babytalk2Baby Talk: Resources to Support the People Who Work With Infants and Toddlers

Issue No. 41, October 2014

ZERO TO THREE’S Let’s Play App
The Let’s Play app was developed by ZERO TO THREE to provide families with fun ideas for keeping babies, toddlers, and preschoolers entertained and learning, especially during daily routines like commuting; doing chores; bedtime, bath time, and mealtime activities; and shopping. The Let’s Play app also includes “boredom busters” that can be used any time that families are together. Families can search activities by age (0–18 months, 18–36 months, and 3–5 years), tag favorites, and share activities via social media. All of the activities reflect children’s typical skills at each age, and are designed to support development in the context of play and family routines. Download the app at https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/zero-to-three-lets-play/id807952060?mt=8

 

Facing the Screen Dilemma: Young Children, Technology and Early Education

This guide is designed to help educators and parents make informed decisions about whether, why, how, and when to use screen technologies with young children. Just because products are marketed as “educational” doesn’t mean they are. How do we best support children’s growth, development, and learning in a world radically changed by technology?

http://www.allianceforchildhood.org/sites/allianceforchildhood.org/files/file/FacingtheScreenDilemma.pdf

 

Promoting Social-Emotional Development: Helping Infants Learn About Feelings

Here’s a great article from the July 2014 issue of Young Children. The title says it all!

http://www.naeyc.org/yc/files/yc/file/201407/YC0714_Rocking_and_Rolling.pdf

 

Enhancing and Practicing Executive Function Skills with Infants and Toddlers

Executive function and self-regulation (EF/SR) skills provide critical supports for learning and development, and while we aren’t born with these skills, we are born with the potential to develop them through interactions and practice. A new 16-page guide describes a variety of activities and games that represent age-appropriate ways for adults to support and strengthen various components of EF/SR in children. Each chapter of this guide contains activities suitable for a different age group, including activities for 6-18 month olds and 18-36 month olds. The guide may be read in its entirety (which includes the introduction and references) or in discrete sections geared to specific age groups.

http://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/tools_and_guides/enhancing_and_practicing_executive_

function_skills_with_children/

 

A Language-Behavior Connection

A recent study conducted by researchers at Indiana University suggests that children who lack strong language skills have a reduced ability to regulate their behavior, which increases their likelihood of developing inattentive-hyperactive behavior problems.

http://www.healthcanal.com/mental-health-behavior/53055-iu-study-links-poor-early-language-skills-to-later-behavior-and-attention-problems.html

 

http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=9302959&fileId=S0954579414000698

Baby Talk is a free, one-way listserv that is distributed each month. Each issue features one or more resources, the majority of which are available to download at no cost.  To join the listserv, send an email with no message to subscribe-babytalk@listserv.unc.eduTo suggest resources, please contact Camille Catlett at camille.catlett@unc.edu or (919) 966-6635.