Components of an Environment-Rich Daycare for Infants & Toddlers

Challenging the Senses

• To challenge your child̵7;s senses, the daycare environment should be filled with visual, aromatic and tactile objects, according to Jacalyn Post̵7;s 2011 book ̶0;Tender Care and Early Learning: Supporting Infants and Toddlers in Child Care Settings.̶1; The environment can include food and drinks that the children can safely taste as well as objects that produce sound. Floor and wall surfaces can be covered with different materials, ranging from tile to cork. Movable surfaces should allow your child to sit, lie down or crawl on. Outdoor play areas can include grass, soil patches, sand pits or paths made of smooth stones.

Inventing with Objects

• As opposed to toys with a single function, open-ended objects -- wooden blocks or beads -- can be used in different ways. For example, your child may bang, drop or mouth blocks. He may make a simple structure out of the blocks. These objects can stir a child̵7;s imagination and creativity. He'll manipulate the blocks in a way that has significance for him. For safety reasons, blocks and beads should be lightweight and too large for a small child to swallow. Instead of wood, blocks can be made of cloth-covered foam or cardboard. Children tend to play with open-ended objects for extended periods of time, according to Post.

Developing Intellect and Creativity

• The daycare environment should be rich with books to promote language skills. While infants delight in board, cloth and vinyl books, toddlers prefer paperbacks and more advanced board books. Table toys and games can help your child develop problem-solving skills. In particular, an area filled with objects -- interlocking gears, puzzles, nesting boxes, counting bears, plastic lids, pick-up sticks -- that a child can manipulate with his hands will help him to develop psycho-motor and perceptual skills as well as hand-eye coordination. To tap your child̵7;s creativity, the daycare environment should be filled with various age-appropriate, non-toxic materials to enable your child to draw, paint, sculpt, mold or construct.

Seeing from Near to Far

• As a young infant, your child only sees what̵7;s in front of him. But as he grows older, he̵7;ll gain the coordination of his eyes and be able to focus on objects at a distance. A toddler is fascinated by what goes on in the outside world, whether it̵7;s a bird, butterfly or a bus passing by. The daycare environment should have windows, skylights or sliding glass doors to enable your child to peek at vistas. The daycare can put flowerbeds, wind chimes, flags, squirrel feeders or bird baths outside of its windows to create interesting vistas and encourage wildlife to visit.