DOUBLE TAP TO ZOOM WITH PHONE OR TABLET 2 INTRODUCTION Our book Starting with Character: Activities for Infants, Toddlers, and Twos became a reality through a ten-​year process. Having realized the need, we set out to identify and develop activities for young children that would lay the foundation for positive character building. We hosted professional development workshops to share the results we were finding and the activities we had developed with child care providers. These providers then took the activities back to their programs and contributed feedback to us that helped further revise and develop additional activities. Eventually we decided to develop this book as a means of sharing our ideas with a broader audience. The first four chapters of Starting with Character provide background infor- mation about character development in young children. The first chapter focuses on the fundamental meaning and importance of character. It also introduces the specific character traits we chose as “doable” with younger children. Chapter 2 contains information about the development of character in young children. Chapter 3 includes the strategies parents and caregivers can use to encourage positive character, and chapter 4 focuses on the importance of play and supportive environments in character development. It also includes a list of the codes used to designate specific character benefits and objectives to use with the activities that follow. The remaining chapters consist of activities: chapter 5 targets babies through fifteen months; chapter 6, toddlers; and chapter 7, two-​year-​olds. At the end of the book, we provide an alphabetical listing of activities by chapter, a com- plete bibliography of the children’s literature we have highlighted, and a reference list of sources. We hope the resources in this book are as beneficial to you as they have been to us and to those who have used these activities in our community. COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL