Active engagement with the social and physical environment promotes learning. Infants who are motivated to engage and explore learn more and faster, and this learning is enhanced when  when they are embedded in a rich environment. 

Infants whose start in life was not optimal, and those who have atypical brain development are often less active and therefore have fewer opportunities to learn from experience and development a sense of their own ability to use movement to engage with the environment in ways that are fun and and make interesting things happen. 

Knowing how to motivate infants to move, explore and engage with the social and physical environment at different ages and levels of ability is an essential tool in the therapist's kit and often is the game breaker.

The contents of my toy cupboard
Toys for 10-18 months 

Importance of motivation
Ways to motivate a child 

Small toys and objects to explore 
How infants 8-12 months inspect and explore novel toys and interesting objects  
Clothing peg games: pegging, taking off and posting 

Social games
Conversations with young infants 
Mirroring is a powerful tool 
Moving hands and wriggling fingers
Different ways to play peek-a-boo

Learning about everyday objects and actions
A collection of tubs with lids: promoting manipulation, fitting, matching, stacking

Ball games 
How ball games promote social interaction, visual attention and anticipation 
How to motivate a toddler who is reluctant to play ball games 

Moving large objects
Bottles of diffident sizes