Your child is between the1 month to 18 months

We organize exercise activities for the children every day: on the workout blocks or during the toddler exercise class, for example. Exercise is important for developing physical strength and muscle control, as well as coordination and balance. Exercise also stimulates toddlers to be inquisitive, as well as developing their attention spans. All this helps children stand up, walk, and run. We regularly allow children to walk around barefoot, as this stimulates foot development.

Gym cushions, a crawl tunnel, a wood climbing triangle, a parachute – these are just some of the materials and equipment we use to stimulate motor development. Since children at this age love discovery, small bowls and cups are more suited to their needs than anything you might buy in a toy store. They tend to play with these “open” materials longer and with sustained concentration, because it allows them to use their imagination, creativity, and taste for discovery.

Making a lot of sounds and music is also very fun and educational. We offer the children musical instruments such as guitars, drums, and a maraca, along with various household materials, including wooden spoons, small and large pans, containers filled with dried pasta, rice, and so on. Making your own music is particularly important for creating awareness in children of their own body, motor coordination, and spatial orientation.

Playing outdoors isn’t only healthy for children – they also learn and play in a different way outdoors. When they are outside, the children are more out of the sight of our childcare staff. This gives them the opportunity to discover what it’s like to solve things on their own and cooperate with other children. There are also more risks outside for children to take into account. When they are outdoors, they learn by means of physical trial and error. Having free rein to do their own thing and move freely outside enables children to develop their stamina and gross motor skills.

We use plain everyday language without using the types of diminutives many adults tend to use when talking to children. Children have a sense of themselves as “big,” and using diminutives is a sign of not taking kids seriously. Children are addressed as much as possible with pronouns such as “you” and “your”; the person having a conversation with a child about themself uses pronouns such as “I,” “me,” and “mine.” This is important in helping the child develop their identity.

Toddlers can already stand up on their own and are learning to walk. They don’t yet recognize danger and can often do more than they might be able to understand. Their world is rapidly expanding, and at this stage we allow them to discover this in freedom to the extent possible. We only start setting boundaries and rules if their safety is being compromised or if a specific type of behavior is repeatedly observed within the group (example: when a child keeps taking away another child’s toys.) We disturb children as little as possible when they’re playing. When we want something, we always approach a child from the front, so as to ensure they see us coming and we don’t scare them.

Social behavior is not innate but acquired, and children learn through a combination of exercise and experience. Since children learn the most from each other, we create a sense of togetherness, a nurturing mood in which they learn to take care of themselves and each other. While we do of course explain things to them, we don’t do so too often or in too much detail.

The members of our childcare staff spend a lot of time talking to the children and describe their own actions whenever they can, so that children come to understand the link between what people are saying and what they’re doing. This is important, because toddlers are extremely susceptible to mimicking the language of those around them. They begin to understand a lot more and can therefore also cooperate more easily with all kinds of actions, for example while their diapers are being changed.

Children need love, respect, appreciation, and clarity, which is exactly what our childcare staff offer them. We use positive, affirmative, and functional language, as well as positive non-verbal communication, to meet this need. Children who hear others around them using positive and respectful language and who are approached in a gentle and loving way, will feel loved and valued in turn.

Language is based on rhythm, tone, and melody. Most children will be able to clap their hands around 14 months of age, which makes it so much fun to sing songs together that involve gestures (such as Hoofd, schouders, knieën, teen or Klap eens in je handjes). We always sing at a slow tempo, clearly articulating every word. Singing together also improves children’s ability to listen and focus their attention.

Since children develop their senses by being exposed to variety, we offer them a challenging environment at all our branches, and regularly introduce new features. We take the kids outside when it’s raining, so they can dig around in the sandbox barefoot, play with mud, mess around with the water basin, take dry leaves with them inside, make bread dough, and so on.

We make a point of not handing children too many toys at once, as this would only overwhelm the child: they would likely just flit from one toy to the next and become restless. We observe each child closely and put away any toys that don’t appeal to them (yet) and offer these to them at a later stage. The reasoning behind this is that once the child is older and more advanced in their development, they might be able to discover the material in a different way.

Young children are driven by curiosity, which is essential to their development. Still, children at this age already have some degree of awareness that some things are not allowed or are off-limits. Our childcare staff allow children to test their boundaries and explain why something is or is not permitted, and try to determine the need of the child exploring their boundaries. We do this through observation and by discussing the situation with our colleagues. We always look at the intention behind the behavior. Say one of the children in our group pushes another child. Through observation and discussion, we might then conclude that this is simply the child’s attempt to connect with other children. We subsequently teach the child how they might be able to do this differently.

All children are different, and some children at this age want to play around with food, simply because it’s fun. We teach them that it’s OK to mess around, but that they should preferably not use food. To make sure they can meet this need, we give them something else to mess around with at a different time of the day, such as fingerpaint, water, or mud.

Sometimes children try to do something they’re not ready for yet, and sometimes they need to learn to accept that they can’t always get their way – it doesn’t take much for toddlers to get frustrated! Although they already comprehend a lot at this age, they’re not always able to articulate everything. So instead, they use body language, behavior, and their voices: they will kick, hit, scream, bite, and scratch. We take these expressions of emotion seriously, show understanding, and take control of the situation. If we are understanding and supportive toward these children, they will respond less strongly over time. We always try to look at why the child is behaving the way they do (i.e., the purpose or intention of the behavior) and then respond accordingly.