You don’t need to be a drill sergeant to enjoy an obstacle course
Talking about obstacle courses tends to conjure up an image of hard physical activity, perhaps lots of young soldiers being shouted at, maybe even your own childhood PE lessons. But there is a reason they are such a classic way to get people moving – the challenges of getting your body over, under and through obstacles is a brilliant workout and helps young children to build not only muscle strength, but also balance, body awareness and confidence.
How can you embrace obstacle courses with your toddler?
Your toddler’s sleep and physical activity – recommendations and research
There are national and international guidelines about how much sleep we all need, including how those needs change as we develop. We have probably all seen recommendations for daily or weekly physical activity, whether that’s described as 10,000 steps or active minutes – and there are guidelines for how active our children should be too. So, what does the guidance and research say and how might this help you think about your toddler’s daily routine?
How much should my toddler sleep?
The cocktail party effect – how your toddler begins to pick out sounds in busy places
Talking about ‘the cocktail-party effect’ when we are describing your toddler might seem strange (and it in some ways it is!). This effect, also known as speech-in-noise discrimination, describes our ability to listen to one person when there are lots of other conversations and noise happening.[1] This is something that takes a long time to develop – and might explain why sometimes it feels like your toddler isn’t listening!
Listening to one voice when there is lots of noise around is not easy, and children find this more difficult than adults.[2]
Risky play – recent research suggests your toddler can do their own risk assessment
As your toddler becomes a more and more confident explorer, you might notice they seek out new challenges. The importance of risky play for pre-school (and older) children has been researched quite a lot, but researchers are increasingly interested in finding out more about how toddlers assess risk and what risky play might look like for them.
We all know that an important part of our role as parents is to keep our children safe, but there is evidence that thinking about and taking appropriate risks can help children develop the skills they need to assess risk; encourage them to be physically active and enjoy movement; and explore their abilities in playful situations so they know when something is too dangerous for them.[1]
Where to find books for free
We often make book recommendations that are related to your child's development, skills they're learning or times of year. If you don't want to be buying more books, we thought you'd find this useful: it's a list of how and where you might find them for FREE!
Your local library – libraries are jam-packed full of wonderful books; you’ll probably end up leaving with way more than you planned.
How to support your toddler with solving problems
We all face problems on a daily basis, no matter our ages, and your toddler will face them too. Thinking about a problem takes time, resilience, critical thinking, experience, reflection and decision-making. Being able to do all this is VERY complicated and these skills all need nurturing. Let's take a for instance and explore this skill from there:
Your toddler carries a bag with a zip open and everything falls out. They are surprised by the fact they have an empty bag and don’t understand why.
Learning on the job – matching cognitive and physical skills
Toddlers are curious and their brains are continually developing. You may have noticed your toddler thinks a little more about how they play and that they have a plan in mind. Are they trying to place people in particular places, intentionally building towers or carefully putting a train on its track? This is because their cognitive skills are growing, and they’re starting to think, plan and carry out what they intend to do.
Your toddler uses a few thought processes when they are playing
How your toddler learns through their mistakes
Your toddler's gained lots of knowledge about their world and is trying to interpret and apply what they have learned to new things and situations. Sometimes, making a mistake is the first step to learning something new – find out why!
We, as humans, learn from our mistakes[1,2]
Not just a ‘well done!’ – positive parenting is more than praise
Researchers have found that positive parenting practices support young children to develop self-regulation and social skills – but what are exactly are they?
You might have read articles, or heard people talking, about self-regulation (noticing and regulating our emotions, thoughts and responses). This is often something that comes up in relation to emotions. But developing self-regulation is also linked to cognitive and behaviour skills.
Playing with other children – have you noticed these themes?
Should your toddler be making friends? While their friendships might not look quite like yours, your toddler’s play with others helps them develop their social skills and is an important step on their journey to building future friendships.
Psychologists Edward Mueller and Jeffrey Brenner studied young children’s social play. In what is described as a classic study, they watched children playing together. They found that even very young children sometimes shared meaning in their play, in that they played using ideas that both children understood, which really is the first step to making friends.
