30-36 Months: Toddlers in Motion -- Observation Record

How does the toddler move with increased control and skill while combining movements to participate in play activities?

Toddlers continue to practice and refine the ways they control their bodies and movements in relation to new equipment, other children, games, and music. They move for a purpose, rather than just for the sake of being active.

The toddler might do one or more of the following:

• Move with his friends–participate in group activities, such as keeping a beach ball afloat or doing the hokey-pokey.
• Show physical skill–step over a small block to complete an obstacle course.
• Ride those riding toys–use the pedals to make a tricycle go.
• Jump down–squeal with delight as he climbs up and jumps off the bottom step of the stairs over and over again.
• Try a toss–throw a ball with an underhand motion, although it may not go where he wants it to go.

In what ways does this toddler use his body? (Include dates.)

How does the toddler use his fingers, hands, and eyes to engage in a variety of activities?

Toddlers spend time exploring and finding out new ways to do things, such as tearing paper, fitting things together, piling, and matching things. They explore as they go along and often do not remember what they produced.

The toddler might do one or more of the following:

• Act with his hands–participate in finger plays and circle songs like "This Is the Way We Wash Our Clothes."
• Watch it grow–paint with large strokes at the easel, watching the paint as it drips down the page.
• Build it–make a tower with connecting blocks, and then tell everyone that it looks like a house.
• Fill the page–experiment with writing tools as he makes dots, lines, big sweeping strokes, and tiny little squiggles, using every color available.
• Scribble a story–make a lot of wiggly lines on his paper and run to the caregiver to show her the story he made about a lion, bear, and a boy.

What does this toddler do with his hands? (Include dates.)

How does the toddler participate in self-help activities?

Older two-year olds are firmly attached to routines. They are also trying to be independent and may be rigid about the foods they will eat, which shirt they will wear, and doing things for themselves.

The toddler might do one or more of the following:

• Do it himself–undress himself with very little or no help.
• Set the table–help get the table ready for lunch by putting out the spoons and cups, one at every place.
• Help in the kitchen–help prepare food for salads by tearing the lettuce, peeling a banana, or spooning out the dressing.
• Eat on his own–feed himself, using a spoon and fork with relative ease and with little spilling.
• Dress himself–put on many of his own clothes by himself, such as pulling his shirt over his head, though it may be on backward, or putting on his underpants after you help him figure out which hole is for which foot.

What are some of the self-help activities in which this toddler participates? (Include dates.)