Today Tile Triggered Content

Toddlers are very active beings – always looking for places to hide and leading investigations into who knows what! With their physical skills matching their curiosity, there’s bound to be an accident at some point. 

We never wish for any child to have an accident, but they do happen. We hope the bumps and mishaps your toddler has are small ones that can be dealt with quite easily at home.  

Your toddler's world is an ever-growing array of colours, shapes, smells and tastes – some similar, some different. As they become more aware of what's around them, and show interest in particular things, they can make connections between what they see and how these look like the things that really spark their interest. 

Your toddler has been learning about items and objects since they were a baby, and now they are beginning to extend their early sorting and classification of objects. 

Your toddler loves you, and might have their own way of showing it – so as well as hugs and kisses (great) you might feel your toddler is using you as a climbing frame (fun sometimes... maybe?)!  

Your toddler wanting to climb, bounce and swing on you might not feel like a good thing (and we will get to why it’s ok to say, ‘No,’ sometimes, too) but we think it can be great – at the right moment and in the right way.  

You can't beat a good podcast, whether it's your precious half hour of down time or you're keeping busy while listening to something motivational. Along with our own podcast which you can read about below, we keep our ears open for other great ones that we think parents will get a lot out of. Here are a few to keep you going. 

For inspiring insights and frank conversation about the things parents want to know: My First Five Years podcast

Launched in November 2022, our myth-busting podcast dives into the issues facing parents of children under five today, helping them to navigate the most rewarding and challenging role they will ever have.

Hosted by Jennie and Alistair, who are sometimes joined by other experts, they discuss the latest scientific research on child development – in clear, down to earth language – along with tips and advice that real parents can relate to.

Episodes cover key topics like sleep, nutrition and challenging behaviour, as well as the thought-provoking subjects of lockdown babies, gendered play and the importance of creativity, to name just a few.

Listeners often comment on the authenticity and warmth of the discussions; it's been described as feeling 'like a warm hug.'

Search for My First Five Years wherever you listen to your podcasts.

For a bit of parenting, pop culture and powerful reality: Motherhood in Black and White

This brilliant podcast is hosted by two mums, Kaanji Irby and Tara Campbell. They talk about so many topics with episodes that cover a huge range of the things we parents think about, as well as lots of chat about pop culture. 

Talking about toddlers and grammar in the same sentence might conjure up the old adage of running before you can walk. But, believe it or not, very soon your toddler will be getting to grips with the 'present progressive tense' (and yes, grammatical terms usually have a knack for sounding more complicated than they are!) 

Why does grammar matter? 

When it comes to learning language, there's a lot to take in, beyond just the words themselves. Children will often overextend and underextend words – but both of these are signs that your toddler is thinking independently. 

Overextending is when instead of relying on an adult to tell them a word, your toddler sorts the information they know and tries to find a word that best matches. For example, they will usually categorise objects according to their size, colour, shape, movement sound or texture.^[1] 

When people talk about fine motor skills, they are often referring to developing control of hands and fingers, but it also involves small muscles in other parts of the body. Learning to control their lips and tongue is an important part of your toddler’s eating and learning to talk. Scientists describe movements of the lips, cheeks, jaw and tongue as oral-motor (or oro-motor) skills. 

Development begins before birth 

Finger rhymes aren’t just fun to share, they are also a brilliant way to support lots of skills.  

Froebel’s finger plays – songs and rhymes can help build relationships 

It’s often the simplest things that keep toddlers interested the longest – and a selection of boxes, tubs and lids (maybe with a few items to put inside) can entertain for ages. What’s even better is that playing with them is a brilliant workout for your toddler’s hands.  

Your toddler will probably master taking lids off containers before they can put them back on again; this is because placing a lid onto a box or tub involves positioning the lid and keeping the box still as they put the lid on.  

If you have scissors around at home, or if your toddler has seen them at nursery, they might be starting to show some interest in using them. Mastering cutting accurately is hard, your toddler will need to have the control and strength to open and close the scissors with one hand as they move them, while also holding whatever they’re cutting.  

So, what exactly is involved in learning to use scissors and what can help your toddler develop these skills?