Explore the space around them through movements of hands and feet and by rolling.
The movements that young babies make as they find out about their environment.
Encourage young babies' movements through your interactions, for example, touching their fingers and toes and showing delight at their kicking and waving.
Provide spaces that give young babies different views of their surroundings, such as a soft play area, with different levels to explore.
8-20 Months
Love to be outdoors and closely observe what animals, people and vehicles do.
How babies explore space, objects and features of the environment.
Draw attention to things in different areas that stimulate interest, such as a patterned surface.
Display and talk about photographs of babies' favourite places.
16-26 Months
Are curious about the environment.
Responses to sights, sounds and smells in the environment and what they like about playing outdoors.
Encourage young children to explore puddles, trees and surfaces such as grass, concrete or pebbles.
Develop use of the outdoors so that young children can investigate features, for example, a mound, a path or a wall.
22-36 Months
Enjoy playing with small-world models such as a farm, a garage, or a train track.
The things children say about their environment.
Tell stories about places and journeys, for example, Whatever Next! by Jill Murphy.
Provide story and information books about places, such as a zoo or the beach, to build on visits to real places.
30-50 Months
Show an interest in the world in which they live.
Comment and ask questions about where they live and the natural world.
Children's interest in things they see while out for a walk.
The questions children ask about features of the built environment, such as road signs.
Arouse awareness of features of the environment in the setting and immediate local area, for example, make visits to shops or a park.
Introduce vocabulary to enable children to talk about their observations and to ask questions.
Encourage parents to provide vocabulary in their home language to support language development and reinforce understanding.
Pirates's treasure - In a pre-school, a practitioner offers resources, questions and ideas to a child exploring 'pirates'.
[transcript]
You can watch the video via modem or slow / fast / superfast broadband connections. If you are behind a network firewall, why not click here to view a flash file of the video. You do need to have the flash plugin.
Plan time for visits to the local area.
Provide play maps and small-world equipment for children to create their own environments.
40-60+ Months
Notice differences between features of the local environment.
Observe, find out about and identify features in the place they live and the natural world.
Find out about their environment, and talk about those features they like and dislike.
How children talk about the different features of the surroundings, such as the sizes, shapes, uses and types of buildings or spaces they notice on a walk to the shops.
How children connect photographs to places in the environment and can work out a route, for example, from the local shop to their setting.
How children talk about and evaluate the quality of their environment, by, for example, talking about how the flower baskets improve the area, and how the litter makes it look untidy.
Use appropriate words, for example, 'town', 'village', 'road', 'path', 'house', 'flat', 'temple' and 'synagogue', to help children make distinctions in their observations.
Help children to find out about the environment by talking to people, examining photographs and simple maps and visiting local places.
Encourage children to express opinions on natural and built environments and give opportunities for them to hear different points of view on the quality of the environment.
Ensure all children have opportunities to express themselves and learn the vocabulary to talk about their surroundings, drawing on and encouraging the home language to support the learning of English.
Encourage the use of words that help children to express opinions, for example, 'busy', 'quiet' and 'pollution'.
Provide stories that help children to make sense of different environments.
Provide stimuli and resources for children to create simple maps and plans, paintings, drawings and models of observations of known and imaginary landscapes.
Give opportunities to design practical, attractive environments, for example, taking care of the flowerbeds or organising equipment outdoors.
