Cause and Effect is defined as the understanding that one action can bring about another action. If I do X, it will cause Y. Most school aged children have a well-developed sense of cause and effect, but babies, toddlers, and preschoolers are just beginning to develop this awareness. You may be surprised to learn that there are certain games, activities, and strategies that we adults can use to teach cause and effect to young children. In this article we will discuss the development of cause and effect in young children and how parents and educators can help build this skill.
Infants 3-12 Months
An infant as young as 3 months old begins to understand cause and effect by learning that a caregiver comes when he cries. This is likely a child’s first experience with cause and effect. As the baby grows older, he may know that hearing footsteps in the hall, or hearing the door open means someone is coming to get him.
By 8 months old, your child may begin to realize that when he performs an action, something else happens. He may enjoy shaking a rattle or banging blocks together to hear the satisfying sound. He might discover that if he drops a toy over the edge of the highchair, Mom or Dad picks it back up. What fun! As your infant explores the world, he will naturally begin to develop his understanding of cause and effect. Parents and caregivers can provide some tools and experiences to help him along the way:
· Shake, Rattle, and Roll
Give your infant a variety of noisemakers to explore. No need to buy every variety of rattle sold on Amazon (although I do recommend some good ones;)– you can make your own. Fill empty water bottles, yogurt containers, and even baby’s bottles with different objects that make noise such as dried rice, beans, or sand. Be sure to tape them up tight with packing tape so they are not a choking hazard. Let your baby hear the different sounds that she can make when moving these new toys around! You can read more about why rattles make the best baby toys.
· Make Some Noise
For making fun and entertaining sounds, nothing beats banging things together! Once your baby can sit independently, try giving her different household objects that make noise. (Again, no fancy toy purchases necessary, but if you’d like some ideas, here are 9 Examples of Toys that Teach Cause and Effect). She will love banging spoons and kitchen utensils against her highchair, pots and pans, and even against each other. Experiment by giving her a variety of objects to explore. Comment on the different sounds you hear. “Wow, that’s a loud noise!”
· Push Button fun
Babies love responsive toys featuring buttons to push, flaps to open, or levers to pull. Any toy that makes noise, lights up, or plays music upon baby’s action can help teach her cause and effect. For younger babies, a toy piano that makes noise when she kicks it can provide soothing and entertainment while teaching her about cause and effect. Infants who are not yet mobile will love lying on a mat or blanket and kicking their feet to play music. Older infants who are sitting up on their own also love pianos or other push button toys that make fun sounds or music at the touch of a button. If wooden toys are more your speed, look into a wooden baby gym with dangling toys for baby to bat at and kick·
Drop the Ball
For babies 9 months and up, a simple ball drop toy featuring a ball and ramps can provide entertainment while helping them see what happens when they try new things. Show your baby how to try dropping the ball from different heights. A toy like this will take practice to understand, but your baby will love the experience!
Toddlers 12 – 24 Months
Babies over a year old continue to develop their understanding of cause and effect by noticing that changing their actions may result in different outcomes. All the toys and activities recommended above for younger babies are still enjoyable for older babies and toddlers as well. Parents and caregivers can also try the activities and games below to help strengthen their young toddlers’ sense of cause and effect.
· Ramp it Up
In addition to the Ball Drop toy above, babies over a year will enjoy rolling balls down ramps of varying heights. You can purchase a toy that features ready-made ramps, or you can make your own. Lean a hardback book against a shoebox and show your youngster what happens when you let the ball go. What happens if you use a longer or shorter ramp? Or start from higher up? What if you use a bigger or smaller ball? Describe what happens when your toddler rolls the balls. “The ball is rolling down the ramp.” “Wow, the ball rolled farther that time!”
· The Wind-up
Wind-up toys, such as the classic Jack-in-the-Box, are perfect for this age! Your toddler will love winding the crank and anticipating the outcome of a toy popping out of the box.
· Knock Them Down
All you need for this game is a set of plastic or cardboard stacking cubes. Build a tower and show your little one how to knock it down. This is sure to elicit giggles, and he will want to play again and again. Soon he may discover that the higher the tower, the louder the crash when it falls. Take turns building towers and knocking them down. You can make towers out of other toys and household objects as well. Be sure to comment on what is happening, (“Wow, these blocks made a loud noise when you knocked them down”) to help him develop the language of cause and effect.
· Splish Splash
Show your toddler how to splash her hands and feet in the bathtub. What happens when she splashes? How can she make the splashes bigger or smaller? Have fun making these discoveries together!
