This document discusses the importance of health and nutrition in early childhood education, emphasizing the role of self-care and positive relationships in promoting children's mental health. It outlines developmental milestones for toddlers across physical, cognitive, language, and social/emotional domains, while also highlighting safety concerns and the impact of nutrition on brain development. Finally, it provides practical tips for supporting healthy nutrition and the need for early intervention in cases of developmental delays.

1. EEC4910
Early Childhood Education Leadership Capstone
Module Course Project-Early Childhood Trends Talking Points
11/18/2018
Author Note
This paper is being submitted on 11/18/2018, for Doreen
Anzalone’s EEC4910 Section 02 Early Childhood Education
Leadership Capstone

2. Health
MENTAL HEALTH
In Early Childhood classrooms there is a lot of things that
help keep it running smoothly. However, a lot of people that
have never worked in a classroom do not realize how important
the overall health of children is to assuring that the classroom is
being as effective as it should be.
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Tips to Promote Children’s Mental Health
Show children self-care methods
Foster a positive self-view
Model healthy habits
Looking on the Brightside- teaching hope and determination.
Teach and model self-reflection
Teach acceptance of change
Make connections- model friendship skills and abilities
Teach and promote empathy by modeling empathy behaviors
Have a consistent yet flexible schedule. Routines are great but
strict schedules can be overwhelming and stressful.
Take a break together, spend some down time just playing and

3. enjoying each other company.
A toddler’s relationships with parents and caregivers help shape
who they are, their personalities, and their understanding of the
world around them. These trusted adults lay the foundation for
further social and emotional development and skills. The secure
relationships toddlers form with trusted adults, provides them
with a sense of safety. This sense of safety and trust allows
them to confidently explore and discover new objects and
places. When toddlers feel safe they are more alert, and more
likely play, observe, interact and experiment with people and
objects. With nurturing and trusting relationships toddler’s
brains mature through interactions. They learn that they are safe
when conflict arises because adults are responsive to their
needs. These relationships teach toddlers how to form other
relationships, respond to challenges, and communicate with
others. They also teach toddlers how to recognize and respond
to emotional cues, and how to regulate and react to their own
emotions
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Overall Growth of Children
Developmental Milestones outline the skills are abilities that
most children should acquire during these Windows of
Opportunities and throughout their development. It is important
to keep in mind that all children develop at varying rates
throughout their development, but it is also important to watch
for red flags and significant delays. Developmental Milestones
are helpful in tracking toddlers progress and determining
whether they need early intervention. Early intervention
services are vital in toddlers. Many times, early intervention
services can help reduces delays and the effect disabilities may

4. have on a child’s success in school and later in life.
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Typical Milestones of a Toddler
Physical Development
Enjoy physical activities (running, kicking, climbing)
Beginnings of bladder and bowel control towards latter part of
this stage
Able to manipulate small objects with hands
Cognitive Development
Finds objects moved out of sight
Engages in imaginative play
Greater memory recall: people, names, places
Can follow simple instructions
Think symbolically
Can point to parts of the body
Can only concentrate on one thing at a time
Enjoys listening to stories
Knows the names of some colors
The human brain is an amazing interconnected human organ that
controls all skills, functions, abilities, and processes. The
development of the brain is a remarkable process that begins
shortly after conception and is influenced by both nature and
nurture. The brain’s development is most rapid between birth
and four years of age. Throughout this period, toddlers have an
excess of synapses (brain connections) which allows specific
areas in their brain to develop at increasing rapid rates. As
children become older their brain begins a pruning process,
which is where weak or unused synapses are discarded. Once
the pruning process begins in a specific area of the brain it
becomes much hard for children to learn new skills and abilities
related to the specific area. During these sensitive periods of

5. development, a child’s brain and development are heavily
influenced by a child’s environment, interactions, and
experiences. Many of these “Windows of Opportunities” begin,
or continue in toddlers between the age of one and two
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Typical Milestones of a Toddler
Language Development
50-500-word vocabulary
Forms 2 to 4-word sentences
Imitates the speech of others
Social/Emotional Development
They will play by themselves for brief times.
They give their caregivers affection.
They play alongside—but not with—other toddlers.
Begin to understand Empathy
Can help with simple chores
Each developmental domain has its own set of milestones. It is
crucial for parents, early childhood educators, and anyone else
related to a child’s health and well-being to have knowledge of
these milestones, because you can be the difference in whether
that child in successful in school and life.
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Safety
Toddlers are at a fun and important stage of development yet
are very vulnerable to injury and accidents. It is crucial that

