The study proposes an analysis of the processes through which the material and symbolic features of the setting and the
activities of the educators interact to determine the children's experience in an early educational centre. This analysis is
of particular interest with regard to both educational practice and understanding developmental processes during
children's second year of life. During this period, important changes occur in children's interaction with the
environment in its physical and social components, on the basis of their cognitive development as well as of their
acquired capacity to independent locomotion.
Two examples will be presented that illustrate how the educators' activities and the spatial arrangement of the setting
combine and interact with toddlers' recently acquired independent locomotion in sustaining their cognitive engagement
and social encounters during their everyday routine in an educational centre. The discussion of the examples opens new
perspectives for understanding early sociality in a group situation and for innovating educational practices.
