Sensorimotor Stage
Infants and toddlers begin to acquire tentative concepts through their senses simply by exploring their world (hence they are in the sensorimotor stage, per Piaget’s description). Giving an infant a new ball and saying “this is a squishy ball,” or “here is a blue ball,” provides the child with the new terms squishy and blue as characteristics that apply to balls. The child can also apply these concepts to things that are not balls. The teacher has thus introduced an opportunity to develop new physical knowledge (a different kind of ball that can be handled and observed), logicomathematical knowledge (making mental connections with other kinds of balls), and social-conventional knowledge (giving names to the characteristics of the new ball).