Today Tile Triggered Content

When your child begins to pretend not only does this give you new things to do when you play together, it also provides fantastic opportunities for their development. Your toddler won’t be imagining fire-breathing dragons or superheroes yet, but they are beginning to recreate familiar situations. So, why is this beneficial? 

Have you noticed your toddler watching other children, copying them but not really getting involved or interacting with the other child? You might even have found that older siblings, or friend’s children, feel frustrated and don’t want to be copied – but your toddler doesn’t seem to want to change how they're playing. This is, in fact, an important stage of your toddler learning how to play with others, called parallel play... and here’s what you need to know about it.  

Parallel play is a stage in the development of learning to play with others which was described in 1932 by American sociologist and researcher Mildred Parten.  

Children are on a continual journey of discovery and exploration. Your child is still discovering who they are and what they think, but they are beginning to understand that other people have ideas and do different things. You might spot this when your child pretends to be someone else when they play. 

They may say a phrase you’re not familiar with or you’ll hear them pretending to be Grandma; this is them exploring other people’s thoughts and ideas. 

The Children’s Society publish The Good Childhood report each year. In the 2022 report, they found that children’s happiness with ‘life as a whole’ was significantly lower than 10 years earlier.^[1]  We know that early experiences lay the foundations for future wellbeing and positive mental health – so what can you do to support your toddler now (and in the future)?  

We know lots about how important early experiences are for future learning – but sometimes the connections between both physical and mental health and our early experiences can seem to be forgotten.  

Emotions are often described as universal – suggesting we all have the same emotions. Social psychologist Batja Mesquita studies emotions, and disagrees. She argues that we don’t all experience emotions in the same way and cultural expectations might explain why. 

Your toddler is learning about emotions now, as they notice how people respond to other people and events.   

When your toddler laughs when everyone around them laughs, they are showing a big step towards making friends. They might not understand why people are laughing but they know that it builds relationships! 

Learning how to make friends and build relationships with other people is a skill that takes a long time to master. Your toddler learns about making friends as they watch how you interact with other people, and as they notice how you respond to them. 

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.  

If you remember moments of shyness as a child, it might be important to you that your child is confident in a wide range of situations, and you might worry if they seem to hesitate when somewhere new. Some researchers suggest shyness can be linked to temperament, which means some people might be more likely to be shy than others – but this doesn’t mean this is never going to change and how you respond when your child feels shy can help them thrive.^[1] 

Feeling shy is natural and it happens to us all – even famous performers and celebrities have moments when they feel shy. 

It’s a school trip today, and Luna is getting ready to go to the art gallery with her class and teachers. Everyone is excited, but one of the children from Luna’s class, Finn, doesn’t look excited. This story is beautifully illustrated, gives lots of opportunities to chat about art works and shows the importance of friendship.  

During their day at the art gallery, Luna and the rest of the class look at the art, they draw, and visit the shop.  

Your child is developing their social and language skills now and becoming a brilliant communicator. What do they need in order to have a conversation?  

You will notice your child is including more information when talking to other people. They are thinking about what the person already knows and what information they need to share so the other person understands them.