Know

Infants and toddlers grow and develop best in loving, stable, nurturing environments. You can help the children in your care and their families develop foundations to further their own healthy physical growth and development. High-quality early care and learning settings are better able to create opportunities for children and families to experience physically healthy approaches to learning and development by promoting and modeling physical activity and movement.

Caring for the Caregiver

As an infant and toddler caregiver, you do a lot! You help provide a nurturing, stable, and responsive learning environment for children and families, and you respond to their needs quickly and appropriately. Think for a moment about the physical energy it takes to care for young infants who can’t hold up their own head, or 2-year-olds who run and jump most of the day. Caring for infants and toddlers means it’s essential that you take care of yourself. This means thinking of your own movement and physical activity not just as a means to keep up with the active children in your care, but as a way to explore your own environment and feel confident and secure in yourself and the world around you. 

Within the first lesson, you had the opportunity to think about what physical development means to you. It’s important to think about what inspires us to stay physically active. This answer will be different for each of us, as our approaches to physical activity are personal. We know, however, that regular physical activity helps us build and maintain strong muscles and bones, lowers our risk for heart disease, and helps us maintain a healthy weight. We also know that during exercise, our body releases chemicals that can improve our mood, make us feel relaxed, and can even help us sleep better. Especially, because caring for infants and toddlers can be highly stressful, you should strive to develop and maintain a routine of regular physical activity. Unfortunately, teaching is a profession with high rates of burnout. Meeting the needs of infants and toddlers requires caregivers to be both physically and mentally healthy. Making time for movement and physical activity will help reduce your stress levels and prevent teacher burnout.

The ways you care for your own body through movement and physical activity are very important and are a major influence on the growth and learning of a child’s early years. The quality of your relationship with infants and toddlers is directly connected to, and dependent upon, your own physical and mental well-being. You will learn about ways to care for your body and physical health, including ways to handle stress in the Taking Care of Ourselves, activity in the Apply section of this lesson. The Social Emotional Learning for Teachers (SELF-T) course on the Focused Topics track of the Virtual Lab School is also a fantastic resource to access for additional ideas on promoting your own well-being.

Healthy Active Living for Infants, Toddlers, and Their Families

Children who are physically active during their early years and remain active throughout childhood are likely to experience many positive benefits to their physical health and development, such as building strength, flexibility and endurance, and developing and maintaining healthy bones (Ganley & Sherman, 2000). Being physically active supports other areas of growth and development too; including emotional health by reducing feelings of anxiety and depression (Ganley & Sherman, 2000).

Children who have active parents and family members who participate in regular physical activities with them are more likely to be active throughout life (President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sport). Adults lay a foundation for lifelong physical health and development when they show enjoyment in physical activity, encourage young children to explore the world around them, engage in child-directed activities, and plan for purposeful and appropriate play.

Learn more about the ways in which adults play an important role in helping infants and toddlers develop physical skills and experience joy from physical activity by reading the handout Physical Fitness in Infants and Toddlers (linked below). Intentionally creating time for physical skill development can help make it a regular part of a healthy lifestyle. You can also visit the Healthy Kids, Healthy Future – Get Kids Moving webpage for ideas on promoting healthy eating and exercise habits for the children in your care.

Supporting Healthy Physical Development and Activity for Infants, Toddlers, and Their Families

By building trusting relationships with children, you help them feel safe to explore their environment. As they explore and experiment with the different people and objects they encounter they have opportunities to develop and strengthen their skills. As infants move their arms, legs, and heads toward familiar people or toys, they improve their strength and coordination; which helps them learn to sit, crawl, pull up to stand, and eventually walk.

Through your relationship and interaction with children in your care, you are able to observe, respond, and encourage their efforts. Asking questions to families and sharing information with them from your observations also provides opportunities to continue responding to each individual infant or toddler in your care. You can learn even more about building trusting relationships with families in Lesson Three of the Family Engagement course.

Encouraging and supporting infant and toddler healthy physical development includes:

• Learning from families – Take time to understand the family’s perspective and thoughts on the importance of physical development and the experiences and opportunities that support physical growth and development in their household.
• Understanding the milestones – Infants and toddlers master developmental milestones at different ages, due to the physical, genetic, cultural and environmental differences amongst families. Keep in mind that the developmental milestones you are familiar with may not apply or be relevant to each family.
• Observing and adapting – Listen and observe how children are using their senses and motor skills to learn in your classroom. Adapt your caregiving strategies to fit their needs. “You ran so quickly to the slide. Would you like to try hopping to the slide this time?” “Those are a lot of steps to climb. Can help you by holding your hand as you walk up?”
• Reflecting on what you see and hear – Take time to reflect on your observations. Consider the experiences you offer for physical growth and development, your own comfort with movement, and your attitudes toward safety and risk taking.
• Share with infants and toddlers what you notice them doing – “My goodness, Sarah, you are working so hard! Keep reaching…you are almost there…you did it! You reached and grabbed the rattle!” “You have a big smile on your face! You pulled yourself up…all by yourself and now you’re standing!”

See

Do

• Rest: Take time to rest and get the sleep your body needs. Aim for 8 hours of sleep each night.
• Reflect: Reflect on your role as a caregiver. Write down your strengths, responsibilities, and the fulfillment and joy your current role brings to you.
• Eat: Food is fuel to the body – make sure you are eating regularly and maintaining a healthy diet.
• Exercise: Try to incorporate exercise into your daily routine 4–5 days a week. Start by adding small movements into your day, then move toward a more structured activity. Once your routine is established, include a variety of physical activities to strengthen different muscle groups and avoid burnout or boredom.
• Develop Community: Think about the people in your life who have helped you grow and develop. Send a thank you note to show your appreciation. Practicing gratitude promotes well-being and strengthens relationships.
• Relationships: Look for ways to build relationships with coworkers. Find time to talk or take a short walk together after a stressful day.
• Support Groups: Start a physical wellness group with caregivers or colleagues. Talk about work stress, share relaxation techniques, and encourage each other in healthy routines. Having support helps with consistency and motivation in maintaining physical wellness.

For additional ideas on self-care, take the Social Emotional Learning for Teachers (SELF-T) course in the Focused Topics track of the Virtual Lab School.