Below are additional online resources to further explore and better understand temperament of infants and toddlers. Pick one of the resources and use the information to learn more about the temperament of an infant or toddler in your care.

1. The Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL) released its 23rd What Works brief, Understanding Temperament in Infants and Toddlers. This brief explains why temperament is important, provides some clarifications about temperament, and explains how to use what you know about temperament to promote positive social-emotional development and behavior.

   You can access this brief at http://csefel.vanderbilt.edu/resources/wwb/wwb23.html

   You can also access additional handouts from CSEFEL regarding temperament at: http://csefel.vanderbilt.edu/resources/inftodd/mod1/1.13.pdfhttp://csefel.vanderbilt.edu/resources/inftodd/mod1/1.14.pdf

2. The Center for Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation has developed a tool to help families and caregivers to explore their own temperament traits as well as those of a child for whom they provide care. By using the Infant Toddler Temperament Tool, families and caregivers can understand how similarities and differences in adult and child temperament traits may affect “goodness of fit.” This tool provides tips to foster the unique temperament of each child.

   You can find the tool and related information at: http://www.ecmhc.org/temperament/index.html