Author: Ms Ruoyu Wen
Lecturer at Yew Chung College of Early Childhood Education
Infants and toddlers are filled with curiosity about the world around them from the moment they are born. Their ability to explore space also develops continuously. They have their own judgments and explorations regarding how their bodies move in space, how objects can be put together, and the concepts of size and direction. These early experiences are crucial for children to begin understanding “space” (size, shape, volume, distance, etc.) and our relationship with it. They also lay the foundation for their spatial reasoning and geometric thinking.
How can we explore space with infants and toddlers?
For infants and toddlers aged 0-3, the development of spatial concepts can begin with exploring various objects and containers. Different materials, shapes, and sizes can stimulate their senses and promote brain development. While manipulating materials, they may encounter problems and attempt to solve them. Therefore, infants and toddlers need many opportunities to manipulate various objects to understand their characteristics, such as hardness, softness, smoothness, roughness, flatness, or roundness. They can combine, separate, and stack objects to gradually perceive the spatial relationships between them. Building with blocks is also an excellent activity for developing infants’ spatial awareness.
嬰幼兒在探索空間時會有什麼行為？
Behaviour | Specific Manifestations | How adults can support |
Accumulate | Filling various objects into a container | Providing containers of various sizes and shapes |
Distribute | – Scattering a pile of objects – Pushing small balls or objects that can roll away from oneself | Providing balls of various sizes and tracks that allow the balls to roll |
Collect | Joining parts of objects together | Providing objects that can be taken apart and reassembled, such as building blocks, toy trains, etc. |
Nest | – Nesting containers of different Sizes – Placing similar objects of different sizes together | Providing materials or toys that can be nested, such as nesting dolls (Russian dolls) or cups of different sizes in the same category. |
One to One Correspondence | – Inserting one object into a container – Placing one type of object next to another | Providing different types of one-to-one correspondence combinations, such as forks and plates. |
Create | Building and creating new structures with different objects and materials. | Providing materials of different types, sizes, and shapes and encouraging infants to build freely. |
What questions can parents ask?
During the exploration process, some guiding open-ended questions or evaluations can make the child’s exploration more focused and persistent. For example:
- Can you find other ways to put the ball in?
- The box is too small; what should we do?
- Can you find objects that fit this container?
- Can these containers be stacked?
- What happens when you push the ball?
- These two cups don’t fit together. Can you try a different cup?
- Can you fit yourself into this box? Is the box big enough?
Infants aged 0–12 months are in the sensory-motor stage, where their spatial concepts begin to develop. These experiences of exploring spatial relationships will expand and mature as the child grows.
References:
- Contents and Containers: Exploring Space with Infants and Toddlers. Iowa Regents Center for Early Developmental Education. Retrieved from: https://regentsctr.uni.edu/sites/default/files/activity_sheets/ContentsContainers_ExperienceSheet.pdf
