“Alexa, play Bad Manners.” Is it true that smart speakers are teaching children it’s ok to be impolite?
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.
Oh no, George! by Chris Haughton – a delightful tale of one dog’s attempt to resist temptation
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?
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
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.
Not just a ‘well done!’ – positive parenting is more than praise
Researchers have found that positive parenting practices support young children to develop self-regulation and social skills – but what are exactly are they?
You might have read articles, or heard people talking, about self-regulation (noticing and regulating our emotions, thoughts and responses). This is often something that comes up in relation to emotions. But developing self-regulation is also linked to cognitive and behaviour skills.
Playing with other children – have you noticed these themes?
Should your toddler be making friends? While their friendships might not look quite like yours, your toddler’s play with others helps them develop their social skills and is an important step on their journey to building future friendships.
Psychologists Edward Mueller and Jeffrey Brenner studied young children’s social play. In what is described as a classic study, they watched children playing together. They found that even very young children sometimes shared meaning in their play, in that they played using ideas that both children understood, which really is the first step to making friends.
A story for when your toddler (or you) needs a hug – The perfect hug by Joanne Walsh and Judy Abbott
Sometimes, at the end of a long day, or when life is feeling a bit hard, all your toddler might need is a hug. Panda is looking for the perfect hug – what will it be?
This could be a great story for when it’s time to calm down; your toddler might enjoy looking at the pictures, and maybe even trying out a tickly hug.
Imaginative play encompasses learning from just about everywhere
For some time now, your child has been learning about themselves, other people and potentially beings from other worlds. It is becoming easier for them to take on the most amazing imaginative superhuman powers, transforming themselves smoothly into a completely new being in no time at all.
This all happens as they've mastered language, social and cognitive skills, which mean they can play imaginatively for longer stretches of time – sometimes maybe even playing the same game across a few days.
Becoming more confident – find out about the phases of attachment
You might have heard about attachment, maybe in our articles or on social media. Attachment theory was first outlined in the 1960s by psychiatrist and psychoanalyst John Bowlby. Some ideas about attachment have developed since then as more research has been done, but Bowlby’s four phases of attachment are still helpful when you think about how your toddler is developing.
Indiscriminate social responsiveness
