Did you know that most infants, mobile and non-mobile, love to be outside on a blanket on the ground! It goes without question that toddlers love to be outside roaming the yard! This is a grand time of year to be out of the house or classroom for much of the day.

Watching the clouds drift by (be sure to call that to their attention), watching the leaves fall from the trees, pointing at the school buses as they roll by, or crunching the brown leaves that might be laying nearby are but a few activities available in the great outdoors.

Infants do enjoy buggy rides, but they enjoy being on the ground, free to move and exercise those muscles even more. Even the two to four month old infants not yet moving need “ground time” to push, experiment and bear weight on those arms and legs. Thanks to all of the brain research of the past eight to ten years, we know how important floor/ground time is not only for physical development but also for brain development. There is a direct link between allowing infants time to explore their environment physically and expanding those dendrites in their brain.

Be sure to check out the training schedule on our website for professional development opportunities specifically about infant/toddler care.