A crash course in sound – why banging is so brilliant
Toddlers simply can’t resist banging and tapping on everyday objects and items. Give them a tool, like a stick or a block, and off they go: bang, bang, bang. When they engage in this type of play, your toddler is experimenting with music and learning how sounds change. Playing with sounds is brilliant for all aspects of your toddler’s development; let’s see how:
Pitch
How you can support your toddler to become a walker
When you watched your baby take their first wobbly steps, you’ll have understood why they are called toddlers! Becoming a confident walker involves not only getting stronger but also using information from the senses – so how do your toddler’s senses help them to walk?
From toddler to walker – how your toddler’s steps change
Looking, sitting and balance – becoming a confident sitter!
Muscle strength is just one key factor in your baby's improving physical skills; another, which isn't always as obvious, is their increasing sensory development.
When they sit, your baby uses information from what they see, along with their balance system and receptors in their muscles to maintain their posture.
Why does your baby love posting objects so much?
You might have noticed that your baby is showing an interest in posting objects – possibly ending up with your phone in a cereal box or your keys going through the letterbox! Shape sorters and other posting-type toys provide loads of entertainment, plus they're brilliant for your baby's development.
Babies learn a lot from the process of posting one object into another. They will most likely find opportunities to do this when they are ready, so having some toys or safe posting spaces made ready can help to avoid the stress of searching every container you own to find your keys or bank card.
Can’t stand sand? Here’s why you don’t have to
Sand is a wonderful, and relatively cheap, way for your baby to play using all their senses. But it is also itchy, easily spread around and almost impossible to fully sweep up, no matter how many times you try. For some parents this is fine, for others this sounds like a nightmare come to life.
If bringing sand into your house isn’t your cup of tea, don’t worry that your baby will miss out.
Feeling ready for some sand play? Here are our tips
Playing in a sandpit holds fond childhood memories for many of us. Now your baby is slightly less likely to put everything they meet into their mouth, you might be considering introducing them to sand play at home. Here’s our advice for doing it without turning your house into a building site!
Sand play can be brilliant for your baby – and for you
Close your eyes, count to 10 and then find why hide-and-seek is so good for your child!
According to Britannica.com, hide-and-seek was first described by a second-century Greek writer, Julius Pollux. It’s a game that has been around for years and is played throughout the world. But did you know, hide-and-seek isn’t just lots of fun, but is also a great way to support your child’s development? Come and find out why...
Hide-and-seek provides opportunities for:
Are you familiar with face recognition – maybe even a super-recogniser?
We often take for granted that we know what our family, friends and colleagues look like. It’s easy to forget that recognising familiar faces is a skill that children develop over time. Now your child is getting older they will become more confident at recognising people they know in crowded places.
It’s known that some people are naturally better at recognising familiar faces than others,[1] in fact a very small number of people seem to be exceptionally good at this and can spot familiar faces very easily in crowds, earning the nickname ‘super-recognisers’.
Viva la vestibular! Engaging your active toddler's sense of balance
Our vestibular sense is related to balance and posture. Developing this sense, which has receptors in our inner ear, helps us to maintain balance while doing everyday tasks like walking, bending and sitting without having to concentrate on it. This frees us up to concentrate on other tasks while we move around.
Your toddler needs time and lots of active movement to develop their vestibular sense.
Did you know... learning to ignore what they see helps children to read
We often think about how to focus our child’s attention, often believing we need to direct their gaze to one item or another, and make sure that they are looking at what they need to see in order to learn. But did you know that a big part of learning to focus on something involves learning to ignore everything else?
This is called figure-ground perception – the ability to tune out what is not important to focus on the thing you’re interested in. When thinking about what we see, it’s visual figure-ground perception.
