Our nursery and toddler rooms generally cater for the youngest members of the Day One family
children who are 6 weeks to 2 years old.
Our nursery and toddler rooms are a haven of tranquility and nurturing, led by educators who understand the challenges of leaving such a young child in someone else’s care. Our nursery and toddler children are stimulated with engaging activities as they learn through exploration and play as part of the overall Day One Curriculum.
Developmental goals and objectives for children in the Nursery and Toddler rooms are supported by Day One’s bespoke programs and the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF), as follows:
0 to 1 year old
Physical
- Pulls self to standing position when hands held
- Raises self to sitting position
- Sits without support
- Stands by pulling themself up using furniture
- Stepping movements around furniture
- Successfully reach out and grasp toy
- Transfers objects from hand to hand
- Picks up and pokes small objects with thumb and finger
- Picks up and throws small objects
- Holds biscuit or bottle
- Crawls
- Mature crawling (quick and fluent)
- May stand alone momentarily
- May attempt to crawl up stairs
- Grasps spoon in palm, but poor aim of food to mouth
- Uses hands to feed self
- Rolls ball and crawls to retrieve
Cognitive
- Moves obstacle to get at desired toy
- Bangs two objects held in hands together
- Responds to own name
- Makes gestures to communicate and to symbolise objects, e.g. points to something they want
- Seems to understand some things parent or familiar adults say to them
- Drops toys to be retrieved, handed back, then dropped again/looks in direction of dropped toy
- Smiles at image in mirror
- Likes playing with water
- Shows interest in picture books
- Understands gestures/responds to ‘bye bye’
- Listens with pleasure to sound-making toys and music
- Notices difference and shows surprise
Language
- Responds to own name being called, family names and familiar objects
- Babbles tunefully
- Says words like ‘dada’ or ‘mama’
- Waves goodbye
- Imitates hand clapping
- Imitates actions and sounds
- Enjoys finger-rhymes
- Shouts to attract attention
- Vocalises loudly using most vowels and consonants – sounding like conversation
1 to 2 years old
Physical
- Walks, climbs and runs
- Takes two to three steps without support, legs wide and hands up for balance
- Crawls up steps
- Dances in place to music
- Climbs onto chair
- Kicks and throws a ball
- Feeds themselves
- Begins to run (hurried walk)
- Scribbles with pencil or crayon held in fist
- Turns pages of book, two or three pages at a time
- Rolls large ball, using both hands and arms
- Finger feeds efficiently
- Begins to walk alone in a ‘tottering way’, with frequent falls
- Squats to pick up an object
- Reverts to crawling if in a hurry
- Can drink from a cup
- Tries to use spoon/fork
Cognitive
- Repeats actions that lead to interesting/predictable results, e.g. bangs spoon on saucepan
- Points to objects when named
- Knows some body parts
- Points to body parts in a game
- Recognises self in photo or mirror
- Mimics household activities, e.g. bathing baby, sweeping floor
- Spends a lot of time exploring and manipulating objects, putting in mouth, shaking and banging them
- Stacks and knocks over items
- Selects games and puts them away
- Calls self by name, uses ‘I’, ‘mine’, ‘I do it myself’
- Will search for hidden toys
Language
- Comprehends and follows simple questions/commands
- Says first name
- Says many words (mostly naming words)
- Begins to use one to two word sentences, e.g. ”want milk”
- Enjoys rhymes and songs
Source: Developmental milestones and the EYLF/NQS
