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

What educators might observe

• Has a range of vision that is several feet by the age of four months
• Calms while being held as educator dances, sways, or rocks
• Tracks objects by moving both eyes together; makes eye contact with educator
• See objects at a distance by seven months
• Uses eyes, hands, feet, and mouth together to explore the environment (e.g., picks up an object, looks at it, then mouths it and looks at it again)
• Hears door closing and looks to see who is coming
• Falls asleep when moving (e.g., in sling, stroller, or car)

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Gently massage, rock, rub, and stroke the child to soothe and comfort
• Create simple, aesthetically pleasing environments in which the child’s senses are both stimulated and calmed
• Give words to the child’s experience of the sensory world (“Yes, I feel you. Do you feel my hand? You smell so good. I see your big eyes looking at me.”)
• Provide teething rings and items that can be chewed on and easily washed

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

What educators might observe

• Nuzzles their face into a freshly washed blanket to smell it
• Moves their body to the rhythm of music
• When a new food is introduced, makes a face and might spit it out
• Feels objects in the environment (e.g., mashes and mixes the food on their high chair tray or, when walking, stops to pat a puddle)
• Jiggles (e.g., sits on an educator’s knee and bounces up and down or pulls themselves to stand and bounces on their own knees)

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Create a learning environment that provides opportunities for children to develop their senses; consider Including
  • Natural sunlight
  • Time for singing with human, rather than recorded, voices
  • Drums and rainsticks
  • Toys made of natural materials, such as cloth and wood
  • Items with different textures for children to feel

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

What educators might observe

• Starts to move body to fit into different spaces (e.g., fits their body into boxes, shelves, or laundry baskets)
• Pats, pushes, mounds, and squeezes modeling compound
• Enjoys (or shows a dislike for) messy activities

Ways educators might support the child's development

• As educators cook, they may offer the child cornstarch or flour to feel
• Talk about smells with children, such as the aroma of cooking or the scent of natural items such as flowers and grass
• Provide time for children to spend in nature
• Invite children to participate in meaningful jobs that require lifting, pushing, pulling, and carrying objects of various sizes and weights

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

What educators might observe

• Notices textures on their clothes (e.g., a lumpy sock or pants made of different fabric than their shirt)
• Tries different positions for walking quickly or running (e.g., leaning forward, rotating arms like propellers, or running sideways)
• Jumps off a step
• Rolls across the floor
• Touches everything in their environment

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Create a learning environment that provides opportunities for children to develop their senses; consider Including:
  • Beautiful objects
  • Heavy objects for children to move and carry, such as phone books wrapped in duct tape or laundry detergent containers filled with sand
  • Large pieces of cloth in which children can wrap themselves
  • Opportunities for practicing balance, such as riding a rocking horse
  • Water and sand tables
  • Materials that can be stretched, squeezed, and rubbed

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

What educators might observe

• Navigates learning environment, occasionally bumping into tables and chairs
• Perceives the difference between similar colors (e.g., red and orange)
• Turns around and around until dizzy
• Expresses preferences about the way things feel (e.g., whether the temperature of the air is too hot or too cold)

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Invite children to explore different textured materials, such as velvet, felt, satin, cotton, dry leaves, seeds, dirt, and flowers
• Create simple cooking experiences with the children that involve smelling the ingredients, pouring, mixing, and stirring
• Add scents such as lavender or apple pie spice to homemade play dough, checking for allergies beforehand
• Provide opportunities for children to use sensory tables, including light tables and water/sand tables on a daily basis
• Provide a quiet space with soft furnishings that may also include a listening center, soft animals, objects to squeeze, or picture books

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

What educators might observe

• Not able to see close up as well as they can far away
• Jumps off platforms
• Experiments with different kinds of slides and ways to slide
• Roughhouses with peers
• Swings and holds balance without falling off

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Engage families in conversation about their values around rough-and-tumble play
• Identify and evaluate which local playgrounds have equipment for climbing, swinging, and balancing that meets safety guidelines
• Provide access to experiences that develop the child’s sense of balance
  • Balance boards
  • Low balance beams
  • Tire swings
  • Bucket swings
  • Slides
  • Climbers
• Take the children on listening walks and then talk about what you heard

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

What educators might observe

• Developing left-to-right visual tracking
• Moves around the learning environment easily and successfully
• Spends time moving their body into different positions (e.g., upside down)

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Have meetings before rough-and-tumble play to establish safe limits
• Provide activities that engage children’s senses
  • Rolling down a hill
  • Wheelbarrow walks
  • Monkey bars
  • Rolling and carrying gallon jugs full of water
  • Cartwheels
  • Jumping jacks
• Include soft and cozy elements in the learning environment

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

What educators might observe

• Eye muscles are adequately developed to allow them to move their eyes efficiently across a series of letters
• Identifies and describes sensations they find soothing or disagreeable
• Propels self on swing by pushing off tree or other surface with their feet, and begins to pump their legs

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Support children in developing self-awareness about their sensory preferences
• Honor children’s requests for quieter environments, movement breaks, or alternative seating
• Reflect with colleagues on options available to children during recess, and add elements to the outdoor environment as necessary

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

What educators might observe

• Children’s senses are well-integrated

Ways educators might support the child's development

• Provide activities that challenge children
  • Bike riding
  • Cooking
  • Obstacle courses
  • Hiking

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

The guidelines don’t define behaviours for this area at this age.