Give your baby the freedom to move and explore how things work and what he/she can do with things.
Environments which are safe and secure for children and have objects that children can safely interact with are ideal for promoting problem-solving abilities.
Scaffolding techniques are how the more knowledgeable other, an adult, guides the learner within the learner’s own zone of proximal development to reach a greater understanding and mastery of a task. This scaffolding strategy may come in many forms, but the purpose is the same: helping children come up with a correct answer or reach a specific conclusion and expand their understanding.
Adult scaffolding techniques have been shown to improve a child’s ability to complete a task.
If adults refrain from rushing in and rescuing young children who are facing minor everyday problems, infants and toddlers develop confidence in their thinking and experimenting abilities to find solutions to problems. Leipzig, J. (1996.) Supporting the development of a scientific mind in infants and toddlers. In The wonder of it : Exploring how the world works, ed. B. Neugebauer. Redmond, WA: Child Care Information Exchange Segatti, L., Brown-DuPaul, J., & Keyes, T.L. (2003). Using Everyday Materials To Promote Problem Solving in Toddlers. YC Young Children, 58(5), 12-18.
Adults can step in to limit the duration and intensity of the problems children are trying to solve. However, when adult intervention solves all problems or prevents any problems from occurring in the first place, children receive little real or meaningful practice in arriving at the solution.
Read more at CD-MEM-C02 and CD-MEM-C03.