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In this video we celebrate the joy of infants among infants as they share the delight of bells, jiggles, and babbles. As we watch their movements, we wonder what they wonder. Why do they shake the hanging bells while looking elsewhere? Is there a contagion from one infant’s action to another? Are their babbles messages to one another or spontaneous expressions of delight? What can we infer by the slight variations on the ways in which they pull on the hanging slinky and bells? What does it mean for an infant to change from a low perspective to a higher one by pulling up on a vertical bar?

Watch the clip once straight through with these and your own questions in mind. Then replay the clip and note the key moments that we have indicated below using the time codes as markers. These key moments are some of the places where we might get clues to better understand what the infants may be thinking. At these moments, we offer our speculations on what the infants may be thinking. (We write our speculations in adult language to communicate a basic idea). We have added a second speculation, preceded by the phrase, “as opposed to” that states what we believe the child may not be thinking. This second speculation would most likely be too advanced or the video gives little evidence for the second speculation. We ask for your judgment. Have we under-shot or over-shot what the infants may be thinking? Speculating on what children may conceive is a necessary step in good teaching and an important strategy for evaluating the social and developmental appropriateness of the physical environment.

Note: The downloaded folder includes a high resolution video plus a printable document that looks at each move the infants make, what they might be thinking, and a contrast with what they are probably not thinking. Remember to unzip (extract) the folder before playing or reading the files.