知道

Infants and toddlers are curious and enjoy the exploration of materials within their environments. We know that the process of exploration and experimentation for infants and toddlers is more important than the “final product.” For example, as infants make marks on a paper with crayons, they are simply exploring what happens when the crayon touches the paper. They are not interested in creating something specific, such as a shape or letter. As infants have more experiences using crayons and grow to be toddlers, they are able to better control crayons, and their marks and scribbles begin to take shape as they learn to draw lines and circles. The process of picking up a crayon and applying it to paper is more important than what is drawn. This experience offers an opportunity for infants and toddlers to use their imaginations. The assorted materials you include in your early care and learning setting will help set the stage for an engaging environment where infants and toddlers can focus on the process of learning.

Environments that Encourage Curiosity, Exploration and Experimentation

“通过鼓励创造力和想象力，我们正在促进孩子们探索和理解自己的世界的能力，并提高他们创造新联系并达到新的理解的机会。”（Bernadette Duffy，2006）

An environment that supports creativity gives infants and toddlers a sense of trust and assurance while exciting their curiosity and inviting them to explore. Supportive environments are filled with possibilities for positive interactions with trusted caregivers, and they offer engaging experiences and activities that help meet infants’ and toddlers’ needs and wants. Creating these types of environments involves a process of reflection and intentional planning. Keep these tips in mind:

• 考虑婴儿和幼儿在您的照顾中的需求和发展。创建一个安全，舒适且灵活的设置，支持关系并邀请好奇心和探索。有关支持性，安全学习环境的更多信息，请参阅婴儿和幼儿学习环境课程。狗万app怎么下载
• 使用适合婴儿和幼儿的发育年龄或阶段的材料。
• Identify areas of the environment with surfaces that are easy to clean to use materials such as paint.
• 包括为婴儿和幼儿提供多次探索和实验的材料安全。
• 学from families how to create culturally responsive environments and experiences. Invite families to share art, music, foods, and celebrations that are meaningful to them.

Materials that Foster Creativity

"As they play, these young explorers can be totally absorbed. Opening and shutting, filling and dumping, and picking up and dropping are endlessly fascinating activities that challenge infants' mobility and dexterity as well as their ideas about objects and what they can do."(Copple & Bredekamp, NAEYC, 2009, p. 61)

The materials you provide help set the stage for an engaging learning environment that supports infants’ and toddlers’ exploration, experimentation and curiosity. While these materials offer opportunities for infants and toddlers to engage in the things that are most interesting to them at their own pace, it is you, the caregiver, who gives meaning to the creative experience. You can observe and respond to infants’ and toddlers’ independent exploration and experimentation of materials that will only help enhance their development and learning. There will also be times when you plan specific activities that will be supportive to their curiosity, discovery, development and learning.

The selection of materials, as well as their intentional display within the environment, will be different for young infants, mobile infants and toddlers. Young infants will need interesting, creative materials brought to them while on the floor. Mobile infants are moving as they explore and need safe areas to enhance their creativity. Toddlers are looking to demonstrate their independence, and caregivers can plan for and support their use of creative materials in specific activities and experiences. It’s important to keep in mind that infants and toddlers will carry creative materials all over the room, as this is part of their natural development. Labeling shelves with pictures of the items can help as you strive to get materials back to where they belong.

The table below lists different types of materials that can be used to foster creativity for infants and toddlers; you can also learn more about creating engaging care and learning environments by reviewing the Infant Toddler Learning Environments course. It will also be important to discuss the display and use of developmentally appropriate creative materials with your trainer, coach or supervisor.

您也可以将这些创意材料结合起来，作为邀请婴儿和幼儿保持好奇和探索的一种方式。您还可以考虑展示和提供与其兴趣相关的材料的方法，并有助于扩展以前的学习。狗万app怎么下载例如：

Remember that infants and toddlers learn by exploring and putting objects in their mouths. It is important to carefully observe and use materials that are nontoxic and are not choking hazards. Also, close observation and care should always be taken when young children are playing with water. Please see the Infant Toddler Safety course for additional information on creating safe environments.

"Babies are naturally curious. They are driven to explore, to learn, and to practice new skills. They need constant, safe opportunities to move about and try things for themselves - with adults available to steer them away from danger and support and celebrate their successes"(Johnson, 2010, p. xii).

文化反应的材料

Think of materials as a language for children (Weisman Topal, and Gandini, 1999). Materials enable children to express themselves, to share what they already know, to demonstrate existing skills, and to learn new skills. Materials should reflect children’s interests, as well as backgrounds, life experiences and cultures.

