Responsive Environments

We are going to explore another aspect of infant-toddler caregiving that supports social-emotional development—the space where children play and are cared for.

Caregiving environments should be designed to enhance relationships and learning. Because infants and toddlers learn and develop through movement, exploration, and appropriate challenges, their environment should offer a variety of experiences.

It should be a place where they can freely move, make choices, and explore. The environment should be welcoming to everyone—children, families, childcare providers, and other program staff.

Creating Responsive Environments

Every day, caregivers play a role in:

• Deciding what infants and toddlers see, touch, hear, smell, and taste
• Determining how much fresh air, sunlight, and exercise young children will get
• Setting up engaging physical environments
• Choosing appropriate toys, materials, and activities
• Engaging in reciprocal interactions

…all of which make up learning experiences for infants and toddlers.

A well-designed infant-toddler physical environment can have a major impact not only on children’s social-emotional development, but also on their language, cognitive, and motor development.

Why do you think the environment has such a powerful effect on our thoughts and feelings?

What would it feel like if you did not have any control over the design of your home?

Furnishings, accessories, room arrangement, paint colors, and even scents in a room can affect the mood of a person in that room. This is why it is important to consider the purpose of the room before decorating it. Is it a place to relax, such as a bedroom? Is it going to be an entertainment room? The purpose of the room should be the deciding factor in how it is decorated, and subsequently, how that decoration affects the mood.

Here are a few examples of how the environment can directly impact social-emotional development.

• Surrounding young children with attentive, responsive, skilled caregivers and maintaining appropriate child-caregiver ratios supports relationships and self-regulation. When responsive adult caregivers are available for infants and toddlers, their needs can be acknowledged and met.
• Providing safe toys and materials that offer developmentally appropriate challenges support young children in practicing their problem-solving skills.
• Keeping all appropriate materials in the environment accessible to infants and toddlers helps to develop independence and initiation skills.