There is so much that your baby can now do! It may seem like she’s constantly busy exploring the world, banging objects together, getting into things and places, and watching all that you do. What drives this curiosity? It all comes back to learning.

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Cognitive development refers to the way your baby thinks, reasons, and understands.¹ At this age, your 9-12 month old doesn’t learn through formal teaching, but instead improves her cognitive ability and knowledge through “playful and loving interactions with [her] caregivers and observation of the world around [her].”²

While many parents feel it necessary to provide their children with expensive, flashy toys to encourage learning, the truth is your baby is most curious about the world around her! She will be just as excited to play with the metal pot and wooden spoon you use in the kitchen as she would with something purchased from the toy store.³ In fact, she may enjoy using your old pots and pans all the more because they’re yours!

Plus, she’ll feel trusted that you’re sharing your “play things” with her, and it helps her better imitate you! While there’s basically nothing wrong with toys and gadgets full of features, just remember that your baby most wants to learn about the world around her at this age. And, the best way to learn about the world is to let her explore her environment and get familiar with the vocabulary and uses of common everyday objects.⁴

Remember, “each object [children] encounter brings them face to face with information.”⁵ And right now, your baby has the Initiative and Curiosity to take in everything around her. Wanting to play at every opportunity, you may find her actively starting activities of interest (e.g. pointing to books she’d like you to read to her), going after objects to explore, imitating use of everyday objects, and inviting people (like you) to play with her.

You will notice her playing with objects in more inventive and creative ways as she tries to figure things out. She will turn objects over in her hands to scrutinize every detail or put things “in and out” of containers while Exploring Positional and Directional Play. She may begin to use familiar objects in new ways, like using banging blocks together instead of stacking them, placing a bowl on her head, or placing books one on top of the other like blocks.^5,6

Because her understanding of Object Permanence and memory is growing, your 9-12 month old will now be able to easily find things you hide from her.⁷ For instance, she’ll know where to look for her teddy bear, because she’ll remember seeing you hide it under a pillow. She is also better at locating things on her own, because of her newfound mobility! She may be able to crawl over and under things, move objects, and even possibly pull up on furniture, walk with support, or toddle on her own. These Active Coordinated Movement abilities help to open up a whole new world of spaces, people, and objects for her to explore!

The time when your baby’s cognitive development is growing rapidly is wonderful to experience. Not only is she exploring more independently, but her growing curiosity drives her learning. It’s important to continue to support her learning by engaging in active play with her, encouraging her to explore, and tailoring activities to her interests.

(SPECIAL OFFER: Sign up for Playful Bee’s Bee Well developmental learning program to give your baby the best start in life. The first 10,000 children enroll for FREE! Sign up today.)

Play Tips:

Do you want to know how you can support your baby’s development of Initiative and Curiosity, Exploring Positional and Directional Play, and Object Permanence skills at this age? It’s easy! Read on for some simple tips to incorporate into your daily play time together.

1. Supply a variety of flap books for discovery. Create a comfortable reading space for your baby by putting a stuffed chair or a bean bag next to her book case. Offer her a number of “peek-a-boo” and other flap books to explore whenever she wants. She will enjoy this interactive reading activity, because it’s fun opening the flaps to find the surprise beneath.
2. Play hiding games with various objects.^6,7,8 Peek-a-Boo is a classic hiding game that encourages learning about Object Permanence. You can start by hiding your face behind your closed hands. Then, start to vary the activity by using a cloth or handkerchief to hide common objects for your baby to find. You can also hide yourself, behind a piece of furniture, for example! As she starts crawling and walking, consider playing “Hide and Go Seek,” by putting her favorite toys in easy-to-reach places where she’ll be able to find them.
3. Offer your baby a variety of toys and objects to fill and empty into containers.⁶ Many young children love filling and dumping containers at this age. It helps them develop an understanding of the relative position of objects. Be sure that everything you offer her to play with is safe to handle and mouth at this age.⁷ Consider offering edible cereal puffs to fill her cup with or large wooden blocks to take out of a bucket.
4. Create a soft obstacle course from cushions and blankets. Challenge your older infant to expand her positional awareness (i.e. her understanding of where she and objects are in space) by creating a fun obstacle course. Put favorite toys or objects under a blanket at the end of the course and challenge her to climb and crawl over and around cushions and pillows to reach her treasure. This game will be great exercise for your baby and allow her to explore a variety of body positions.

Developmental Milestones:

Has your baby achieved the following Initiative and Curiosity, Exploring Positional and Directional Play, and Object Permanence developmental milestones yet? If yes, check off all the skill(s) she has already mastered to date using Playful Bee’s developmental milestones tracker. It’s absolutely FREE and easy to use, just click HERE!

• Initiates games and reading time.
• Explores by changing the position or location of objects (e.g. taking objects in and out of boxes).
• Looks for and easily finds objects you hide.
• Starts using common objects correctly (e.g. drinking from cup, listening to telephone, and brushing hair).

(SPECIAL OFFER: Sign up for Playful Bee’s Bee Well developmental learning program to give your baby the best start in life. The first 10,000 children enroll for FREE! Sign up today.)

Sources:

¹California Department of Education. Cognitive Development Domain. California Infant/Toddler Learning & Development Foundations. Retrieved March 4, 2014, from http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/re/itf09cogdev.asp.

²Nugent, Kevin and Morell, Abelardo (2011). Your Baby is Speaking to You. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

³Teachers Resisting Unhealthy Children’s Entertainment (TRUCE). Infant-Toddler Play, Toy & Media Action Guide. TRUCE – Teachers Resisting Unhealthy Children’s Entertainment. Retrieved March 4, 2014, from http://www.truceteachers.org/docs/infant-toddler-guide-color.pdf.

⁴University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Household Items Make Great Toys: 10-11 months. University of Nebraska-Lincoln: UNL Extension – Parenting Resources. Retrieved March 4, 2014, from http://lancaster.unl.edu/family/parenting/month10_959.shtml.

⁵Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning. Georgia Early Learning Standards: Birth through Age 5.

⁶Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care (2010). Massachusetts Early Learning Guidelines for Infants and Toddlers.

⁷Maryland State Department of Education (2010). Healthy Beginnings: Supporting Development and Learning from Birth through Three Years of Age.

⁸Oklahoma Child Care Services. Oklahoma Learning Guidelines for Infants, Toddlers, and Twos: Ages 0 through 36 Months.

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Playful Bee

Education Team at Playful Bee

Playful Bee is an e-Preschool that delivers inquiry-based preschool learning from the classroom to your home. Our preschool curriculum was created by our talented team of rock star teachers. With years of hands-on preschool and Kindergarten teaching experience, they've developed a high-quality preschool experience that is convenient-to-use and easy-to-teach by you, grandparents, or your nanny at home.

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