time to practice crawling, creeping, pulling up, and walking. Spending too much time in a walker, playpen, or infant swing may inhibit the development of these important skills.

12 - 24 Months

One-year-olds are delightful. Babies this age are developing a real personality and will reward you with laughter, funny faces, and affectionate hugs. First steps and first words are exciting events. As growth decreases, appetite decreases and children may eat less.

Children this age are truly on the go. A greater sense of independence begins to develop as children begin to walk, run, and climb with greater skill. You also may notice that toddlers this age love to imitate everything. Pretending to talk on the phone is a favorite activity.

Physical Development	Intellectual Development	Social & Emotional Development
likes to push, pull, and dump things turns pages in a book enjoys holding spoon when eating, but experiences difficulty in getting spoon into mouth waves bye-bye & claps hands	says 8-20 words you can understand identifies object in a book understands and follows simple 1-step directions likes to take things apart asks for something by pointing or using one word	likes to hand objects to others plays alone on floor with toys imitates others, especially by coughing, sneezing, or making animal sounds recognizes self in mirror or pictures enjoys being held and read to enjoys an audience and applause

Physical Development	Intellectual Development	Social & Emotional Development
feeds self with spoon stacks 2-4 blocks enjoys sitting on and moving small-wheeled riding toys likes to run, but can't always stop and turn well tosses or rolls a large ball	has a vocabulary of several hundred words, including names of toys uses 2-3 word sentences uses the words "please" and "thank you" if prompted points to eyes, ears or nose	begins to show signs of independence; says "no" has difficulty sharing; very possessive enjoys simple pretend play like wearing hats and talking on phone enjoys exploring, gets into everything, and requires constant supervision

• Enjoy some "floor time" with one-year-olds each day.
• Review your baby-proofing. Children's increasing growth and mobility make it possible for them to reach unsafe heights and play with dangerous material.
• Relax and have fun dancing to music. Encourage children to bounce, sway, and wiggle.
• Encourage play with safe mirrors. Stand or sit with a child before a mirror. Talk with him, make funny faces, and encourage movement.
• Talk with children about everyday things. Children will be learning new words at a very rapid rate.
• Read simple books with children every day. Stories that have familiar objects are best.
• Encourage language development by expanding on what a toddler says. When the child says "kitty," you can say, "Yes, the kitty is little and soft."
• Play a simple game of "find." Place 3 familiar toys in front of a toddler and say, "Give me the ----." See if he tries to find it and hand it to you.

Two - Three Year Olds

Two year olds like to be independent! A great deal of time is spent exploring, pushing, pulling, filling, dumping, and touching. Toddlers are very attached to their caregivers. Two-year-olds are usually interested in other children. However, social interest and physical abilities sometimes collide as a hug becomes a tackle and a gentle pat becomes a whack. You will need to teach children how to express affection appropriately.

The 3-year-old is full of wonder and spends a lot of time watching, observing, and imitating. Three-year-olds are interested in perfecting motor skills, and it is common for them to spend the entire morning going down the slide or riding a favorite tricycle. They often repeat activities or may do and undo actions such as putting a puzzle together. These sequences are important to later understandings of change and consistency.

Physical Development	Intellectual Development	Social & Emotional Development
has almost a full set of teeth stacks 4-6 objects scribbles vigorously with crayons or markers walks up and down stairs by holding onto railing many children (but not all) will learn to use toilet	enjoys simle stories, rhymes, and songs says names of toys interested in learning how to use common items uses 2-3 word sentences hums or tries to sing repeats words	acts shy around strangers very possessive -- offers toys to other children by then wants them back cannot sit still or play with a toy for more than a few minutes can be extremely demanding and persistent has fears and nightmares

Physical Development	Intellectual Development	Social & Emotional Development
puts on shoes (but cannot tie laces) dresses self with some help (buttons, snaps, zippers) tries to catch a large ball throws a ball overhead kicks a ball forward hops on one foot walks short distance on tiptoes	talks in complete sentences of 3-5 words stacks 5-7 blocks identifies common colors such as red, blue, yellow, green interested in similarities and differences enjoys playing with clay or play dough	sometimes shows preference for one parent (often the parent of the opposite sex) enjoys helping with simple household tasks enjoys playing with other children briefly, but still does not cooperate or share well enjoys playing "house"

