Today Tile Triggered Content

While your toddler’s brain is still growing, creating repetitive movements, or patterns of movement, helps them to make connections about their world. These connections support them to predict what might happen during movement and understand how their body can respond, which in turn helps create a feeling of safety. 

Patterns of movement can be seen in everyday play; you probably created some when you rocked and swayed your toddler when they were a baby.   

Do you have a relative who works their way through all your siblings’ and cousins’ names (maybe even the dog’s name) before calling you by your own? You might even have found yourself calling your own toddler the wrong name – so, why does this happen and what does it tell us about memory and learning words?  

We know that using categories is one of the ways our toddlers (and all of us) learn about the world. When your toddler learns a new word, it will be remembered as part of a category. Remembering something involves a process of encoding the memory – and this is where it is linked to a category.  

Although your toddler doesn't need to ponder their future profession just yet, they're coming to understand that familiar adults carry out daily activities, like cooking, or feeding a pet; and they have an ever-growing ability and desire to help with them. 

Many studies have found that toddlers are typically eager to help others achieve their goals and are motivated to do so.^[3,4,5]  

The Children’s Society publish The Good Childhood report each year. In the 2022 report, they found that children’s happiness with ‘life as a whole’ was significantly lower than 10 years earlier.^[1]  We know that early experiences lay the foundations for future wellbeing and positive mental health – so what can you do to support your toddler now (and in the future)?  

We know lots about how important early experiences are for future learning – but sometimes the connections between both physical and mental health and our early experiences can seem to be forgotten.  

Your toddler probably has a good relationship with their toes, odd though that might sound. Whether they have mouthed them as a baby or used them during singing times, they'll have likely provided entertainment! But our toes provide much more than that: their ability to keep us active is actually mind blowing! 

We probably don’t really pay much attention to our toes; we might paint them from time to time, or clip and file them. 

You might have noticed there are lots of dancing activities in the app. While we're not your toddler's personal trainer, we do love to celebrate the delights of dance, because it's brilliant for your toddler in so many ways!

Dancing releases lots of energy  

Your toddler uses their feet a lot; constantly busy, never seeming to stop! Their little feet do an incredible job of holding their body weight and taking them where they want to go. We love a few fun facts, so here are some about your toddler’s wonderful feet (and yours, too). 

• Each foot contains 26 bones, 33 joints and over 140 muscles, tendons and ligaments. These hold the foot together and allow it to move in various ways.^[1] 
• There are approximately 250,000 sweat glands in the feet!  
• Drying feet well after washing, especially in between the toes, helps reduce bacteria. This helps keep the skin healthy and able to fight off infections (and good drying reduces the stench from all those sweat glands too!)  
• Feet are natural shock absorbers.^[2]  
• Having feet measured helps keep them healthy. Wearing properly fitted footwear is very important to foot health.^[2] 
• Trimming your toenails straight across helps prevent ingrown toenails. 
• Your feet may just be the most ticklish part of your body. There are thousands of nerve endings and some of them are close to the skin.^[3]  
• Feet are happiest when they are bare. Walking barefoot improves body awareness,^[4] and toes are free to extend and spread. 

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We can see it now: your toddler is in the park... there’s a bridge to climb, stepping stones to travel over and a tunnel to crawl through. What to do first?! Having opportunities to clamber, climb and crawl is great for your toddler’s overall development. 

1) When your toddler navigates their way around obstacles, their gross and fine motor skills develop 

When is the right time to move to a new bed? The only people that know that answer is the family involved. There is no right or wrong age for a child to move into a big bed – it all depends on when you think your child is ready, or when you feel it is necessary. 

The first night in a big bed is a huge step for you all. Your toddler is growing up quickly and outgrowing things by the day. So, if you're about to transition from a cot to a bed, here are some pointers to guide you. 

Studies are showing what many written word-lovers have known for years – poetry is good for your mental health.^[1] How can you use this knowledge to make your experience of parenting a little more positive?  

Poetry can feel like a very elitist or exclusive artform, and one which (if you’re not already a fan) is too scary to get into when you’re a busy adult: the equivalent of walking into a pub and finding the eyes of every regular boring into you.