Shake the Rattle

 

   I held the rattle above the infants face as they laid on the back. I gently shook it back and forth. I also moved it to each side to watch if the children turned their head or eyes towards the sound. I moved it towards their hands to see if they would also reach for it. If they did not reach for it, I carefully put it in their hand to hold and explore. The older children stood in front of me as I shook it as well. They reached for it, smiled and shook it themselves.

Nature Walk

Sunday, June 19, 2011

    We took the children for an outdoor buggy walk. We looked at all of the sounds and sights in nature. They used their listening and exploration skills as we walked and talked about all that we saw and heard. As we walked, we picked up a variety of objects along the way. The children used their small motor and sensory skills to touch and explore the leaves, some twigs, a feather, a pine cone and a dandelion.

Chalk Drawing

Monday, April 25, 2011

   The children each sat in the high chair. I taped a piece of black paper down on the tray. I gave the infants a piece of colored chalk. They banged it up and down on the paper. Some of the children smeared it back and forth too. They used their hand eye coordination, their small motor and early logic to hold the chalk. They also used their creative and sensory skills to explore the paper and chalk to create a picture.

Dirt Explore

Sunday, March 27, 2011

   I put dirt into the sensory table for the children to touch and explore. I also gave the children a toy rake and shovel as well. The younger infants let me put their hand into the dirt and touched the shovel. The older children squeezed and picked up chunks of dirt. They also moved the shovel and rake in the dirt moving it around. They used their small motor, early logic and sensory skills.

"Row, Row, Row the Boat"

Saturday, February 26, 2011

   The children listened as I sang this song to them. I gently rocked them back and forth on my lap as well as in a little boat. Even the 3 month old infant looked at me and smiled. The older infants moved their body back and forth trying to get me to continue rocking after I stopped. They used their early logic, language and large motor skills. They all smiled at me too!

Painting with a Brush

Sunday, February 13, 2011

    A nine month old child sat in the high chair to explore painting. I gave her a piece of white paper and a paint brush covered in red paint. She used her small motor and hand eye coordination to bang the paint brush on the paper. Then I gave her another paint brush covered in blue paint. She smiled and looked at me as I told her the names of the colors and said " bang, bang" to encourage her to paint. She used her sensory and early logic as she moved the brush back and forth and up and down on the paper. Even though the paint is non toxic, once she decided to put the paint brush into her mouth, she was done painting!

Day in the Life of a 14 Month Old

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

    My day as an infant teacher is full and busy. We are constantly teaching the children through play as well as through our behavior. The children can learn about others, objects and the world around them through independent play as well as teacher directed play. The infant classroom that I work in has children from 2 1/2 months up to 14 months old. We can have infants start as young as 6 weeks. This little boy will be moving up to a toddler room soon, so I want to walk you through his day.
Today he arrived a little later than usual at almost 9am. Usually he comes earlier since his mother works at the center too. He had not eaten much breakfast, so when he came in, he sat down at the little table to have some milk, cherrios and bananas. After he ate, he had his diaper changed then explored the puppets with me. He said, "Moo" when I showed him the cow puppet. He played independently while I gave some other children bottles. He kept kissing the one baby girl's foot as I fed her. His face lights up when he sees her. We sang the "ABC's", and he explored red play dough as he sat at the table. The lunch of cheese ravioli, bread, cauliflower and mandarin oranges was delivered around 11:30. He sat at the table and had milk with it. He played independently and explored some puzzles in the classroom after eating. He went to sleep around 12:50 and woke at 2:45. Today was his first day sleeping on a cot in order to get ready for going to the toddler unit. I was off work at 3:30, but he was going to play independently and with the other teachers until he was picked up. In the afternoon sometime, he also will go out to the large motor area outside of the class to run around and climb.

Put It On

Thursday, January 6, 2011

    The children each let me put a hat onto their heads. They used their sense of self awareness and small motor skills to reach for the hat. They used their early logic and exploration skills to take the hat off to touch and explore it. The only infant that put the hat back on his head was 14 months old. Many of the children also smiled at me when I put the hat onto them.

Musical Instruments

Thursday, December 16, 2010

   The children watched as we shook and banged the various musical instruments in the classroom. We have some maraccas, a xylophone, a little piano and various other noise makers. The infants smiled and reached for the instruments too. Some of the older infants clapped when we sang and played with them while they were making music. During the day, as music played in the class, we watched them shake and bang some more. We also encouraged them to bounce and dance along!

Reading

Friday, November 26, 2010

   The children sat on my lap as I read What Do You Say? I read the words as they looked at the pages. I encouraged them to touch the pages and help turn them. I also pointed to the different animals on the pages and made the animal sound. I let them explore the book and let them look at me as I made the different animal sounds again. The older infants repeated some of the animal sounds.

Puzzle Play

Thursday, November 11, 2010

     I showed the infants a simple 3 piece puzzle with handles on the pieces. They watched me as I showed them how to pick up the puzzle piece and put it back in the puzzle. They used their small motor and early logic skills as they picked up the puzzle piece with their hand. They all explored the pieces and most tried to put it into their mouth to explore. Some older children also banged the pieces together and onto the puzzle too.

Finger Painting

Thursday, November 4, 2010

   Today the infants sat in the high chair one at a time. I taped a piece of fingerpainting paper (smoother paper and harder to make a hole in) on the tray. I put two different colors of glitter paint on the paper. They all smeared the paint on the paper. The younger infants smeared it in the same spot while the older children smeared it back and forth. Some of the children banged their hand up and down. They all smiled and seemed to enjoy it :)

Pumpkin Explore

Sunday October 31, 2010

      The infants sat in the high chair as I gave them the insides and pieces of a pumpkin to explore. They used their small motor skills to pick up the pieces of pumpkin. They also used their early logic and sensory skills to touch and squeeze the insides and pieces. I talked to them as they explored it. I remarked that it was orange, gooey and cold. The older infants explored for a longer period of time, where as the younger infants were brief.

I am a Teacher!

Thursday, October 28, 2010

    I am often asked "What do you Teach an Infant?". I believe that I do teach my infants by the way that I respond to them and by what I do with them. I would love to share my ideas and thoughts with anyone who is interested. Every month, I will describe and write about an activity that I actually do with the infants in my class....so Enjoy:)