Smells and memory – how smells from their newborn days might influence your toddler’s preferences
Does a particular smell immediately conjure up a vivid memory of a person or place? Your toddler is starting to show you that they are noticing smells – but what’s really amazing is that scientists think your toddler remembers smells from when they were a newborn and that these memories might influence what they do.
Two types of long-term memory – implicit and explicit
How daily life supports your toddler’s language development
Have you ever felt the pressure to sit down and teach your toddler some new words? We hope not! If you have, read on to find out why simply chatting with them as you get on with everyday life is great for their language learning (and you don’t need to talk all the time – pauses and time to think are great too).
What are you talking about?
Forty winks? How brain development influences your toddler's nap time
Nap time might be your chance for a precious sit down, or you might be wondering if dropping a nap is the solution to night waking. Just like other aspects of development, the way your toddler’s sleep develops is unique to them – but what processes influence their sleep patterns?
Sleep is developmental and your toddler’s pattern of rest has changed a lot already.
Mark Making – seeing beyond the scribble
If your child goes to nursery or a childminder you might have come across the phrase ‘mark making’. But what does it really mean – isn’t your toddler just scribbling?
Learning to write is complicated – your toddler will need to understand that letters and words can be used to share meaning; they will need to hear the sounds in words and know which ones to use; they need the physical skills to write the letters and the sensory skills to combine information from what they see and feel to adjust their writing as they go.
Toddlers and touchscreens – what research tells us
Before your toddler was born did you tell yourself they wouldn't use an iPad until they were at least five – only to realise that a game or scroll through photos can be a sanity-saver when you’re busy? Your toddler using tech might be something you feel judged for – and headlines can be scary – but, what does research show?
The Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development (Babylab) at Birkbeck, University of London is home to the TABLET (Toddler Attentional Behaviours Learning with Touchscreens) project.
Nobody’s perfect – some ideas to help you ditch the parent guilt
Ever feel the pressure to be that parent who gets everything right, thrives in every aspect of life, and documents this on a perfectly-curated social media feed? Often this pressure comes from seeing other people’s feeds pop up in our moments of stress. The thing is, all that you’re seeing is their highlights reel.
It’s rare for people to post pictures of their child screaming and launching their dinner onto the floor because broccoli is the root of all evil... but moments like this are probably happening behind the scenes of all the beautiful moments which are captured.
Peep Inside Night-time – a view into the world at night
This beautiful little book tells the story of what happens at night. It’s perfect for young children who love to lift flaps and learn more about the world around them.
The book opens with a night-time image revealing windows into people's houses as they try to fall asleep, while the bakery next door has the lights on and is busily setting up so that it can bake a lot of fresh goods for the morning.
Let’s think about eating... how our muscles help at mealtimes
Mealtimes can be messy events, especially at the moment. For toddlers, learning how to get food into their mouths without a few spills and sticky faces along the way will take time, practice and muscular coordination. So keep the wet cloth handy...
What motor skills are being used when they’re eating?
We're going ballistic! The science behind throwing a ball
Throwing is one of those skills that many people feel they either can or can’t do. It sounds like it should be simple, “Throw the ball,” but the reality is, it's more complex than you might think.
It’s actually very scientific!
Jump, jump, a little higher – what jumping looks like for your toddler
Jumping with both feet in the air takes an enormous amount of confidence. When your toddler first tries to jump, it might look very much like lifting one foot into the air, followed by lifting the other foot when the first one meets the ground again. This is the beginning of jumping, and is cause for celebration!
Pre-jumping
