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• Ms. Rose responded when Audrey heard other children laughing.
(cause and effect)

• Ms. Rose played a couple of rounds of Pat-a-Cake with Audrey. (motor)

• Ms. Rose talked about the different sounds that different drumsticks make. (cause and effect)

Intentional activities and experiences optimize children’s learning! Doing just one activity each day, for each child, in each domain is infant and toddler curriculum.

Selecting toys and equipment with intentionality and purpose

An effective way to build a more intentional and purposeful infant and toddler environment is to use the “windows of opportunity” as a guide for selecting and using the toys and equipment in the classroom. It will enable you to engage children with specific outcomes in mind. Many items overlap domains because they have multiple uses. Make a list of items in your classroom and then sort them by domain. Take a look at each item under each domain and think about how you might use that item to provide experiences that correlate with the “windows of opportunity.” A few examples are shown on page 11.

Using activities with intentionality

Lookingat the activities and experiences you offer children with the same guide will also help you create a more purposeful environment. The following chart describes activities that promote early development in each developmental domain. The activities correlate with the “windows of opportunity.”

Singing with intentionality and purpose

Children’s songs are a wonderful tool for learning. They are far more effective, however, when you use them with a specific outcome in mind. For example, you might change the word “little” in “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” to tiny, gigantic, silent, or blinking. You can also change your voice and add hand motions to help emphasize the differences between each word. When you refocus a traditional song in this way, it offers a great vocabulary lesson. Or, when you suggest that children pretend to be the spider, using full body movement, to accompany “Itsy Bitsy Spider,” you add the benefit of gross motor development to the song. Discussing what caused the spider to fall instead of just assuming children understand the cause-and-effect connection will enhance their cognitive development.

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