Today Tile Triggered Content

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.  

As parents we often have to think through the complicated dance between what is best (easiest, most comfortable and realistic) right now, and what might be best in the long run for your toddler’s development, independence and confidence. It’s not easy, and there’s no one answer which will work every time, but what we want you to know is that you’re doing an amazing job just by being realistic about when you can, and can’t, let your toddler take the lead. 

You know that your toddler needs lots of chances to try, and fail, at new skills before they really get to grips with them and become able to do something independently. Sometimes, however, you simply find it is easier and faster to help them out to get the job done.  

It seems a bit obvious, and not very useful to hear, but remember to go outside! Getting out into sunlight can make you happier, improve sleep and be good for your body.  

Heading outdoors can be the just the thing on a tricky day, resetting everyone’s mood and giving your body a bit of fresh air and exercise, but the benefit of being outside in natural light is often overlooked – and it shouldn’t be! 

Have you noticed your toddler trying (and maybe managing) to lift or move items that just seem far too big, or heavy, for them to manage? Never mind superheroes, your toddler is growing and developing so quickly that they are the ones truly embracing super strength as they challenge themselves to lift large or heavy items.  

Lifting is often a skill that can be overlooked when thinking of physical development and gross motor skills. But each time your toddler lifts something big up off the floor, or pushes against a heavy object to get it moving, they’re demonstrating (and developing) their rapidly developing sense of strength and balance.  

Remembering things that have happened in the past can change how we act in the future. Our memories can shape our perceptions, influence decision-making, and affect how we interact with others. Your toddler has been forming episodic memories for quite some time now about what they’ve been doing, the people they know and emotions linked to events and experiences. 

Memories can make your toddler feel happy or scared, and they can help them understand the world better. 

When you ask your toddler what they’ve been doing in their day, it can be hard for them to think. They may say they’ve been doing nothing or that they simply don’t know, yet they are able to remember things from a while ago and tell you about them out of the blue; this is because their memory and language skills are still developing. 

Memories are formed by neurons that fire in our brains 

Puzzles and jigsaws have been around for centuries, with evidence of puzzle-like games dating back to ancient civilizations (it’s believed by some that Greek mathematician, Archimedes, created the first puzzles around 250 BC when he cut up a square of wood into 14 different shaped pieces and tried to reassemble them).^[1] However, the modern-day jigsaw puzzle was invented in the 1760s by John Spilsbury, a British engraver and mapmaker, who pasted a map onto a wooden board and cut out the shapes of the countries with a jigsaw.^[2]  

Initially used to teach geography, Spilsbury’s idea caught on and evolved from map-based images to interlocking images of animals, historical images and other things around the mid-1800s, and really took off in the 1930s; thought to be popular as they were reusable as well as entertaining.^[3] 

Did you spend months before your baby was born choosing a name? Perhaps you’d had a name in mind for you baby even before pregnancy – or waited a few days after they were born to choose one that was just right for them. However you chose their name, and even if you now call them something different a lot of the time, names are an important part of who we are.  

Sociologists are becoming increasingly interested in names, and how these relate to people’s experiences and how they are perceived. Taking a quick look at statistics about names in England and Wales you can see that there are trends in the names we use.  

Today’s generation of parents are more aware of the importance of good mental health and wellbeing than any other. You know that your toddler needs your calm presence when they’re overwhelmed – and you probably won’t be using the naughty step anytime soon! Does this mean you can’t let them know when you need some space? We’re here to tell you why it’s ok to tell your toddler you are having some time doing something else – and how to do it in a gentle and reassuring way. 

Your toddler learns a lot about the world, not from what you say but from what you do. They will watch you and copy your actions, whether that is pretending to make a meal, take a selfie or message a friend. They will also notice how you look after your wellbeing and respond to your emotions and copy that too.  

Hair love by Matthew Cherry