Properties

Young children explore the world and everything in it with their whole bodies. They investigate blankets, toys, flowers, water and sand by looking, listening, smelling and touching. Three-year-olds notice lots of details. They describe colors, sizes, shapes and textures and begin to compare and sort objects by their properties — round or square; red or yellow and smooth or rough. Three-year-olds are persistent explorers and creative about how they use objects — blocks may be telephones and boxes may be spaceships or doll beds. When you provide safe spaces and lots of different “stuff” for your three-year-old to investigate (even messy stuff!), you support their learning. As you explore together, make connections between different experiences — How is that ball the same as the one you have at home? How is it different? Introduce words — like straight and curvy, circle/square/triangle and large/larger/largest — that help them express what they are doing and observing. You may notice that your three-year-old exhibits specific interests (in building with blocks, playing in water or exploring outdoors, for example), so remember to follow their lead!