During the first five years, children constantly acquire new skills and knowledge. Caregivers who know what children can do and how they can get hurt can protect them from injury.

This tool provides safety tips for early childhood staff working with young children in classroom environments. Each section includes a description of development and safety tips organized by daily routines. Some tips apply to all children. Others address the developmental needs of children in a specific age group. If children in your classroom fit more than one developmental level, review the safety tips for each here.

Easter Seals is offering a free online version of the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) developmental screening tool to both parents and child care providers can use the ASQ to track children's development through age five. The tool can identify concerns for which children should receive appropriate services to be ready to enter K-12 school. The ASQ online does not include the component that evaluates behavior. However, it is widely accepted for basic screening. Many Keystone STARS programs are using a version of the ASQ now.

Be sure to have parents bring the results of the ASQ to their health care provider for review and discussion. This is especially important if the screening tool reveals concerns about the child's development. Child care providers should know how to refer children for further developmental evaluation. Call Find the ASQ online on the website of Easter Seals Make the First Five Count.

Five Areas of Development

These are the five developmental areas screened with ASQ-3, and what you might consider doing to support your child as they age:

1. Communication: Your child’s language skills, both what your child understands and what they can say. Talk, sing, read, and listen to your child every chance you can to encourage language and reading development.

2. Gross Motor: How your child uses their arms and legs and other large muscles for sitting, crawling, walking, running, and other activities. Encourage your child to move—movements both big and small are important for physical growth.

3. Fine Motor: Your child’s hand and finger movement and coordination. Consider drawing or coloring or playing with blocks or puzzles to help with hand-eye coordination and dexterity.

4. Problem Solving: How your child plays with toys and solves problems. Play with interactive games, building blocks or other construction sets, and puzzles to encourage creativity and cognitive skills.

5. Personal-Social: Your child’s self-help skills and interactions with others. Build strong relationships with your child to make them feel safe to develop trust, explore, and learn. Healthy social and emotional development can help your child cope with emotions and navigate peer relationships.

Learn the Signs, Act Early is a program of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It offers activities and materials that foster recognition of developmental milestones. The CDC Act Early website has free online materials for parents, credit-bearing professional development for early educators and health professionals. 

For Parents: Talk, read, sing and play with your child every day. CDC’s amazing books can help! Baby’s Busy Day (Un día ocupado del bebé, en Español), Where is Bear? (¿Dónde Está Osito?, en Español), and Amazing Me (Soy Maravilloso, en Español), are fun for children and show you what to look for as your child grows. View CDC's children's books here.

For Early Educators: Watch Me! Celebrating Milestones and Sharing Concerns is a FREE, 1-hour online continuing education course. The engaging videos are in 4 modules that take a total of an hour to view. They show how teachers/caregivers monitor the development of the children in their care and talk with parents about developmental concerns. For the continuing education credit, users must complete all 4 modules, each quiz and a final evaluation. Access the training here.

Milestones can vary by 6 weeks (except that baby’s eyes should appear straight by the 5th month). If your child is not meeting milestones, please talk with your child’s primary health care provider. View this milestone pathway created by the National Center for Children’s Vision and Eye Health at Prevent Blindness.