0–9 months – See this age across all domains Infants

What educators might observe

• Will gaze at something that has caught their attention (e.g., a fan, pinwheel, or a mobile)
• Changes behavior when interested in an object, person, or experience (e.g., by becoming quieter or louder, or by changing facial expressions)
• Explores educator’s face, hands, or clothing while feeding, by staring and reaching out to touch their features
• Explores the way objects, such as leaves or applesauce, feel
• Finds objects and puts them in their mouth
• Looks at themselves in the mirror and tries reaching their own reflection

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Observe, record, and reflect on the child’s movement, responses, reactions, and gestures
• Invite the child to participate in exploring their senses by naming them (e.g., “Yes, you feel the sun on your face. It is warm. Oh no. No more sun. I wonder where the sun goes. Oh Mr. Sun where did you go?”)
• Listen to the sounds of nature together:
  • Rain falling
  • Birds chirping
  • Older children playing
  • Leaves rustling the trees
  • Dogs barking
  • Wind chimes

8–16 months – See this age across all domains Infants

What educators might observe

• Feels, bangs, gets in, sits on, and throws objects to find out more about them
• Crawls, cruises, climbs or walks toward objects of interest (e.g., attempts to reach objects that are high up)
• Repeats experiences to develop their understanding (e.g., learns to crawl up stairs, and subsequently crawls up every set of stairs they find)

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Provide freedom of movement and a safe space within the learning environment. When not engaged in caregiving activities the child may crawl, climb, touch, and tumble, with ample space to accomplish all of these movements.
• Avoid battery-operated toys, electronic toys, or close-ended materials
• Provide the child with many opportunities to explore different foods. Describe the different characteristics (e.g., “The cracker is crunchy.” or “The orange is sweet and juicy.”).
• Provide sensory materials that are safe for babies, such as silicone muffin baking cups, large pot holders, or lightweight metal bowls

15–24 months – See this age across all domains Toddlers

What educators might observe

• Points to objects, vocalizes, and looks to educator to identify the object
• Brings objects they are curious about to an educator
• Takes things apart
• When walking outside, stops to examine objects, such as a leaf
• Will play with one object again and again (e.g., asks to hear the same book, and books on the same topic, again and again)

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Ask families what the child is interested in, and invite them to contribute objects related to the child’s interests to the learning environment
• Include different kinds of building materials in the learning environment:
  • Blocks
  • Cylinders
  • Tunnels
  • Ramps
  • Recycled materials
• Build obstacle courses for the child to climb on and crawl through
• Provide opportunities for the child to observe live animals

24–36 months – See this age across all domains Toddlers

What educators might observe

• Asks simple questions involving what, where, and why; may not attend to the answer
• Asks questions about where people are when they can’t be seen
• Will approach things, or devise ways to reach items of curiosity, such as pulling over a chair to reach a table

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Include nature in the learning environment:
  • Non-poisonous plants
  • Butterfly farms
  • Fish tanks
• Model curiosity. Ask open-ended questions and then provide the answers (e.g., “Oh look, here is an acorn. I found it on the ground near the tree. Where did it come from? How did it get in the grass? Look I think it fell from the tree. I think squirrels like acorns. Maybe we should leave it by the tree and maybe a squirrel will come by.”).

3-year-olds – See this age across all domains Preschool

What educators might observe

• Often asks “why?”
• Makes up stories about objects around them (e.g., observes fish tank and tells a story about the fish’s family)
• Notices the interests of their peers (e.g., observes their play and then imitates it)
• Investigates the details of caregiving (e.g., asks to help cook)
• Compares experiences in one setting and another (e.g., after reading a book about pets, the child says, “I have a dog too.”)

Ways educators might support the child's development

• When a child asks a “why” question:
  • Restate their question
  • Acknowledge their curiosity (“That’s an interesting question!”)
  • Ask what they think the answer might be
  • Talk together about how you might find the answer
  • Go together to consult an expert, look for a relevant book, or visit a website
• Welcome the child to contribute to caregiving routines
• Join the child in making up stories

4-year-olds – See this age across all domains Preschool

What educators might observe

• Learns details about a topic of interest, (e.g., after reading a book about sharks, reads more books about sharks and learns the names of many sharks)
• Collects objects that they are interested in, for example, sticks
• Tries to reproduce things they are interested in (e.g., looks at a book about a castle and then tries to build a castle in the block area)
• Asks for explanations of how things work (e.g., asks where the water in the faucet comes from)
• Makes connection between their experiences at home and in school (e.g., says, “I have paints at home too!”)

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Ask families what the child has expressed interest in at home
• Make those interests present in the learning environment
• Respect children’s efforts, and make special places to hold their collections
• Go to the library and check out several books related to a child’s interest
• Organize outings and field trips related to the children’s interests

5-year-olds – See this age across all domains Preschool

What educators might observe

• Recognizes their peers’ knowledge and asks them about things that they are experts in
• Asks scientific questions (e.g., what happens to the caterpillar when it is in the chrysalis)
• Believes that there is one objective truth about a subject and thinks that if others have a different interpretation, they do not know the truth

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Support children’s ability to learn from one another:
  • Allow time for sharing work
  • Welcome questions and comments from other classmates about one another’s work
• Provide resources related to children’s interests (e.g., if you hear children talking about dinosaurs, add dinosaur books, figures of dinosaurs to the learning centers)

6-year-olds – See this age across all domains Early elementary

What educators might observe

• Locates an informational text in the classroom to find out about topics they are interested in
• Asks questions of experts (e.g., during a field trip to the waste treatment plant, child asks questions about how the pipes are connected)

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Include time in the daily schedule during which children may follow their own ideas to make, build, and compose their own works
• Allow students access to a variety of materials to pursue their interests:
  • Blocks and ramps
  • Writing and drawing materials
  • Books
  • Legos
  • Clay
  • Math manipulatives
• Visit the library with children and show them how to look for books related to their topics of interest

7-year-olds – See this age across all domains Early elementary

What educators might observe

• Recognizes that reality is not directly knowable and that people may have different interpretations of the same event
• Pursues a particular interest by reading multiple books about the topic and writing and drawing about it
• Observes and records information over time (e.g., observes and records notes about the guinea pig in its cage each day)

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Create lists of children’s interests as part of learning about one another
• Encourage children to ask their own questions about books (e.g., “Do you have any questions about the character?”)
• As the class begins a study, the educator gathers questions from the children, asking them:
  • “What do you want to find out about this?” and recording their ideas
• Invite children to create a presentation for the class on a topic or experience they know a lot about

8-year-olds – See this age across all domains Early elementary

What educators might observe

• Conducts research based on a topic of interest
• Uses prior knowledge to develop research questions (e.g., learns about how fish spawn eggs and then decides to find out about the reproductive cycle of amphibians)

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Talk with families and children about the interests they are pursuing at home
• Provide access to books and computer resources for children to use in researching their own interests and questions
• Provide graphic organizers to support children in researching their own questions and curiosities and in using information to create their own works