Explore and experiment with objects and materials to learn about their properties.
Experiment with safe tools to learn how they work (wooden hammer with pegs, sifter, funnel).
Put together multiple combinations of actions and objects (put toothpaste on brush and brush teeth).
Search for objects in several places, even when not seen recently.
Show they remember people, objects, and events (talk about them, act them out, point out similar happenings).
Show they remember the order of familiar events (finish a phrase in a story or song, get ready to go outdoors after snack).
Try multiple times to cause an effect or solve challenging problems, combining actions and behaviors used before (ask another child to help remove a lid with them after trying unsuccessfully themselves).
Repeat simple problem-solving strategies to find solutions to everyday problems.
Choose objects to represent something else with similar features during play (block for cell phone, large sheet for tent).
Perform more complex action after watching an adult (activate sound from toy, open a latch).
Notice and respond to others’ feelings and behaviors (hand a toy to another child as a play invitation).
Observe and imitate adult actions and adjusts interactions based on those observations (after seeing adult set table, put napkins on table).
Use words like “think,” “remember,” and “pretend.”
Talk about what they and other people want or like.
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Use words or actions that show understanding of the concepts of “more,” “all,” as well as “none”.
Count to 5 with the support of an adult.
Understand the meaning of “one.”
Place items in one-to-one correspondence during play and daily routines (one spoon at each plate; one doll in each toy car).
Make a small group (1-3) with the same number of items as another group of items (take 3 balls from a basket after the teacher shows the group that she has 3 balls and asks each person to take the same number of balls).
Respond to and begin to use words describing positions (in, on, over, under, etc.).
Name or match a few shapes.
Stack or line up blocks that are the same shape.
Use size and amount words to label objects, people, and collections (big truck, a lot of cookies, little baby).
Group objects into categories (cars with cars, plates separated from cups).
Recognize objects that are different but go together (such as shovel and pail or cup and plate).
Use observation and emerging counting skills (1, 2, 3) during play and other daily activities.
Match objects by shape, color, or size.
Match object to picture of object.
Match objects that have the same function (a brush and a comb or a bowl and a plate).
Show curiosity and investigate the world of nature indoors and outdoors (roll in the grass, scratch frost on window).
Help adult with the care of living things (water plants, feed classroom pet).
Cause toys they are playing with to move and provide simple descriptions (“My train go fast!”).
Collect items that may share an attribute.
Classify things into groups but may overgeneralize (call all small animals “puppies”).
Describe using one word (hot, soft, big).
Observe and choose simple clothing for weather (mittens and boots when snowy).
Make simple scribbles, sounds, or movements to describe what they are seeing and experiencing.
Use simple tools to investigate objects (magnifying glass, ramps for rolling balls, spoons for digging) or to obtain a desired object (ruler to guide ball back from under shallow cabinet).
Try out different materials to create a structure.
Investigate differences between materials (sand, water, moving air).
Notice and comment on changes in materials when mixing and manipulating (paint, playdough, food ingredients).
Ask, “What’s that?”
Intently watch and imitate other children and adults (try to swing a plastic bat they have seen an older child use).
Use play to show what they know about relationships and roles in families and other familiar contexts.
Talk about what others do during the day (“Mommy at work. Gramma at home.”)
Help with daily routines (put napkins out for lunch).
Seek out familiar playmates to sit next to when playing.
Describe people who are similar and different based on characteristics such as age, gender, and other physical characteristics.
Show awareness of similarities and differences among people and families by taking on different roles during play.
Experiment and create 2D and 3D art with clay, crayons, markers, paint, and collage materials.
Make up simple nonsense songs, sign, chant, and move to music (twirl around and fall down, “march” by lifting knees high).
Talk or sing to themselves for comfort or enjoyment and express ideas and feelings through music and movement.
Express delight in different forms of art (choose to look at a book with colorful photographs).
Participate in and use simple words to describe art, music, movement, drama, or other aesthetic experiences (talk about colors in a painting).