Babies and toddlers are unique individuals and need educators who know them well and respect their individual development. They are people in their own right – human beings who are valued for who they are in the present. They are unique individuals and active co-constructors of learning. Effective birth to two educators act as advocates who enable babies’ and toddlers’ voices to be heard.
Babies and toddlers thrive in responsive, consistent, attuned relationships with their key person. They learn who they are through their relationships with others, beginning their journey of self-discovery from a base of loving and secure relationships. Positive attachments help babies and toddlers to feel safe, secure and loved, able to develop a strong sense of self as a capable and confident person.
Babies and toddlers construct their identities in their social environments. They understand how they are valued from the physical and verbal responses of their caring adults to their unique selves. The physical and emotional needs of babies and toddlers are intertwined. To develop a secure and whole sense of self, they need consistent, caring physical interactions with their key person in a continuity of experience. Each physical caregiving moment is an opportunity to be present and responsive to babies’ needs and supports their personal social and emotional understanding Babies and toddlers experience their emotions very intensely and communicate them immediately. When these are responded to with empathy and sensitivity, they learn that emotions can be managed and that they are loved. Attuned, responsive, unhurried interactions and continuity of care tell babies that they are safe and understood and support secure attachments to key people.
A baby’s sense of self begins with their experience of their own bodies. They explore their hands and feet, wave, kick and roll, giving them a sense of their bodily boundaries and of themselves in space. Rapid physical growth and the development of physical competencies are at the centre of babies’ and toddlers’ experience. They have a great appetite to explore and control their own bodies and to move around their environment – not only learning to move but also moving to learn. Through opportunities and space to move freely and practice, they increase their muscle strength, sense of balance, mobility, agility, and understanding of space. Babies and toddlers study and experiment with one movement many times, refining their agility and dexterity. When handling different objects and materials, they are developing increasing control of their fingers, hands and wrists, refining their manipulative skills. Repetition also enables their brains to strengthen neural connections and so develops their understanding of the world.
The ability to move freely and repeatedly manipulate objects brings babies and toddlers tremendous enjoyment and learning across all areas of development. For example, readiness for using the potty or toilet is determined by physical maturity and also influenced by social, emotional and intellectual understanding. As toddlers become more mobile, they begin to assert their own choices, decisions and ideas, with the ability to move freely giving them a sense of autonomy and competency.
An enabling environment recognises the importance of slowing down, allowing babies and toddlers to fully engage with people, objects and experiences. Uninterrupted time for exploration, without rushing children from one activity to another, enables valuable repeated play with the same resources and activities while a slower pace supports their sense of security and helps them to remain regulated and engaged.
Babies and toddlers are social beings who develop meaningful relationships with adults and other children from birth. They enjoy being with people, taking an interest in their faces, voices and movements. They show their interest by gazing and reaching and gain others’ attention through smiling, reaching and pointing. Babies’ social interactions are underpinned by their sensory experiences of touch, hearing, smell, taste, movement and vision, recognising people through their sensory memory.
Being together in close nurturing relationships leads to the wider social development of friendships, to empathy and social understanding. Learning about themselves through having their own needs met enables babies and toddlers to begin to understand the needs and minds of others. Babies and toddlers enjoy playing social games such as ‘peek-a-boo’ with their close carers. They begin to share humour, laughing at funny faces for example. Babies also enjoy being with other babies – watching, touching and vocalising with each other – and they are usually fascinated by older children.
Toddlers may imitate and follow others and notice how they are the same or different. Although they enjoy the company of other children and want to join in their play, toddlers are still developing their social understanding. They may manage to socialise only for short periods of time, and may need time with just one particular friend or adult.
Babies’ and toddlers’ social communications are best supported in one-to-one attuned interactions. Babies and toddlers are communicators from birth. They are born ready to read and understand adult faces, gestures and movements and adult intentions. They are distinguishing sound patterns – ‘learning the tune before the words’. They imitate the intonation and sounds made by their close carers and understand conversational patterns.
Babies use a wide range of communication strategies such as gazing, smiling, reaching, pointing, looking away, grimacing, and arching their bodies, alongside vocal communications such as crying, gurgling, laughing, screaming and babbling. Toddlers are using signed or spoken language more but still rely on non-verbal communication. They need attuned, listening adults for their voices to be heard, interpreted and valued and for well-matched responses to support their later language development. When early attempts at finding a voice are received and responded to sensitively, their confidence in communicating grows.
Babies are curious from birth and want to explore their world. They use their whole bodies and all their senses to find out about objects and people. As they explore, they make connections between experiences, test theories about the world around them and form mental concepts. Babies and toddlers form mental representations of objects and symbolise these through gestures, signs, vocalisations and gradually begin to represent their ideas through imitation and re-creating experiences through actions, words and play. They enjoy being outside, exploring the natural world.
While their curiosity pushes them to find out about what is happening around them, babies and toddlers cannot shut out a lot of sensory stimulation, so busy, noisy, bright environments may become overwhelming. Everything is new and offers an opportunity for learning, but this can also cause anxiety so they may seek reassurance as they explore new things. Some children may be adventurous, coming back only to seek comfort from their key person as needed, while others may want to play near their key person until they become comfortable.