The National Center for Culturally Responsive Educational Systems recommends considering three dimensions of cultural responsiveness:

• Culture is a blend of thoughts, feelings, attitudes, beliefs, values, and behavior patterns that are shared by racial, ethnic, religious, or social groups of people.
• 文化响应能力is complex, involving the acceptance and acknowledgement of other people's cultures and cultural values.
• 有许多文化维度包括：语言，空间和邻近，性别角色，家庭作用，散装和存在，以及教育价值。

Getting to know the infants and toddlers in your care is one of your first responsibilities as a caregiver. Observation and communication with families can help you learn more about what infants and toddlers like to do, their strengths and needs and how they behave during interactions and play experiences.

通过了解和理解单个的施特伦ths, needs and preferences of infants and toddlers, you are able to be more responsive. Having specific cultural information from families further provides an opportunity to sensitively meet individual needs so that infants and toddlers can see their environment as predictable and safe.

Using Materials that Support the Creative Strengths and Needs of All Infants and Toddlers

Partnering with families can provide you with guidance and support needed to plan for responsive creative experiences, activities and materials that support diversity and inclusion. Actively taking time daily to observe, interact, listen and reflect can also help you when making considerations for the infants and toddlers in your care. You can also ask yourself such questions as:

• 家庭与我分享了什么？
• What are some of the family's values, beliefs and unique practices?
• What have I learned about this infant or toddler from our interactions and daily routines? From observation and interactions while exploring and experimenting?
• What does this infant or toddler already know? What might he or she be curious about or interested in exploring and experimenting with?

作为一个婴儿和蹒跚学步的照顾者,可以活跃ly encourage curiosity, exploration and experimentation that reflect different families’ cultures, individual strengths, and needs of all the infants and toddlers in your setting. Developmentally appropriate practices focus on the learning characteristics of infants and toddlers and individualizes experiences for the unique interests, strengths and temperament of the young child. Think about what you already do to support the creativity of all infants and toddlers in your early care and learning setting. What are the creative materials you already offer to ensure they depict a wide variety of races, cultures, ages and abilities? Below are additional ideas that you can incorporate:

• Provide play food, pretend people and dress-up items from different cultures.
• 使用不同类型的涂装材料，这可能比海绵等油漆刷更容易掌握。
• Play a variety of music for listening, movement and dancing.
• Create visuals to use with infants and toddlers as they make choices about creative materials to explore and experiment with.
• 将家庭语言与婴儿，幼儿及其家人一起使用，包括美国手语。
• Change the height or position of an easel to support a toddler who is unable to reach or stand for long periods of time.
• Read stories in different languages.
• Tape paper to the table and use tape or clips to hold paper to the easel.
• Use small baskets, backpacks or fanny packs on walkers or even push toys to help older infants and toddlers get creative materials from one activity or area to another.
• Use a soft, favorite comfort item, such as a small stuffed animal, to play peekaboo with an infant.
• Provide books and photos showing families from diverse backgrounds and with differing abilities.
• 展示婴儿和幼儿家庭的照片。
• Attach Velcro to blocks to help them stay together easily.
• Use a mitten with Velcro to support an infant who is struggling to pick up and manipulate objects. You could create colored felt shapes or colorful scarves that can stick to the Velcro.

Using many types of creative materials in different ways during experiences and activities with infants and toddlers can expose them to similarities and differences in a positive way.

展示艺术作品

Displaying art is a way to allow infants and toddlers to share their creative work. There are many benefits to displaying art work such as:

• 它丰富了环境，为您提供了儿童的所有权。
• 它给孩子一种骄傲和信心的感觉。
• 它鼓励并激励婴儿和幼儿是创造性的。
• 它挑战孩子尽最大努力。

There are many ways you can display infants’ and toddlers’ work throughout the learning environment. A few examples are:

• 使用墙壁或公告板展示工作。
• Hang pieces throughout the environment with rope or ribbon and clothespins.
• Frame pieces of art and hang them on the wall — consider rotating pieces out so all infants and toddlers have a chance to be featured.
• Use shelving or tables to display three-dimensional items, such as sculptures or pottery.

When displaying work, give children the chance to create a nameplate with their name and the title of their piece. This will show that you value their work and allow them to feel proud of their creative accomplishment.

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Using Materials to Support Infant and Toddler Creativity

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作为一个婴儿和蹒跚学步的看护者,想想the following as you continue to consider ways to spark creativity for the young children in your care:

• 响应儿童的个体差异。
• Provide safe spaces and opportunities for children to explore.
• 设计环境使婴儿和幼儿可以安全地访问创意材料。
• Offer materials that allow for the exploration and experimentation of texture, size, colors, and shapes, as well as materials that can be safely taken apart, opened, filled and dumped.
• Provide older infants and toddlers utensils to experiment with feeding themselves.
• Observe and honor infants' and toddlers' time exploring.