Infants are naturally motivated to investigate the world around them through discovery, exploration, and involvement. Gathering information about anything and everything that comes into their environment, babies begin to make sense of the many different objects and people they encounter. Through sounds, movements, and facial expressions, infants learn how to communicate their feelings and thoughts about what they are experiencing. Choosing toys to play with and people to interact with, young learners explore what interests them and then respond to that object, idea, or emotion. This is how learning takes place, through play and practice.
Engaging Infants in Play
Inspiring infants and babies to make decisions regarding the way they engage in play is when the most learning occurs. Supporting the natural desire for little learners to inspect their world through observation, listening, and hands-on examinations provides a basis for the early stages of developing knowledge.
Providing learning options and meaningful interactions that include a variety of essentials, objects and people can help to educate and strengthen the minds and bodies of infants. By taking advantage of these informative opportunities, awareness and progression of children’s education can only be enhanced with the participation of adults, parents and teachers.
Offering a range of materials and resources for infants to choose from makes play more beneficial for children. Choices including items such as fabric and board books, plush animals and dolls, as well as, everyday items like sunglasses and keys, give babies the option to discover and play on their own terms. To support their exploration and learning, objects of play should appeal to most of their senses at once. Children will learn the most from pieces they can fully engage in by seeing, touching, smelling, hearing, and tasting. These types of materials are also known as manipulatives, because small children can completely study them with all of their senses. Items including sensory balls, jumbo blocks, and other soft play toys are beneficial educational items that babies and infants can learn from by exploring, manipulating, combining, and transforming.
In addition, allowing children to choose and select what they want to play and learn with, provides them the opportunity to pursue what they are personally attracted to and interested in. The option for little ones to decide what activity or toy they want to explore is essential for positive educational outcomes. Furthermore, helping children communicate their feelings, ideas, and discoveries creates a shared learning experience for everyone involved.
Encouraging infants to express their needs, wants, likes, and dislikes in any way they know how, helps adults, parents, and educators to develop beneficial relationships with infants and babies that will assist in their growth and development.
Engaging infants in play helps to build independence, trust, and confidence while learning and growing. Offering an assortment of resources and manipulatives combined with the option of choice and facilitated communication during educational play benefits little learners and their development. With support and encouragement, the intentions, movements, and interactions of children with each other and adults will allow for the greatest learning potential.