Further Reading

Your toddler has been exploring objects and has started to use objects as tools to solve a problem. Now, when they play you might notice they seem to have more of a goal in mind and will select particular toys linked to this goal.  

Your baby’s physical skills are continuing to develop and now they will be able to move to objects they would like to explore. Their growing confidence in their ability to move also gives them opportunities to explore objects in different ways. They can bring one object to another and look at an object from different perspectives and so add to their understanding of objects.  

Your baby has been exploring objects in different ways and has started to explore what they can do with objects. Now, as their cognitive skills develop, they sometimes have a particular goal in mind when they play and will use ‘tools’ to help them achieve this goal.  

Your baby will have been exploring objects for some time, first by bringing objects to their mouth, then by looking at objects before bringing them to their mouth for further exploration! As their physical skills develop, your baby will have more ways to find out about toys and objects. They will be able to look at an object, touch it, explore what happens when they hold or move it and bring it to their mouth. This exploration allows your baby to bring together information from their senses and develop their understanding of the things around them. 

When they were born your baby focused best on people and objects that were close to them, around 20-30 cm away. Now, their vision is becoming clearer and they can focus on things that are further away. They can also control their posture and eye movements so are more able to watch what is happening around them.  

Your toddler is now able to say a lot more words and may have started to put two words together. They are starting to understand key phrases such as ‘all gone’ and can use them in context. They are starting to communicate for different purposes, such as requesting information and expressing feelings/attitudes. 

Your baby has been listening to lots of conversations and is now beginning to build up a vocabulary bank of their own. The words they are using will be words that they have heard frequently or will relate to familiar people, objects or phrases heard in everyday life. Your baby will be able to understand much more than they can say at this stage. When they first start to talk, their words may not always make sense to those unfamiliar to them, this is because they are still learning how to articulate different sounds.  

Your baby will have been watching you and working out the developing rules for interaction. By now, they are able to engage in serve and return styles of conversation, using their knowledge of eye contact, facial expressions, gestures, babbling, words, or touch to keep the conversation going. They are becoming more knowledgeable about the idea of play and may been enjoying interactive games such as peek-a-boo, and copying actions and noises when playing.

Tickling is something you’ve likely not given that much thought to before. But there is a lot of neuroscientific research that explains the tickling phenomena and there are lots of questions to be answered about tickling. 

Your toddlers vestibular (balance) system started to develop before they were born and was stimulated by movements when they were in the womb. As they have developed their physical control and strength their balance system will have helped them to maintain their posture and to act against gravity to hold their head upright.[1] Your toddler is probably moving more confidently now as they have developed the balance and core strength to control their posture as they move. You might notice that they explore ways of making themselves dizzy by spinning or tipping themselves upside down.