Pedagogy for infants and toddlers

HomeEarly childhood education resourcesPedagogy for infants and toddlers
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Pedagogy for infants and toddlers

HomeEarly childhood education resourcesPedagogy for infants and toddlers

Topic summary

Specialised infant and toddler pedagogies are crucial for young children’s effective development.

Infant and toddler pedagogy is pedagogy designed for and focused on the needs of children under three. It is focused on strong, intimate relationships and responsive and reciprocal interactions between children and their caregiver(s).  

Experiences of responsive, attuned caregiving in the first years of life facilitate emotional and cognitive well-being. Pedagogies focused on building strong, attuned relationships with children support children’s resilience and security. Positive relationships with caregivers have far-reaching consequences, setting the foundations for adjustment, development and learning across the child’s education.  

There is a strong and well-established research base on the importance of emotionally attuned relationships early in life. There is also a large body of research which suggests that pedagogical skills such as developing joint attention with infants and toddlers are linked to a range of cognitive and social skills including increased abilities in language and communication. Finally, another well-established finding in the research literature is that low quality care and inadequate relationships with adults are a source of stress for infants and toddlers, and associated with a negative impact on brain development, emotional well-being and the immune system which can remain across a child’s lifetime. 

  • Focus on the infant-caregiver relationship as a major component of practice
  • Build firm relationships by increasing one-to-one interaction opportunities and being positive and responsive while allowing time for relationships to develop 
  • Develop strong non-verbal communication skills (particularly listening), and develop sensitivity to infants’ and toddlers’ gestures and body movements
  • Reflect on practice and the quality of relationships 
  • Build positive relationships with other caregivers and parents that enable collaboration

  • What strategies do you use to build relationships with infants and toddlers?
  • Have you learned to understand and respond to each infant or toddler’s individual cues and communications? 
  • How do you ensure calm, unhurried routines for infants and toddlers? 
  • How often do you develop moments of joint attention with infants and toddlers?  
  • How language-rich are your interactions with infants and toddlers? 

Research reviews

What matters in infant and toddler pedagogy?

An overview of the key principles from the research on infant and toddler pedagogy.

Eight features of quality caregiving for infants and toddlers

A set of ideas and strategies to help you develop your practice with infants and toddlers

Developing respectful relations with infants and toddlers

A set of questions designed to help you reflect on how you interact with infants and toddlers

Why you must talk to infants and toddlers

Why it is so important to talk to very young children, and specific strategies to use when communicating with infants and toddlers.

How do you view babies?

Reflective questions to help you reflect on your practice working with babies.

An introduction to serve and return in early childhood education

An introduction to the concept of ‘serve and return’, the challenges it brings, and the many benefits for infants and toddlers.

How infants and toddlers develop movement skills

An introduction to the processes involved in learning to move.

Māori and Pasifika cultural perspectives on infant-toddler care

An introduction to the importance of culture, identity and belonging in infant and toddler pedagogy.

The Pikler/Resources for Infant Educarers™ approach

A summary of the key tenets of the Pikler/RIE philosophy of early childhood care and education.

Five reflective questions to ask about your infant and toddler curriculum

Five questions designed to help you reflect on the infant and toddler curriculum in your early childhood setting.

Webinars

The role of love in infant pedagogies

LIVE EVENT: 7.30PM MONDAY JUNE 9, 2025
Love has been positioned as a contested emotion in early childhood education, but there are strong arguments for exploring this in early childhood practice

What is specialist about infant and toddler practice?

Professor Carmen Dalli and Dr Karyn Aspden explore the key messages about the specialist nature of high quality infant and toddler practice.

Building trustful relationships and promoting centre wellbeing

This webinar explores the importance of teachers’ relationships with each other in early childhood settings.

Supporting the social and emotional competence of infants and toddlers

Dr Karyn Aspden and Linda Clarke from Massey University discuss their research into the teaching practices that support social-emotional competence of infants and toddlers.

Talking Matters: What teachers need to know about language and responsive relationships

Emma Quigan from Talking Matters talks about what they have learned from their research with mothers and their children about babies’ exposure to language.
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Infographics

Infants and toddlers pedagogy

The key components of effective pedagogy when working with infants and toddlers.

Snapshots

Early literacy tools for infants and toddlers

Intentional strategies for supporting infants’ early engagement with literacy.

Intentional interactions with infants and toddlers

Using deliberate strategies to support infants’ and toddlers’ emotional wellbeing and learning.

Environments and resources for infants and toddlers

The benefits of open-ended resources and environments for supporting learning and exploration.

Teaching strategies for infants and toddlers: Anchoring

Using anchoring to support infants’ and toddlers’ exploration, learning, and emotional wellbeing

Specialised practices for infants and toddlers

Key insights from the webinar with Professor Carmen Dalli and Dr Karyn Aspden.
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