Explore Early Learning
From birth through the early years, children build important skills by exploring the world and connecting with people. This page explains how young children develop across key learning areas—like language and communication, early reading and writing, math, science, social‑emotional growth, physical development, sensory learning, and the arts—and shows what learning looks like in everyday life. Families can use this information to better understand their child’s development and how each area supports future learning.
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Language and communication skills enable children to have meaningful interactions with others. They also form a foundation for learning in other areas, such as academic and social skills. Development of language and communication skills begins long before children say their first word. From the minute infants are born, they begin to communicate by crying, cooing, babbling, and using gestures to get their needs met. They also begin to learn a great deal about the language(s) spoken at home by listening to their caregivers’ tone of voice, range of speech sounds, and rhythmic speech patterns. Children exposed to more than one language will learn to differentiate and use them, and current research suggests that bilingual language learning is good for the brain! Taking time to talk with children about their daily routines, objects in their environments, new experiences, feelings and ideas, as well as sharing books with children, are all important ways that families can support language development.
The activities in this section provide ways for families to help children listen and understand what they hear (receptive language skills) and communicate their ideas and experiences (expressive language skills). It is important to have lots of daily conversations with children (even before they can talk) and to be playful with language to make it fun.
Young children show interest in books and print in lots of ways! Infants might want to help hold books, gaze at colorful pictures, or put books in their mouths. Toddlers and young children will ask you to reread a favorite book, chime in during familiar parts of the story, and reenact stories with a doll or stuffed animal. They begin to make their own marks on paper, scribble, and then draw as a way to communicate. As young children watch adults write, they develop the understanding that print conveys meaning and begin to imitate adults by “pretend writing” before learning symbols and letters. During the preschool years, children start to show interest in writing and print in their environment (cereal box, store sign), and may ask “What does this say?”
Emergent literacy is the idea that getting ready to learn to read and write is a process that begins much earlier and unfolds over time. There is no need to rush children or try to teach infants and toddlers to read, but it is important for families to make lots of books available to young children, to read to children as much as possible (in their home language whenever possible), and to allow them to play with tools for writing and drawing. While you are building a foundation of skills needed for reading and writing, you are also building vocabulary and language skills!
The activities in this section provide ways for families to instill a love of reading in their children and support emerging reading and writing skills.
Young children have a natural sensitivity to quantity and counting even before they know the words for these concepts. Infants begin noticing changes in amount, such as the difference between three toys and one toy. Between two and four years, children begin to hold up fingers to tell how old they are, count objects with one-to-one correspondence (count objects in order one-by-one), and notice whether a snack was divided evenly with a sibling or friend.
Families can use the activities in this section to support children’s math skills, including problem-solving, understanding what numbers and counting mean, adding and subtracting items from a collection, finding shapes in the world around them, using location words (over, under, between), sorting and classifying objects into different groups or categories, creating patterns, and learning about measurement (shorter, smaller, full, heavy, faster). Math concepts help young children ask thoughtful questions, compare, sort, think logically and flexibly, and solve problems in their daily lives.
Infants, toddlers, and young children are naturally curious about the world around them. They observe and actively explore their environment using their five senses, play with cause and effect relationships, and try to understand patterns. Experiences in science allow children to expand their understanding of the world and give them the vocabulary to talk about their discoveries. Families can use the activities in this section to help young children investigate and discuss science concepts, including living and nonliving things, position and motion of objects, simple measuring devices, earth materials, forms of energy, how the weather changes, and the importance of caring for our natural environment. Positive early experiences with science contribute to children’s ability to observe, focus their attention, formulate questions and explanations, understand sequential processes, and appreciate the natural world.
From early infancy, children show interest in connecting with other people. Infants and toddlers become increasingly tuned in to voices, facial expressions, emotions, and behaviors of people around them. They learn through early relationships with their family and other caregivers. They imitate and practice what they see! Families have an especially important role in modeling warm, loving relationships, helping children learn about and cope with their emotions, and build relationships with others. Children who receive warm, consistent, loving care develop a sense of trust and confidence which allows them to be open to exploring their world, trying new activities, forming friendships, and feeling empathy for other people.
The activities in this section provide ways for families to foster healthy social and emotional development by building trust and emotional security, self-awareness, self-regulation, and relationships with others. For example, activities include helping children to: develop a positive sense of self, recognize their own likes and dislikes, talk about their feelings, express emotions and behaviors in different situations, learn ways to calm themselves and build self-control with help from adults, share and take turns, interact cooperatively with others, and use their imagination to experiment with different roles (taking care of baby, making dinner, going to doctor’s office, etc.). Children who can follow directions, communicate their wants and needs effectively, and get along with other children are more prepared to be successful learners when they enter school.
Young children’s physical health and motor development are not only important for their overall development – they help prepare children for school and establish healthy habits that can continue to adulthood. Families can use the activities in this section to support children’s health and well-being, gross motor development, and fine motor development. Activities which support health and well-being include encouraging young children to move their growing bodies, to make healthy choices, to understand safety rules, and to practice self-care routines with more independence as they grow older (like feeding, dressing, hand washing, etc.). Gross motor activities help children coordinate balance, control their own body movements, and strengthen large muscles including arms, legs, and trunk through rolling over, sitting, crawling, pulling to stand, walking, climbing, running, jumping, throwing, catching, etc. Fine motor activities help strengthen the small muscles of hands and fingers. Fine motor skills that develop during infancy and toddlerhood, such as reaching, grasping, handling small objects, turning pages in a book, and drawing, help prepare them for tasks like buttoning, tying shoes, and writing as they grow older.
From the time they are born, children explore the world around them using their five senses: sight, smell, hearing, touch, and taste. Infants and toddlers touch everything and put things into their mouths, stick their fingers into their ears to hear how sounds change, or may spin until they feel dizzy. Sensoryplay helps your child examine the way things look, feel, smell, taste, and sound. This helps them learn about and make sense of the world. Families can use the activities in this section to help children explore using their five senses.
Art begins with sensory exploration, focusing on the “process” rather than the “product”. Gradually artwork becomes more detailed and realistic as children mature. Art experiences should allow young children to discover how things look and feel by experimenting with a wide variety of materials. Color, shape, and texture can be explored through crayons, paint, clay, and other materials which can be combined and transformed. Art provides an opportunity for young children to express their own ideas and experiences, and they can be encouraged to discuss their own artwork and others’ artwork. Art also supports other aspects of development, such as vocabulary, science and math concepts, fine and gross motor skills, and hand-eye coordination. Families can use the activities in this section to provide children with the opportunity to create art and enjoy the experience – there is no right or wrong way to do art!
