Nature detective explorations - whether real or pretend - often involve elements from the outdoors like small pieces of rocks, shells, bones or other objects. Infants are intensely oral explorers- putting everything possible in their mouths. For these reasons, an adult must closely supervise infants who participate in this kind of activity.

Infants can and do benefit from supervised exploration of the same kinds of tools and objects that older children use in more complex ways. If setting up an activity for a group that will include infants, include some objects that are safe for them to mouth, so they can satisfy their real and true need to 'see' with their mouths as they learn about their world. Also, allow infants to explore different objects through touching; they could feel the difference between fur and feathers or leaves and sticks.