Karen Miller has worked in early childhood education for more than 30 years. She has held a wide variety of positions, including classroom teacher and parent coordinator for Head Start, director of four different child care centers, regional and national training and education director for two national child care organizations, and early childhood education editor for Scholastic Inc.'s Early Childhood Division. She was also a contributing editor for Child Care Information Exchange, writing a regular column called "Caring for the Little Ones," focusing on infants and toddlers. Karen earned her master's degree in human development from Pacific Oaks College in Pasadena, California.
I borrowed this book from my 2-year-old's preschool. And I wish I had it with my first child! It is chock-full of ideas of how to play with your child, help him learn new skills, and encourage him to try new things that are developmentally appropriate.
Each activity has a suggested age, from newborns, through age 2+. And I found that I could adjust some of the ideas to include my 6-year-old in the fun, too. The activities are broken down into different categories: social-emotional, language, fine motor, gross motor, cognitive, music & movement, sensory, creative and dramatic play development, as well as a section on nature appreciation.
I ended up flagging about 3 dozen activities to try. This will definitely come in handy as I try to pack more fun and learning into my kids' day.
This could be a good book for those unsure of how to work with infants. I would recommend Respecting Babies by Magda Gerber, or Janet Lansbury's Elevating Childcare instead.