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  Development matters Look, listen and note Effective practice Planning and resourcing
Being Creative - Responding to Experiences, Expressing and Communicating Ideas
 
  • Use movement and sensory exploration to connect with their immediate environment.
 
  • Expressions of emotion shown through the movements of fingers, arms and bodies.
 
  • Use gentle touch to trace 'Round and Round the Garden' or to pat hands for 'Pat-a-Cake' with young babies.
 
  • Make available resources such as soft feathers, silk squares and pom-poms which offer sensory interest to young babies.
Exploring Media and Materials
 
  • Discover mark-making by chance, noticing, for instance, that trailing a finger through spilt juice changes it.
 
  • The way young babies respond when they touch or feel something such as warm milk, or a fluffy toy.
 
  • Talk to young babies about the sensations of different materials they feel, whether they are cold or warm, smooth or soft.
 
  • Make a basket of things each baby likes to explore. One may prefer all the squashy things such as sponges, soft toys or balls, another may prefer crinkly, noisy things.
Creating Music and Dance
 
  • Respond to a range of familiar sounds, for example, turning to a sound source such as a voice.
 
  • The voices, sounds and music, such as lullabies, that young babies respond to.
 
  • Sing action rhymes such as 'Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes' or clap and sing about something that you are doing, such as "We're getting Mina ready for bed".
 
  • Select toys that will make different sounds, such as a wooden cylinder with a little bell or a small toy that squeaks, and talk about the sounds babies hear when they mouth or hold them.
Developing Imagination and Imaginative Play
 
  • Smile with pleasure at recognisable playthings.
 
  • How a baby is pleased to see a stripy bee soft toy, or a colourful snake that crackles when it is squeezed.
 
  • Play games such as hiding the snake behind your back and slowly showing it coming round the corner of the play mat.
 
  • Have a variety of familiar toys and playthings that babies enjoy looking at, listening to, touching, grasping and squeezing.