Again, again – the importance of repetition

Do you sometimes wonder why your toddler wants to do the same puzzle or build the exact same tower again and again? You might feel you should be moving your toddler on or helping them find a new challenge. But giving them time to repeat favourite activities is a great support for their learning.  

Repeating actions or activities helps your toddler... 

Try different ways of solving a problem  

When they solve the same problem or puzzle a few times, they can try out different ways of doing it.  

This trial and error helps them to solve that problem, and also understand that there can be more than one way of doing something – which is a useful skill for learning, and life!  

Remember how to do something 

With repetition, your toddler can move from trial and error to using their memory to solve a problem – great for their confidence and a good workout for their brain!  

Understand actions and objects so they can think about what will happen 

Solving the same problem many times helps your toddler learn, and even be able to predict, what might happen in similar situations.  

They might find a particular approach that works for completing a puzzle or building a tower and try that as the first approach to a new puzzle or tower. It’s fascinating to watch.