Today Tile Triggered Content

Could using Alexa make your child rude? An opinion piece in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood suggested that it could, as social conventions such as saying, ‘please’ and ‘thank you’, aren’t always followed when talking to a digital assistant.^[1] As we often find when we start to look a bit deeper, the role of digital assistants in children’s development is still very much up for debate.  

The concerns about how talking to Alexa, Siri or Google Home might impact on your toddler’s understanding of social conventions, like saying please and thank you, are linked to how they view these devices.  

Your toddler’s understanding of what they should and shouldn’t do is developing – but that doesn’t mean they can always stop themselves in time! The story of George the dog, written and illustrated by Chris Haughton, is a great way to start a chat about how difficult it can be to do the right thing. 

George the dog is being left home alone, and he really wants to be good – but that chocolate cake looks yummy, and he loves chasing cats. What will George do? 

If you love play dough, or even if your children do while you merely tolerate it, you might find yourselves playing with it in the same way each time it comes out. The skills your child is building on as they play with dough, including fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination, will be learnt no matter how you play – no need to make it fancy at all – but if you feel you want to change up your routine, here are some ideas for different ways to play with dough. 

Never worry about making your play dough set up overly designed or complicated. You want to make it fun for you and your child, so lean in to the ways you enjoy playing.  

Who doesn’t love a good story? Escapism is beneficial to both children and adults, and a good book can grab our attention over and over again. Books support your toddler’s development in plenty of ways; you’ve probably read a thing or two about them in some of the earlier skills, but we can’t overstate the joy of books – the learning they provide is incredible. Now that your toddler is starting to use the words ‘the’ and ‘a’, reading books can truly embed how to use these words in speech. 

Most books have a theme, a setting, a plot, and a character or more.  

We know that having a toddler can sometimes leave you wondering, “What has just happened?!” They do the funniest things, which at the time might not be funny, but sometimes it's good to make use of the surprising things they do to support their skills in language.  

Before we go into this, if we quickly recap on verbs and how your toddler might be using them, it helps to see the value of encouraging auxiliary verbs in their language.  

Have you found yourself frustrated by being the only one to remember appointments, what’s most needed on the shopping list and how your toddler likes their snacks presented? If it sometimes (or always) feels like you’re juggling an impossible to-do list in your head while coordinating your whole family’s daily life you are probably taking on most of the mental load that comes with parenting. But, even when you recognise this in your family dynamic, how do you work towards sharing the stress more equally – and so feeling less distraught when someone suggests you might have forgotten to pick up their favourite cereal, or empty the dishwasher first thing? 

There are always times when the mental load of parenting will fall more heavily on one parent than another, and there are many reasons for this both personal to you and formed by the society we live in. It may be because of the way parental leave is structured, the expectations you feel most deeply as a mother or father or how you and your partner divided roles before children arrived.  

The fine motor skills, and focus, needed to create origami animals is a way off for your toddler but they will be discovering the fun of folding paper (often not very well). Inspire them, and yourself, with this book of simple, sometimes silly, poems from Kristine O'Connell George, along with Lauren Stringer's illustrations which bring the little boy and his origami animals to life.  

This book of poems is perfect to share with your toddler, as each poem about one of the boy’s origami animals is short and sweet. The gentle illustrations add context, and sometimes comedy, to the poem on each page – you'll see a camel missing a leg using the salt shaker to stand, a buffalo kicking the tablecloth, and even big cats having a race.  

Since your toddler was very little, you will probably have been aware of (perhaps even a bit obsessed by) how their fine motor skills are developing. Reaching, grasping and moving their fingers are so important for all kinds of life skills – and achievements that are often celebrated for your baby as they grow. But it’s easy to forget that fine motor skills involve all the small muscle groups in your child’s body – and that includes their eyes, mouth and even their toes!  

Feet, and particularly toes, are important for maintaining balance^[1] and being able to move easily, and these muscles are often adjusting to new shoes, surfaces or speeds to make sure balance and posture can be maintained as we walk.  

Stories can be a brilliant way to help your child think about emotions. Sharing a story can be a starting point for chatting about how the characters in the story are feeling and why.  

Here are five stories you could share with your child which will support a chat about emotions.