Your child is between the6 to 12 months

Young children love playing ball games, which also happens to promote physical development: they’ll try to sit down while rolling the ball. The rolling in itself is also a good motor exercise. We use flexible, rubber open balls that children can control with their little fingers. Unlike other balls, they won’t roll away as easily; regular balls for older children sometimes cause frustration in smaller children if they find they can’t grab hold of them.

The common room is designed for, and adapted to, children’s various developmental stages. At Kindergarden, we always hand children games and other materials at eye level. We offer a variety of textures, balancing and climbing equipment, and quiet little corners. Children who are just learning to walk enjoy pushing a trolley – this teaches them to take small steps, while still giving them the support they need.

Since children’s motor skills develop rapidly at this stage, children become increasingly independent and no longer need our help in discovering and experiencing everything around them. You will find educational toys and games in various parts of the room and at different heights, ensuring that the room as a whole is used. This makes it exciting for children who have just started rolling over and pre-crawling to take the next step.

Children develop an understanding and awareness of the presence and absence of objects or people. They love playing the peek-a-boo game, which teaches them in a playful way that we always come back, even if we briefly seem to have disappeared and they don’t see us. This is particularly important during the clingy stage.

During this time, children see the difference between their parents and other people for the first time. We make sure we assign the same people with the same, familiar faces to your child’s group, so they will experience, step by step, that it’s OK to be with people other than their parents for a short while. We also play simple, relaxing music in the room.

By observing a child and discussing them with our colleagues, we know where a child is in terms of their development and can identify the next challenge. We teach the children that they should be proud of who they are and of their talents, abilities, and accomplishments. We do this by giving everyone the same amount of undivided attention.

During this stage, we use a lot of gestures or images, for example from books or picture cards, to explain language and situations to the children. Of course, we also spend a lot of time talking to them and explaining things in short, simple sentences. All transition moments during the day are guided using certain language and songs. We communicate gently and respectfully. Repetition helps children remember words and sounds they will be able to use themselves later on.

We let children at our branches drink from regular cups early on and feed them small morsels of food. This helps stimulate their oral muscles and oral motor skills and, by extension, language and speech development. A regular cup helps your baby to get all the liquid from the cup and to consume the right quantity, since they can see how much of the drink is left in the cup.

Did you know that babies love listening to songs, especially when they include all kinds of intriguing sounds and motions? Children respond excitedly to changes in pitch and volume. Classic Dutch children’s songs such as Klap eens in de handjes, Dit zijn mijn wangetjes, Kiekeboe, and Appel, peertje en banaan are all firm favorites.

Our childcare staff create situations that contribute to children’s sense of wonder. We use a variety of colors, starting with red, as this is the first color children can observe (after black and white). We also challenge each child to use materials that make a particular noise or that feel differently, such as aluminum and wood.

Touch, smell, and taste. We stimulate children from a young age to develop their taste buds and involve parents in providing a healthy lifestyle for their child. As soon as a child is ready, and with their parents’ approval, we start giving the child fruit and vegetable snacks.

Reading to children is both educational and an opportunity to give them lots of personal attention. We read various books (including sensory books) together, describe pictures, turn the pages and feel the book’s texture. This turns books into something babies can hold, whose pages they can turn, and from which they’ll be able to read together with their parents as they grow older. They like hearing the voices of their parents and our childcare staff, and it makes them feel calm and relaxed.

Babies at this age can do more than just eat, sleep, and cry: around this age, it becomes easier for them to keep themselves entertained, whether it’s with a toy someone hands them or by closely observing their environment. This is another milestone, as each time children are affirmed in their ability to do something on their own, this increases their sense of independence and self-confidence. If children experience a sense of physical and emotional safety, they become more confident and start developing a sense of self. We provide them with a sense of safety because the attention and care we give them are responsive and come from people they know.

Looking in the mirror together is not only fun, but will also help babies become aware of themselves. They smile at their own image and attempt to touch themselves in the mirror. Babies understand the concept of a mirror if they touch their own body instead of looking in the mirror or look behind them when they spot something in the mirror. At the end of each day, staff and parents discuss the new experiences the child acquired that day. Parents could, for example, repeat certain experiences at home or add to them by letting their child gain new experiences.

Babies explore the world through their senses. Their psychological and neurological development depends on the extent to which they’re stimulated at this stage. For example, we talk with your child instead of to them, and they’ll respond by making little noises and gestures. Although we might take the initiative, babies sometimes also communicate to us that they want to “chat.” Children tend to observe the mimicry of our childcare staff and respond accordingly.