Just how does singing together build your toddler's resilience?
Your toddler's approaching that time in their life when they recognise songs and start singing along. It can be a fun time where you sing together and discover some new favourites. But did you know that while your toddler learns new songs and tries singing some of the words, they also build resilience?
Resilience is built by being surrounded by a loving stable environment, and singing together is ideal for providing time that feels safe and enjoyable for everyone
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 naps – Lauren from Little Sleep Stars tells us about developing sleep patterns
To nap or not to nap? That is the question. Your toddler might just have dropped their nap, or you might be noticing changes in their sleep patterns. We asked Lauren from Little Sleep Stars to tell us more about how sleep changes during the toddler years, and this is what she shared:
As babies move towards toddlerhood, it is likely that their daytime sleep will decrease in frequency and duration[1], while the overall amount of sleep taken at night increases.[2]
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.
So Much by Trish Cooke, a beautiful story about the joy of family
Mum and baby are at home, just looking out of the window. But before long there are lots of visitors!
This is a lovely book that captures the joy of family visitors, including aunties, uncles, cousins and grandmas. Each family member arrives and greets baby with excitement. They also each have their own special way of saying hello, which you find out through the pictures and rhythmic text.
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.
Big and small, but that’s not all
Your toddler’s been forming ideas about size for a long time now. They’ll have listened to songs and conversations that are ladened with words associated with size; mathematical language is embedded into everyday life.
Many words are used to describe size and it's helpful for your toddler to hear the same words, most of the time
