Older Infants: 7 Months to 18 Months
This week, our thread was “Dumping, Sorting and Pouring!” During last week’s observations, we noticed that our infants loved exploring with tools like funnels and measuring cups and spoons so much that we created provocations to expound upon their interests. Monday, we used our senses to explore cranberry sauce and puréed pumpkins. The children liked the sticky, squishy feel between their fingers. Tuesday we used our tools to scoop and dump oatmeal while working on gross motor skills. On Wednesday, we made “layered” sand sensory bottles using colored grits. The infants were so excited to mix the colors together and pour the grits into the bottle with the funnels to develop hand-eye coordination. Thursday and Friday were spent exploring sensory provocations of orange peel bowls filled with Jello and uncooked pasta. The infants had a great time tasting and discovering new textures. We will be continuing the thread into next week, but with cooked versions of our foods and incorporating a toothbrush and juicer.
Younger Infants: 12 weeks to 7 months
This week in the younger infant room, we kept on with our adventures in nature. We also focused on tummy time a lot this week. Many of our infants are on the verge of crawling and we want to make sure we are extending every opportunity to them to achieve this milestone! One thing we focused on a lot this week was mirror play. The babies LOVE to look at themselves and their friends in the mirrors. Alicia and Everett really enjoyed looking at themselves. Not only is this great for cognitive stimulation but it is also a wonderful tool in tummy time exploration! Kristofer is doing so well! In the past week he has really taken off! He is crawling and getting around our classroom like a champion! GREAT JOB KRISTOFER!! Next week we will be getting down and dirty with APPLES! We are going to explore the texture, taste, smell, and colors of all different kinds of apples. At the end of the week we are going to even have the opportunity to make our own applesauce to taste. YUMM! 
