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Approaches to Learning
Promoting Curiosity
WiseTip: AL-CUR-M0003-P01A

Encourage exploration and curiosity by provide interesting things for your baby to see, touch and hear.

0-3 months
Play
WHY IT MATTERS

Children are born with the capacity to be curious. From birth to age two, children are in the

sensorimotor stage

Sensorimotor Stage - The sensorimotor period refers to the earliest stage (birth to 2 years) in Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development. This stage is characterized as the period of a child's life when learning occurs through a child's sensory and motor interactions with the physical environment.

where they use their senses to learn about the world around them.
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  1. Piaget, J. (1952). The Origins of Intelligence in the Child. New York: Norton.

Through hands-on play, infants develop basic ideas or theories, also known as schemas, to make sense of the world and their immediate environment. These ideas are refined over time through experience.

Infants enjoy using all their senses to explore textures, scents, tastes, sights and sounds of things. This includes using their oral faculties to explore, such as by

mouthing

Mouthing - Mouthing is an important developmental milestone for children. Mouthing behavior develops into an exploratory behavior in which objects are placed into the mouth for a few seconds for purposes of discovery. During this stage of development, children will put their hands and any object that they come in contact with into their mouths.

things.
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  1. Shabazian, A. N., & Li Soga, C. (2014). Making the right choice simple: Selecting materials for infants and toddlers. YC Young Children, 69(3), 60-65.

Read more at AL-CUR-C01 and AL-CUR-C03.