Infants and Toddlers Meet the Natural World



Allowing children of all ages to explore nature provides opportunities for them to grow and develop. This article discusses how teachers and parents can cultivate children's interest in nature by offering them natural objects, such as leaves, pine cones, and vegetables, to touch and investigate.

Infants and Toddlers Meet the Natural World As educators who care for and teach infants, we realize the value of bringing nature into the classroom and the youngest children in touch with nature. Children observe, listen, feel, taste, and take apart while exploring everything in their environment (Seefeldt 2005, 53). Teachers can cultivate nature investigations with very young children by offering infants natural objects they can explore and investigate. Here are some images and examples from our program. Full text» [PDF, 836KB]

Infants and Toddlers Meet the Natural World. McHenry, Jolie D. and Buerk, Kathy. Beyond the Journal: Young Children on the Web. NAEYC. 2008. English. [PDF, 836 KB].