Our infants are always growing!

So happy playing dress up! She is always full of smiles.

Domain: Social and Emotional Development  

Strand: Self  

Topic: Awareness and Expression of Emotion  

Express a variety of emotions (contentment, distress, happiness, sadness, surprise, dislike, anger and fear) through facial expressions, gestures, movement and sounds.

She played so hard and watched her friends play so much that she fell right to sleep without a peep. She does great with sucking her fingers to soothe herself to sleep.

Domain: Social and Emotional Development

Strand: Self

Topic: Self-Comforting

Comfort self in simple ways and communicate needs for help through vocalizations and gestures.

She does such a great job holding her head up to watch her friends play.

Domain: Physical Well-Being and Motor Development

Strand: Motor Development

Topic: Large Muscle, Balance and Coordination

Demonstrate strength and control of head, arms, legs and trunk using purposeful movements.

She knows when she sees the camera that it is time to smile! 

Great friends!  She just loves that baby!

She always wants to play with the smaller baby.

Domain: Social and Emotional Development

Strand: Relationships

Topic: Peer Interactions and Relationships

Show interest in other children.

He loves to play with his friends in the classroom as well as the teachers.  He often dances to music with his teachers.

Domain: Social and Emotional Development

Strand: Relationships

Topic: Interactions with Adults

Participate in routines and experiences that involve back and forth interaction with familiar adults. 

She's always on the move! Loves crawling around to find new things to play with.

Domain: Physical Well- Being and Motor Development 

Strand: Motor Development

Topic: Large Muscle, Balance and Coordination

Move with increasing coordination and balance, with or without adult support and/or assisting device.

Check Out Our Little Movers!

It seems like over night we went from rolling over, to sitting up, and finally to crawling.  Our entire class is moving around!  It is great to see all the new things they are discovering as they move.

One of the children's favorite new games is what I call "race to the top of soft city".
Domain: Approaches toward learning:  Strand: Initiative  Topic: Planning, Action and Reflection 
Act on the environment to meet needs or interests.

They are also finding that others can move to the toy they are playing with.  As you can see we are all great at sharing!
Domain: Social and Emotional Development  Strand: Relationships  Topic: Peer Interactions and relationships

Some of us are even getting strong enough to pull ourselves up to explore things on a different level.
Domain:Approaches toward learning  Strand: Initiative  Topic: Initiative and curiosity 

We are also learning to move our hands in order to feed ourselves.
Domain: Physical Well-Being and Motor Development  Strand: Motor Development Topic: Small Muscle 

We are so excited to see the progress our babies are making and cannot wait to see what new things they learn!

HAVING A BALL

With the great weather we have been having lately, we decided to get the balls out and let the babies explore them outside.

This little girl is getting a taste of the good life!

Motor Development: Oral-Motor

This little man is making room for everyone to spread out and relax.

Geometry: Spatial Relationships

Stay on your toes, this little one has great aim.

Science Inquiry and Application: Observe, hold, touch, and manipulate objects.

We think  it's fun to just sit back and enjoy the show!

Engagement and Persistence: Demonstrate awareness of happenings in surroundings.

MAKING DISCOVERIES

Our infants are growing physically as well as intellectually each day.  We wanted to take the time to share some of the discoveries we have made over the past few weeks.

Birthday balloons can provide hours of entertainment.

Hats are not only useful outside, they make us look great indoors as well.

Singing is a great pass time.

Did you know our friends have feet too?

On sunny days we get pretty light shows.

Ice can be tasty and fun to play with.

Indoors and Out, We're All About!

Now that the weather is getting warmer, we are spending more time outdoors and our infants are having a blast exploring everything around them.

We catch some sun...

we have a ball...

and we relax and enjoy the ride while it last.

As much as we would like to stay outside all day, there comes a time when we have to return to the classroom.  We still find lots of exciting things to do indoors as well!

First, we help each other cool off with a nice cold drink of water.

Next, we cuddle up with some of our favorite toys.

Finally, we strike up some conversations with our close friends.

Workin' Out at the Gym!

We are having a great time in the infant room.  One of our favorite areas to hang out is under the play gym.  It gives our babies a good opportunity to explore different objects in their environment, as well as becoming more aware of their own body and its movement.

This little one his showing off her leg muscles by kicking to make the toys move.

These two are spending quality time together at the gym.  A workout is always better with a partner to support you!

Who doesn't like to people watch at the gym?

Swinging the toys between them, these good friends make working out look easy and fun.

We Are Such Close Friends

Over the last few weeks, we have noticed what great bonds the children are making socially with each other. We snapped a few pictures of them being friendly to each other and thought we would share them with you.

We are having a great conversation with one another.

Look at how polite we are as we eat lunch together.

This little man is playing a tune while his friend dances.

We are spending some quality cuddling time together.

 It's fun to make our friends laugh.  This little girl is playing peek-a-boo with her little friend.