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Yeah Baby! is a specialist conference concerned with the education and care of our infants from birth to three years of age. This one-day conference runs from 9am-3pm on a Saturday and includes trade fair, and great seminar and workshops style presentations. The format for the day ensures delegates will return to their early childhood settings affirmed and inspired with up-to-date research as well as practical advice, guidance and solutions all relevant to work and play with children under 3. New information is shared each year and each programme varies according to region.
Programme:
9-10.30am: Toni Christie - Toddlers: A taxonomy of needs and rights
What do our precious toddlers need? What rights do we empower them to exercise?
When we understand the specific development, needs, and rights of these unique little humans, we can support them in their quest to better understand the world around them. Toni Christie will share research and practical examples of supporting toddlers’ needs for safety, relationships, boundaries, conflict, and resilience. She will also explore their rights to power, autonomy, nature, play and to be understood by the excellent role-models who care for and educate them with love.
10.30-11am: morning tea
11am-12.30pm: Caitlin Mulroyan & Chelle Duncan – Born to Move
Do we really need to ‘teach’ an infant how to walk or sit when it’s what people have been doing for thousands of years? What would happen if we trusted in the natural unfolding of a child’s development and followed their innate drive to move, offering time and space for children to develop at their own pace? Chelle and Caitlin will share the journey of Kardinia Early Learning in reimagining the emotional and physical environments that they welcome infant and toddlers into, in support of ‘Freedom of Movement’. They will explore brain and physical development, environment design, our role in nurturing intrinsic motivation and how that led them to an anchored care model.
12.30-1.15pm: lunch and a chance to check out the trade fair
1.15-2.45pm: Robin Christie - Freak Out! - Loose Parts and Risky Play in Toddlerhood
Adult-supported and developmentally appropriate risky play is vital to children's physical, emotional, social and cognitive development. Our early childhood curriculum celebrates the importance of this kind of play numerous times, including specifically for toddlers. Research from across the globe points to the long-term benefits for very young children, especially in the long-term development of resilience, the ability to ‘bounce back’ from negative experiences (Sandseter, 2006, 2007; Stephenson, 2006; Gill, 2007; Kvalnes, 2017).
Loose parts play involves open-ended and easily manipulated materials that children can use to construct, deconstruct and transport to develop their working theories of the physical world, and to augment their social and imaginative play. Since Simon Nicholson (1971) first formally described this natural aspect of children's play, the ways in which we interpret loose parts play have widened considerably. Contemporary views shown in recent research perceive it as being completely without boundaries, as being important for all ages, and as mixing easily with other kinds of learning (Hewes, 2006; Neill, 2013).
This presentation will examine practical instances of loose parts play using materials that are recovered, upcycled and drawn from nature. It will look at loose parts play opportunities in infant and toddler spaces, and will explore their importance in symbolic and imaginative play. A special emphasis will be placed on loose parts play resources that provide for adult-supported risky play, are environmentally responsible, encourage cooperation and problem-solving, and are cheap as chips!
General admission price: $210
Subscriber's price: $190
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