Growing is a challenging task!

Would you ever have defined it that way? Growing is a complex process made by different levels of development that demand efforts. Luckily, most of the babies’ first developmental stages pass through playtime.

Today we will talk about toddlers’ playtime and giving you some tips to make it great.

Playtime is both sweet and critical for toddlers’ development. It is their way of learning about the world around them, trying out new skills, exploring their imagination and creativity, building confidence and relationships with other people.

As parents of toddlers, when the days are too short, it is hard to find time to pay attention to the playful part of their life. A little effort is required. Spend at least half an hour a day playing with them. Even if not that much, quality time is important for toddlers to feel beloved and obtain self-esteem. And remind this: you are your babies’ favourite playmate since their birth. Take advantage of this role of respect!

So, what can you do to make your toddler’s playtime thrilling?

Help your babies to benefit from the power of play, following these tips. Let’s start!

Follow your child’s lead

Or better, let your baby’s interest inspire you. Provide an object, a toy and see how your toddlers manage it. The important thing is to get capturing their attention.

If possible, above all, in the beginning, encourage open, unstructured play by giving your babies or toddlers the freedom to play with the toys, whatever they like. It is okay if it is not the right way. Let toddlers show you their way and follow their lead.

If you are not an advocate of the improvised approach to playtime, you can put near your toddlers an interesting toy such as an activity box and see what happens! A toy like that is perfect for toddlers’ attention because it provides many different elements to manipulate and play alternatives. For instance, babies can move gears, balls, blocks, and mazes. Colours add fun to the motion. And with the Take-Along Activity Box, there is also a mirror for your toddlers to reflect their smiles.

Tap into your own “inner child”

If you cannot resist, you can also show your toddler the right way to play with a toy. It is not bad, but it must not become a habit. That is, you can show how to build a tower with wooden blocks by stacking one block on another and then encourage them to try. But control your frustration if your little ones prefer to touch the block, manipulate and take confidence with them. Maple Blocks are fun already! So, be a little child and imitate! With Maple Block, the builder of tomorrow will soon be born!

Young children have a habit of repeating things again and again. It is an essential part of the learning process. Once toddlers can do something well, they enjoy moving on to the next level thank to the sense of achievement that comes with learning a new skill.

Describe what your toddler is doing

Talk in as much detail as possible about what your child is doing, similar to a sports reporter. This fact shows your toddlers you are interested in what they are doing and provide toddlers with some important linguistic input for stimulating language acquisition from the description of simple actions.

Read your child’s signals

Toddlers may get tired.

Your little ones may not be able to tell you using words when they are frustrated and probably use sounds, facial expressions, and gestures. Read the signals that precede a tantrum. It helps you know when to change activity or adapt it. You can put some sweet music on! Or at least, if your child seems distressed during playtime, you can move to a quieter, less stimulating area for doing a break.

Play it again, adding new challenges little by little

It is almost impossible that a baby does not want to get back to play, even more after resting. Remind to restart slowly, always providing one toy at a time, and little by little, add some difficulties to the play.

During playtime, babies are practicing to master a challenge. And when they can do it all by themselves, they are rewarded with a powerful sense of their competence. The more they practice, the more likely they master new skills.

If play is based on sorting, you should consider the difficulties the task involves to manage it. Doing matches, identify sets, classify items by single and then multiple attributes, understanding patterns, etc. It is awesome that toddlers learn all these things through play, isn’t it? But there is a need for practice and your engagement to make everything fun!

With Shake and Match Shape Sorter, toddlers start by manipulating the wooden shapes. While they are doing it, you can show how to insert the piece in the shape sorter without forcing their actions. In this way, you are showing the goal to achieve through play. Day by day, toddlers will recognize shapes and do matches until they learn how to associate shapes with the precise hole of the shape sorter, and what a success!

Be enthusiastic: when you have fun, they will have fun too.

You can be the most special spectator while you enjoy spending time playing together. Half an hour a day is enough to witness the growth steps of your children!

Good playtime, parent!