Infant, Mobile Infant, and Toddler Peer Social Sequence

4-8 Months

• Infants may treat other babies like objects- crawling over them, licking or sucking on them, or sitting on them. Infants are just learning the difference between people and objects.
• Infants may poke, push, or pat another baby to see what that other infant will do. They often look very surprised at the reaction that they get.
• Infants like to look at and approach other babies.
• Infants smile and laugh at each other.

8-12 Months

• Infants like to touch each other and crawl around beside each other.
• Peek-a-boo is a favorite game at this age, but an adult may need to start the game.
• When an infant is placed together with one other infant (pairs), more frequent, complex, and intense peer interaction occurs than when an infant is with many peers.
• Because infants are more goal-oriented than in the previous stages, they may push another infant's hand away from a toy or crawl over another baby in order to get a toy.

12-18 Months

• Infants may show or give a toy to another child.
• Infants may gesture or try to talk to another child.
• Infants initiate play with another infant.
• Infants will imitate each other at this stage- for example, often making a joyous symphony of spoons banging on the table at meal time.
• Infants are little scientists at this age, experimenting to see how things work. This affects how they "get along" with peers. They are constantly doing things to other children to see what response they will get.
• Biting may appear as infants bite others "to see what happens," to get the toy they want, or to express frustration. On the cusp of communicating well, they may communicate through their mouths in the form of a bite.
• They will enjoy looking at books together by forming an informal group (this means they move in and out of the group) around the legs, lap, and arms of a favorite parent or teacher.
• They love sand and water and playing with different sizes of safe bottles and balls. When each has his own bin or tub of water or sand, play goes more smoothly.

18-36 Months

• Toddlers can show kindness to others who are feeling distressed. The toddler, however, may assume that what will comfort them will also comfort the distressed child. So, the one child may offer his blanket or bottle to the hurt or sad child.
• Friendships can develop early. Friends are more likely to touch, lean on one another, and smile at each other than are children who are not friends.
• Toddler friendship is "proximity seeking," wanting to be close and to show affection, such as smiling, laughing and hugging. Friends prefer each other as interaction partners.
• Pushing, shoving, grabbing, and hitting may occur as children struggle over "mine for as long as I want it" and "yours, but I want it, too." Toddlers may fight over small toys more than large, nonmoveable objects.
• Some are capable of offering help to others that are hurt or sad. Some may have an impressive repertoire or altruistic behavior, and if one thing doesn't work they will try another way.
• They may have toddler kinesthetic conversations as they follow a leader in moving around the room- moving in and out of the group, taking turns as leader and follower- as if in a conversation of listening and talking, learning valuable turn-taking skills.
• Toddlers may congregate and cluster and herd together. When a teacher begins playing with an interesting activity with one child, children often come running from the corners of the room.
• They may work together constructing with blocks- for example, with one the leader and the other the follower.
• They may work together toward a common goal.
• Children become more positive and less negative in their social play between 24 and 36 months.