Toddlers 24 – 36 Months
By age two, children have already been exposed to many different cause and effect scenarios. They have had the opportunity to explore a variety of toys and games to learn that their actions can cause other events to occur. Now they are learning to predict what will happen next and beginning to understand the cause of various events. Through more exploratory playtime and deliberate critical thinking questioning, parents and caregivers can help toddlers of this age become cause and effect experts!
· Backyard Bowling
Set up a bowling game in the backyard or on the driveway. While you can buy a plastic bowling set made for younger kids, you can also make your own game – water battles filled halfway with rice or sand can be the bowling pins, and a tennis ball or playground sized ball works just fine. Teach your child how to roll the ball and knock down as many pins as possible. As you take turns, notice what happens when he rolls the ball a certain way. What seems to make the most pins fall? Help him make predictions as he plans his next turn.
· Bubbles
Besides being great fun, bubbles are a fun way to help your toddler understand cause and effect. Show her how to blow the wand to make the bubbles appear. Present her with some bubble solution (or water mixed with baby shampoo or dish soap) and a variety of bubble wand shapes. You can buy these or make your own wands by twisting pipe cleaners to make wands of different shapes and sizes. Comment on all the different bubbles you see! Ask questions about what she thinks will happen – “Will this make a big bubble or a small bubble? Let’s see!” “Wow! The big wand made a really big bubble!”
· Bubble Bowl
Another fun bubble activity that can reinforce cause and effect is a Bubble Bowl! Fill a large mixing bowl a little more than halfway with bubble solution. Give your child a whisk and teach him how to stir the solution. Soon he will see a mountain of bubbles appear! Ask him why he thinks that happened. How could he make even more bubbles appear?
· Fun in the Pool
In a large tub of water or back yard, investigate what happens when you drop different toys into the water. Try dropping large and small toys from different heights. Talk about what you observe. Which toy makes the biggest splash? Does dropping from up high or down low make a bigger splash? Make it into a contest – who can make the biggest splash of all?
Preschoolers Age 3 and Beyond
3-year-olds are becoming more independent and are beginning to be expert little thinkers. They will still enjoy all the above activities and experiences for reinforcing cause and effect. But children this age can also make predictions about what will happen next and why. They may simply need a little scaffolding to help them think about more complex or abstract cause and effect concepts. Push your preschooler to the next level with some modeling, questioning, and investigating!
· The Power of “Why?”
We all know that toddlers and preschoolers love to ask “Why?” But by turning the question back around on them, caregivers can push these youngsters to think about cause and effect. For example, if you ask your child to pick up her toys and she asks “why?”, push her to think about what might happen if we leave the toys out. With some support, she may begin to understand that people might step on them, or the toys might get mixed up. Simply asking why and providing some cognitive support can help little ones begin to make predictions about the cause of various events, or the consequences.
· Construction Zone
Give your preschooler lots of opportunities for building, whether with Duplos, Legos, blocks, or even sand. Allow him to enjoy the process of building as you talk about what he is doing. “How did you make that tower so tall?” If he enjoys knocking down structures, engage him in a conversation about what happened. “How did that tower fall down?”
· Science Experiments
Have fun investigating cause and effect with your little scientist! Try these simple experiments at home with your preschooler to help them hypothesize about why things happen.
Dancing Raisins Experiment
You will need:
o Clear soda or seltzer water
o Raisins
o Glass
Pour some soda in a glass and add in several raisins. After a few minutes, the raisins will begin to move up and down inside the glass. Your child will love to watch the raisins “dance” around in the bubbles! Have fun watching the raisins move. Ask your child what happened and why the raisins might have been moving.
Celery Experiment
For this you will need:
o 4 stalks of celery with leaves still attached
o 4 cups
o 3 different colors of food coloring
o water
Place one stalk of celery in each cup and fill with about an inch of water. Fill one cup with 5 drops of a single color of food coloring. Repeat with the other two colors in two more cups. Leave the last cup with just plain water. Put these in a sunny window and leave them for 24 hours. Come back the next day and observe. What happened to the celery leaves? Why did they turn different colors? Why did one stay the same? What would happen if we used a different color?
Milk Experiment
You will need:
o Whole Milk
o Food Coloring in multiple colors
o Dish Soap
o Shallow baking dish or bowl
Fill the bottom of the bowl with milk. Add in one drop of each of the colors of Food Coloring. Now add just a drop of dish soap. The colors will mix to form a beautiful rainbow of color! Your child will love to see the colors meld. Ask questions about what happened. “Why did the colors mix?” “What would happen if we added different colors? “What if we added more soap?”
The most effective way to teach young children cause and effect is through allowing them lots of uninterrupted play time where they can explore and experiment on their own. Give your child toys and materials that will allow her to use her own imagination and ingenuity. With just a little encouragement from you, your child will grow to become an expert at identifying cause and effect!