The etymological root of "infant" is the Latin "infans," which, in turn, is derived from the Greek "phemi." The literal meaning of "infans" is to be without speech. Daycare provides a rich learning environment for infants to develop language skills. Activities that engender and nurture language development in infants include story time with books and pictures, playing rhyming games and singing songs. In addition, interacting and communicating with daycare teachers and fellow student help with language development. The teachers should always speak simply and make eye contact with the infant when they are speaking.
Games and other sorts of physical activity contribute to an infant's physical development and dexterity. Crawling games work well for infants who are still in the crawling stage of their development. For example, the teacher might make an obstacle course with toys, pillows and other objects, and have the kids follow her or each other. Infants who are slighter older enjoy going for walks or playing outside when the weather permits. Hand-eye coordination games, such as playing with building blocks, imitating behavior and doing exercises all aid an infant's physical development.
Arts and crafts are fun and help infants to develop creativity and use their imagination. Painting and drawing activities, playing musical instruments, collecting leaves outdoors and working on a project together all help infants to develop imagination and thought processes. Infants enjoy games such as hide-and-seek, or peek-a-boo with very young infants. These games provide them with the opportunity to find a hiding place as well as teaching them how to search and find things. More organized arts and craft projects provide older infants an opportunity to listen and follow instructions.
One of the advantages of sending an infant to daycare is that it exposes him to a social environment that allows him to develop social skills and emotional self-confidence. Daycare teachers can help by encouraging and rewarding empathetic and compassionate behavior, letting the infant know when his behavior is rude or inappropriate. Organized games and activities help infants to learn to interact with one another and make friends.