Domain: NC Foundations for Early Learning: Cognitive Development (CD)

Subdomain: Construction of Knowledge: Thinking and Reasoning

Goal: Children demonstrate the ability to think about their own thinking: reasoning, taking perspectives, and making decisions

Skill Progression: Taking perspectives

Age: 10-12 Months

Click here to go to all skills for ages 10-12 Months.

Watch the child in social games such as peek-a-boo, pat-a-cake, or other familiar social games.

After having the adult and child engage in familiar games, introduce a new game or action for the child to imitate. The game can be making faces, dropping sound makers into a bucket, or any fun activity.

If the child can take turns on the familiar games, then they should want to imitate a new turn-taking game.

Imitating others teaches children that others can do different actions. If the results of what they see look interesting, they will want to imitate that behavior. Imitation is the beginning of turn-taking, an important social skill. Instill in parents how early their infants imitate their behaviors. They need to choose things to model they want their child to learn. Make it fun and funny and the child will want to do it too!