Infant Toddler Learning & Development Foundations

8 months
Foundation: Spatial Relationships
The developing understanding of how things move and fit in space
At around eight months of
age, children move their
bodies, explore the size and
shape of objects, and observe
people and objects as
they move through space.
For example, the child
may:
• Use vision or hearing to
track the path of someone
walking by. (5.5–8
mos.; Parks 2004, 64;
birth–8 mos.; Lally and
others 1995, 78–79)
• Watch a ball roll away
after accidentally knocking
it. (5.5–8 mos., Parks
2004, 64)
• Hold one stacking cup in
each hand. (6.5–7.5 mos.;
Parks 2004, 50)
• Put toys into a clear container,
dump them out,
and then fill the container
up again. (8 mos.; Meisels
and others 2003, 21)
Chart continues on next page.
18 months
At around 18 months of age, children
use trial and error to discover
how things move and fit in space.
(12–18 mos.; Parks 2004, 81)
For example, the child may:
• Go around the back of a chair to
get the toy car that rolled behind
it instead of trying to follow the
car’s path by squeezing underneath
the chair. (12–18 mos.;
Parks 2004 67; 8–18 mos.; Lally
and others 1995, 78–79)
• Use two hands to pick up a big
truck, but only one hand to pick
up a small one. (12–18 mos.;
Parks 2004, 81)
• Put a smaller nesting cup inside a
larger cup after trying it the other
way around. (12–18 mos.; Parks
2004, 81)
• Choose a large cookie off the
plate instead of a smaller one.
(12–18 mos.; Parks 2004, 81)
• Put the child-sized hat on his
head and the larger hat on the
infant care teacher’s head. (12–18
mos.; Parks 2004, 81)
• Stack three nesting cups inside
one another, after trying some
combinations that do not work.
(12–19 mos.; Parks 2004, 82)
• Put one or two pegs into the pegboard.
(14:16–15:15 mos.; Bayley
2006, 62)
• Roll a ball back and forth with
the infant care teacher. (18 mos.;
Meisels and others 2003, 38)
• Fit pieces into a puzzle board. (18
mos.; Meisels and others 2003,
39)
• Try to fit a piece into the shape
sorter and, when it does not fit,
turn it until it fits. (12–19 mos.;
Parks 2004, 82)
36 months
At around 36 months of age, children
can predict how things will fit and
move in space without having to try
out every possible solution, and show
understanding of words used to describe
size and locations in space.
For example, the child may:
• Hand the big truck to a peer who
asks for the big one. (Scaled score
of 10 for 28:16–30:15 mos.; Bayley
2006, 95)
• Use words such as big and little.
(25–30 mos.; Parks 2004, 82; 36
mos.; Meisels and others 2003, 73)
• Put together a puzzle with three to
four separate pieces. (By 36 mos.;
American Academy of Pediatrics
2004, 308; 30–36 mos.; Parks 2004,
68)
• Get the serving spoon off the tray
when the infant care teacher asks
for the big spoon, even though
there are small spoons on the tray.
(30–36 mos.; Parks 2004, 83)
• Stack rings onto a post with the
biggest ring on the bottom and the
smallest ring on the top, without
much trial and error. (30–36 mos.;
Parks 2004, 83; 24–36 mos.; Engaging
Young Children 2004, 44)
• Point to a peer’s stick when the
infant care teacher asks which stick
is longer. (33–36 mos.; Parks 2004,
83; 24–36 mos.; Engaging Young
Children 2004, 53)
• Understand requests that include
simple prepositions; for example,
“Please put your cup on the table”
or “Please get your blanket out of
your back pack.” (By 36 mos.; Coplan
1993, 2; by 36 mos.; American
Academy of Pediatrics 2004; 24–36
mos.; Engaging Young Children
2004)
• Move around an obstacle when
going from one place to another.
(24–36 mos.; American Academy of
Pediatrics 2004, 303)
67
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT