In addition to providing your child with healthy nutrition, there are other important things you can do to help them boost their growth and development. Check out these fun activities you can do together.

Cognitive

Milestone: Playing pretend

What helps: Offering child-safe household items as playthings, like a telephone or non-breakable cups and plates.

Why: As your toddler mimics actions they have seen you perform with these objects, they are learning about their purpose.

Next: Your child will start pretending on their own, but soon they will involve others. For example, they may offer a block to grandma that they pretend is a cracker.

Motor

Milestone 1: Walking

What helps: Don’t fuss when your baby falls; instead, let them figure out how to stand and walk on their own.

Why: Learning by herself will build confidence and independence

Next: Hold their hand and walk with them. Once your child gets the hang of toddling, they will speed up and walk more proficiently. They may even run before they turn 2.

Milestone 2: Stacking blocks

What helps: Show your child how to stack blocks, and then let them do it alone.

Why: Your toddler is developing hand-eye coordination and finger control when they build two- to four-block towers.

Next: Give them blocks of different colours and materials, such as wood or plastic. With practice, your 2-year-old will be stacking five to six blocks on their own.

Communication

Milestone: First words

What helps: When your toddler starts speaking, respond by repeating the correct version of the word they are trying to say. So if they say “baba,” you say “baby.”

Why: Now that your toddler is speaking, they need to learn proper names so others will understand them.

Next: If your child mispronounces a word or makes a mistake, repeat the correct word.

Social

Milestone: Attachment to a security object

What helps: Encourage your child to take the object with them to bed or daycare, or at other times when you’re apart.

Why: Transitional security objects, or “loveys,” stand-in for you when you’re away from your child. They’ll help them self-soothe whenever you’re apart.

Next: Buy multiples of objects your child favours, or try cutting a favourite blanket in half, so you have two. That way you’ll always have a spare.

Reference

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