Infants and Toddlers at Play: Choosing the Right Stuff for Learning and Development

Play Is Important Work

As an early childhood educator, you know how important play is for young children. You also know that selecting the right play materials to include in your program matters; there are so many options, and often your budget does not stretch to cover everything. With this book, discover ideas for both familiar and new play materials and how those materials support the cognitive, social and emotional, and physical learning and development of children from birth to age 3.

This practical, easy-to-read resource

·       Presents foundational information organized around the who, why, how, and what of using play materials to support very young children’s learning and development

·       Provides suggestions for play materials and describes why they are useful for different aspects related to each learning and development domain

·       Includes safety considerations and tips on a range of topics, including climbing, choking hazards, and interacting with animals

·       Recommends more than 75 children’s books that go hand-in-hand with each learning and development domain

With a thoughtful selection of appropriate play materials, you can enhance the quality of your program by creating an environment and providing experiences that enable all children to thrive.

Mary Benson McMullen, PhD, is professor of early childhood education at Indiana University (IU), where she has been on faculty since 1993. She received a BS from Michigan State University and earned MS and PhD degrees in child development from Florida State University. During and after her graduate education, she worked as a teacher of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers and then as an early childhood program director, before accepting her position at IU. At IU, she teaches courses to preservice and in-service early childhood teaching professionals, as well as to doctoral students who plan to become early childhood teacher education scholars. Mary’s primary research interests involve factors that influence quality early care and education for infants and toddlers; the healthy overall growth, development, learning, and well-being of young children (birth through age 5); teaching beliefs and practices across cultures and contexts; and factors that influence and ensure the well-being of professionals who care for young children. She has published dozens of articles for both research and teaching journals, as well as numerous book chapters. She is coeditor of the 2019 book The Wiley Handbook of Early Childhood Care and Education. Mary lives in Bloomington, Indiana, where she and her husband of 40 years raised their three sons.

Dylan Brody (they/them), MSEd, is a doctoral student at the University of Georgia. They are currently the graduate research assistant for the Department of Educational Theory and Practice, with a focus on critical studies. Dylan began working as a full-time teacher with infants and toddlers in 2010 and fell deeply in love with the complexity of teaching young children. They worked collaboratively with a coteacher in a setting that utilizes a continuity of care model, providing Dylan the space and support needed to build intimate and meaningful connections with children and their families over the course of a three-year cycle. This time allowed them to create a more deeply reflective teaching practice and mindful rapport with families through daily moments of trust building. Dylan’s primary research and teaching interests focus on ethics, equity, critical theory, mindfulness, and advocacy for fellow teachers who experience marginalization. They prioritize care practices and policies that allow all members of the community to feel safer to be themselves and challenge the barriers in place that might prevent success for all. Dylan hopes to work more closely in the future with early childhood teachers in the LGBTQ+ community and to further advocate for trans visibility and representation in the field. Dylan currently lives in Athens, Georgia, with their beloved cat, Bean.