Infants string sounds together to imitate language. Later they use these sound strings to represent things in the world (baba for bottle). As toddlers they progressively build vocabulary and begin to learn the principles of word order (red ball, not ball red).

Language sounds lay the foundation for both the spoken and written word. Hearing spoken language introduces babies to the patterns, sounds and rhythms of speech and provides them with a model for producing language.

Children progress from a simple observation of action and reaction (spin the wheel to hear music) to a deeper understanding of cause and effect (germs make you sick). Cause and effect is important because it signals that a child can perceive hidden or abstract forces on objects.

Learning color names and matching them consistently to the right color develops by around the age of 2 to 3 years. When children eventually come to understand the concepts of color they can then use that information to categorize shapes, patterns and other visual information.

Toddlers use their curiosity and logical reasoning skills to solve everyday problems. By investigating all sorts of possibilities, they develop unexpected solutions and creative problem-solving strategies.

The ability to extend, complete and duplicate patterns by determining the specific attributes of those patterns is a logical reasoning skill that forms a basis for future work in math. Recognizing patterns is also important for learning to read. Many high frequency words have similiar components (the sound "an" is in can, and hand). Recognizing these patterns helps children work out a new word faster.

From birth, children love music and even prefer it to speech. Apart from the obvious joy of music there are a number of surprising benefits to listening to music: it helps develop language, problem solving skills, memory, and physical coordination.

The development and coordination of small, refined muscle movements allow infants and toddlers to use their thumb and forefinger to grasp small objects, paint and eventually learn to write.

Gross motor development includes the ability to control large muscles, like those used for sitting up and crawling, and later, for walking, running and jumping.

Infants and toddlers experience the world using all of their senses. However, vision is by far the main sense that they use. As they explore their enviroment babies examine objects, recognize people and learn about depth and movement. Taste and touch are also important senses for babies.

By their first birthday children are engaging in social play. They begin to act out every day situations, like talking on the phone. Acting out different everyday scenarios helps children learn how to behave in different social situations.

As early as 6 months, babies begin to understand the concept of numbers, noticing small groups of one, two or three things. As children develop number sense they learn to count by ones, skip count and count backwards, gaining the foundation for operations. Children who have good number sense find learning operations like addition and subtraction much easier.