• Try to expand a 2-year-old's knowledge of words and sentence structure. Let her hear the correct word order, but don't demand that she imitate you. For example, if she says, "more juice," say "Anna wants more orange juice."
• Let toddlers help you with simple chores; encourage them to name things that you are using.
• Give toddlers clear and simple choices. "Do you want to drink milk or juice?"
• Encourage sand, mud, clay, and water play. Toddlers enjoy messy play and learn a great deal from mixing, sifting, pouring, stirring, and shaping.
• Be patient with toileting.
• Encourage development of hand-eye coordination by providing large buttons or old beads to string on a shoe lace.
• Encourage a child to repeat a story and discuss the ideas and events. Read titles and point to important words on pages, packages, and street signs.

Four - Five Year Olds

"Energetic" and "imaginative" best describe the 4-year-old. Often impatient and silly, they discover humor and spend a great deal of time being silly and telling you "jokes." Imagination suddenly becomes greater than life for the 4-year-old, who often confuses reality and "make-believe." Wild stories and exaggerations are common. You still need to watch them closely as they cannot estimate their own abilities accurately and are capable of trying some outlandish and dangerous tricks.

Five-year-olds are cheerful, energetic, and enthusiastic. They especially enjoy dramatic play, usually with other children. Be sensitive to the needs of a f-year-old returning from school. She may want to rest, play be herself, be free for a while from adult-directed activity, or catch up with the group happenings. All day kindergarten children need to be given every consideration when they return to your home as they may be tired, talkative, hungry, or wanting to share the day's happenings.

Physical Development	Intellectual Development	Social & Emotional Development
dresses self without much assistance (unzip, unsnap, unbutton clothes; lace but not tie shoes) walks a straight line stacks 10 or more blocks likes to gallop, turn somersaults, climb ladders, hop on one foot	can place objects in line from largest to smallest asks a lot of questions, including ones on birth and death has basic understanding of concepts related to number, size, weight, colors, textures, distance, position and time	takes turns and shares (most of time); may still be rather bossy has difficulty separating make-believe from reality has vivid imagination and sometimes imaginary playmates may name call, tattle freely can feel intense anger and frustration

Physical Development	Intellectual Development	Social & Emotional Development
learns to skip cuts on line with scissors may be able to copy simple designs and shapes throws ball overhead catches bounced balls balances on foot for 5-10 seconds can jump rope	able to remember stories and repeat them draws pictures that represent animals, people, and objects block and dramatic play is much more elaborate and complex can understand time concepts like yesterday, today, and tomorrow	still confuses fantasy with reality sometimes likes to try new things and take risks begins to have a very basic understanding of right and wrong likes to test muscular strength and motor skills, but is not emotionally ready for competition seeks adult approval

• Say nursery rhymes and fingerplays together. Encourage 4-year-olds to tell stories to younger children.
• Encourage interest in writing and words. Provide children with paper and notebooks for writing.
• Encourage physical development. Play follow the leader. Set up an obstacle course indoors with challenges such as crawling, climbing, leaping, balancing, and walking with a beanbag on the head.
• Provide a variety of art experiences. Make play dough. Create collages from magazine pictures, fabric, wallpaper, and newsprint. Teach important number and space concepts. Sort and count everything in sight. Talk about things being in, on, under, behind, beside, before and after, larger than, too far, etc.
• Encourage body coordination and sense of balance by playing "Follow the Leader."
• Add drama to your reading sessions each day by using different voices for different characters.
• Ask 5-year-olds to tell you a story. Write it down and post it on the wall or refrigerator.
• Provide a comfortable place to be alone. A large cardboard box makes a wonderful hideaway.
• Take fears seriously. Reassure children that you will make sure that nothing bad will happen to them.