6. parents, family members, friends and any one caring for
toddlers take precautions to them safe and secure without
depriving them of developmentally necessary behaviors. Close
and engaging supervision along with provide safe
developmentally appropriate activities are the two primary keys
to keeping toddlers safe and supported.
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The Dangers of Being a Toddler
Falling- Toddler’s muscles and gross motor skills are still
developing leaving them vulnerable to tripping and falling.
Use baby gates, or keep doors to unsafe, or unsupervised areas
closed. *Stairs
Use window guards on all windows.
Secure all rugs
Provide safe climbing areas
Poison- Toddlers are oral explorers increasing the risk of
poisoning
All medicines and vitamins should be keep out of reach of
children.
All chemicals, cleaning products or other harmful products in a
locked area or container.
Keep the number for poison control 1(800) 222-1222 accessible.
The mind of a toddler is curious, adventurous, and innocent.
They can finally move well enough to quickly explore all the
places and spaces they can get to. Hands on exploring,
experiences, and interactions are how toddlers learn and, but
they do not understand danger. Toddlers do not possess
foresight and are unable to think about the possible outcomes.
The toddler stage has one of the highest possibilities for
accidental injury because of their innate desire to explore and
learn paired with the lack of foresight and understanding of
danger. Falls, burns, poison, drowning, and choking/suffocation
are major safety concerns for this age group. Falls, drowning

7. and poison are the leading causes for non-fatal injury in
toddlers. Drowning is the leading cause of fatalities in children
between the ages of one and two. (Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, 2017]
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The Dangers of Being a Toddler
Burns- Toddlers are curious and will often try to see and touch
what is on the stove
Turn the handles on pots and pans inward on the stove.
Never allow children in the kitchen unsupervised.
Keep curling irons, candles, lighters and hot food/liquids out of
a child's reach.
Drowning- Toddlers love to explore new textures and
experiences including water, without understanding or knowing
the dangers
Never leave a toddler unsupervised in a bath, not even for a
second!!
All swimming pools should be gated
Use coast guard approved life jackets when in swimming areas,
or around bodies of water, even wading pools
It is important to keep a toddler’s development in mind when
creating safe areas, rules, and measures. A toddler’s craving for
exploration and desire to touch and get into everything is
appropriate for their age. Not only is it appropriate, exploring is
how toddlers learn about the world around them. Oral
exploration and climbing are two other developmentally
appropriate behaviors that could potentially cause injury to
toddlers. A toddler’s new-found mobility is liberating, now they
want to discover other physical abilities and soon find climbing
to be a lot of fun. Providing a safe climbing area will help
reduce their desire to climb in other unsafe areas. The human
mouth is one of the most sensitive areas, which is why toddlers
often explore objects with their months. Offering sensory items

8. that are editable or safe for toddlers to mouth, such as teething
rings, and editable playdough will help keep toddlers safe,
while supporting their development.
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Nutrition affects Development
From head to toe, inside and outside, nutrition is one of the
most vital aspects of your toddler’s overall health. Malnutrition
goes far beyond the amount of food provided to a child,
providing the right types of food provides a healthy nutritional
diet for toddlers.
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The Importance of Healthy Nutrition
Nutrition and Toddler’s Growth
Although a toddler’s physical growth begins to slow, their
muscle development and overall physical development is at an
all-time high. Toddlers are learning how to move more
efficiently and are developing more traveling skills, balancing
skills, hand-eye coordination, and strengthening muscles. The
food a toddler eats provides their body with the necessary
nutrients for their physical development. Carbohydrates,
proteins, and iron some of the key nutrients for physical
development. Poor nutrition can have lasting effects on a
toddler’s development. Undernourishment can stunt a toddler’s
growth and weaken their immune system making it hard for
their little bodies to fight off illnesses. On the other side, poor
nutrition is one of the leading causes of childhood obesity.
Poor eating habits such as eating fast foods and junk foods are

9. common in the United States and can lead to lifelong poor
nutritional patterns, and to many health problems.
.
Three primary factors influence a child’s development, genetics,
environment, and nutrition & health. Nutrition effects growth,
development, and behavior/moods. Toddlers have typically
transitioned to table foods, and no longer can rely solely on
formula or breastmilk for nurturance and fuel
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The Importance of Healthy Nutrition
(Continued)
Nutrition and Brain Development
A child’s brain grows and develops rapidly in the first three
years of life. Brain growth and development relies heavily on a
child’s nutrition. A toddler’s physical brain size and
development depends on their nutritional intake. Different
nutrients support the development of specific brain functions
and infrastructures.
Proteins and the amino acids- create/support neurotransmitters.
Neurotransmitters are the chemicals in the brain that transmit
signals to brain cells allowing brain cells to communicate with
each other.
DHA and AA(found in cow’s milk), Support retina
development.
DHA is also needed to produce synapses.
Iron and iodine are necessary for neuronal metabolism
. It is vital that toddlers receive an ample amount of both
macronutrients (carbohydrate, protein, and fat) and
micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) to support their physical
growth and brain development. Healthy nutrition is a primary
factor in preventing illnesses and building immune systems.

10. Nutrition is also a prime factor in a toddler’s physical growth
and a toddler’s brain development
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Tips on supporting your Toddler’s Healthy Nutrition
Model Healthy eating habits
Offer healthy 3 snacks and 3 meals
Provide choices and include toddler in meal planning
Eat as a family
Involve toddler in making meals and snacks
Visit places such as, farmer markets or apple orchards together
Find fun was to present and make meals and snacks
Make fruits and vegetables into a sensory activity.
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written within the last five years. These sources are also from a
credible book, scholarly article, or website that was written by a
known or credible author. The sources that were from a website
were from a .gov or a .edu site which means that they more
reliable since these are sites reserved for colleges, universities

12. or the government.
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