Don’t think about toy monkeys – why using negative instructions can have unintended consequences!
We know what you are thinking about now – even though we told you not to. Are you wondering what toy monkeys have to do with your toddler’s development? Thinking about how you respond to a negative statement can be helpful when thinking about supporting your toddler’s understanding and behaviour.
Could slowing down be the best way to support your toddler’s development?
Do you ever feel the pressure to make sure your toddler is learning quickly, or that you need to be getting them ready for the next room at nursery, starting preschool or maybe even school? It can be hard to resist the feeling that you need to find ways to get your toddler to develop more quickly. Is sooner always better or could slowing down be the best for your toddler (and for you)?
Professor of Early Childhood Education, Alison Clark is known by many early years professionals for her work on listening to children – finding ways to get children’s views and understand their experiences from their perspectives.
Time to chat – how you support your toddler’s speech development
The way children learn to understand and speak is fascinating to scientists and parents alike. How does your toddler learn the vocabulary and grammar of the language or languages you speak? Do you need to spend time teaching them and getting them to practise new words? You might be pleased to hear the short answer is no, just chat with them.
In 2019, educational psychologists and professors at Harvard Graduate School of Education, Meridith Rowe and Catherine Snow, reviewed research about language development,particularly which of the things that parents and other caregivers do to support children’s language learning during the first five years.[1]
Get your toddler cleaning – it's fun and good for their gross motor development!
Toddlers love to clean. We know this might not quite feel true – as toddlers can also be the messiest people in the house by far – but while they might not yet have the skills to keep everything neat and tidy, when given the opportunity toddlers often enjoy the act of cleaning itself. Putting away dishes, wiping a table, mopping a spill, using a dustpan or sweeping with a broom, the act of cleaning itself is something toddlers are often drawn to, and with good reason.
Toddlers’ bodies are growing and changing, they’re getting taller, stronger and more coordinated, all of which means they can be successful in a wider variety of tasks. They are also looking for opportunities to challenge and build on the physical skills they’re learning.
Your toddler: the great pretender!
It's possible that pretend play is starting to become a regular part of your toddler's fun. As they whizz round the house, starting one thing and then another, you might see signs of new thoughts and ideas weaving into their play. It’s around now that your toddler’s understanding of the world is beginning to grow and expand, and they’re increasingly able to absorb the things they see and hear around them.
For the most part of their lives, your toddler will have spent their time playing with you and other family members.
Associative play – a bridge towards making friends
You might not remember how you made friends when you were little, we kind of just know we had them. Becoming friends is a long, steady process, with ups and downs along the way. Your toddler won’t know what a friend is just yet, or what it means to be friends, but they are beginning to show interest in others who enjoy doing the same things as they do. What a great start for them!
Having the same interests helps your toddler create connections with others
A deeper look into how your child 'learns how to behave’
As you follow your child’s journey in the app, you will find lots of activities, tips and information linked to supporting their behaviour. We thought it might be helpful to have a bit of an overview of the skills involved in ‘learning how to behave’ and some practical ideas about what you can do to help.
Social, emotional and cognitive skills and ‘learning how to behave’
Your questions about behaviour – What do I do when my child says, “I hate you”?
When your child is upset or frustrated and says things like, “I’m not your best friend” or “I don’t like you,” it can be hard not to feel upset or angry yourself.
It might help to think about what your child really means; it takes us a long time to develop the skills needed to recognise our emotions and to talk to other people about them.
What research tells us about counting – and what it means for your toddler
Lots of children love counting, they might enjoy the excited responses of people around them, or the rhythm and music of chanting numbers – and researchers found even young toddlers preferred a correct counting sequence to an incorrect one.[1] But there’s more to understanding numbers and quantity than saying the numbers in order.
There are several skills involved in understanding numbers and counting, and some your toddler will have had since they were born. Researchers have found that babies have an awareness of quantity from birth – this seems to be quite accurate for small amounts (up to two or three items), and more approximate for larger ones.[1]
Can we fix it? Helping your toddler understand that sometimes we can’t
Sometimes it’s hard to understand the world from your toddler’s point of view, but a bit of knowledge about child development can help to make sense of what they do!
Does your toddler seem shocked when the flower they took off a plant can’t simply be placed back on? They might be devastated when they can’t put a bit of a broken toy in position and see it magically fixed.
One of the ways we all learn about the world is through cause and effect, and one thing your toddler has learnt is that somethings can be changed – then changed back again.
