Having a child is one of the most exciting moments in a person life. If you’re becoming or already a parent, you want to make sure that your child is healthy, happy and growing properly.
At 12 months of age, a child is mobile and becomes coordinated. They start to take interest in things and try to explore their environment. The child’s muscle has developed which enables the child to take baby steps and walk.
At 18 months old, a child is no longer a baby but a toddler. The child has changed in so many ways. The child’s thinking and learning skill are developing. They start learning new words every day.
Toddlers will start learning how to walk properly at this stage, they will be able to say few words, they start pointing to show you things, they will show interest in playing with their toys and exploring things around them, they start responding to their name, when someone calls them.
For your child to grow, the child will need to explore in different areas.
There are several things you can do that will help your 12 to 18 month old learn.
You can create a list of toddler activities to not just keep them busy, but to teach them. Here’s a list of activity that might be of great help to you and child. Bear in mind that your child might not be really interested in some of the activities compared to others. That is Fine! Children are different. It will help you know your child’s area of interest. Whatever the case might be, trust us, they’ll love it!
However it is always important to remember that every activity must be done with Adult supervision
READING
Always read to your child. By doing this, you will help expand your child’s vocabulary by asking them questions whenever they ask for something. For example if your child say ‘’Water” ask your child by saying “Do you want water?”
Ask your child questions about the stories you read together. Suggest they point to the pictures in the book relating to their answers.
SMALL PUZZLES
Puzzles are educational, especially in the area of mathematics, and they offer developmental support for both children and adults. Puzzles come in a whole range of themes and topics such as alphabet letters, shapes, vegetables, numbers, pets, transport and colours. It increases their visual awareness and develops a deeper understanding of these themes and topics. This process involves problem solving, reasoning skills for the child. The accomplishment of achieving that goal will bring so much satisfaction to your child.
OBJECT IDENTIFICATION WITH PICTURES
When it comes to Identifying common objects, which is an important language skill for your child, the power of pictures cannot be underestimated. Objects are typically the first items children will identify and name. They are tangible and concrete. Once your child can identify all 10 common objects, you can add more objects to it, in other to build their receptive vocabulary!
You can also play naming games with body parts: “Where is your nose? Oh, there it is!”
CRAYON
It is best to let your child experiment and explore rather than giving him instructions. So let him hold crayons and mix all the colours together by scribbling all over a piece of paper if he wants to. Holding the crayons will help him develop strength and control in his fingers, which will eventually, help him understand that marks and lines can represent objects, shapes and letters. This will give him confidence in what he can achieve and it will also help him to feel a little more independent.
Your toddler might get so excited about making his mark that he scribbles everywhere if not properly supervised.
Whatever your toddler creates, praise it! You could also put it on display in your home. This will show him that you value what he creates.
PAPER BOX WITH A HOLE AND STRAWS
You can give your toddlers a pack of straws and a paper box to play with. The concept is for him to transfer the straws into the paper box. This will keep him busy and happy.
PLAY DATES
Your child can also enjoy friendly activities outside the confines of your home. A good way to do that is to organize play dates for your kid. All you need to do is to get in touch with friends who have kids under the same age grade with your child. This is a great way to actually observe how your child interacts with other children
In the park. You and your child or with your friends kids. Pretend play.
OLD BABY WIPE CONTAINERS
Cut out little pieces of materials and stack them into the wipe containers. Let your child pull out the pieces of cloth one after the other.
SHAPES
You can cut out different shapes and colours out from a paper and let your child match it with shapes seen in a book.
COLOURS
One of the best ways to do this is to provide your child with two different set of objects that have the same variety of colours. Your child can then match the colours that are similar. He might not get it at first but after subsequent practice, he will be able to tell the colours apart.
SORT PEGS INTO A CONTAINER
You can pour out your cloth pegs and let him put them back into the container. The noise of the container should get him excited and should keep him busy for a while.
MAGNETIC TOY PLASTICS WITH MAGNETIC BOARDS
Magnetic toys are toys that contains a set of embedded magnets that are covered with wooden blocks or plastic blocks. It also has various shapes and colours. It involves children in active, hands-on learning activities.
Magnetic toys are fun toys that will make your child curious and help develop his problem solving skill.
STACK DISPOSABLE CUPS
If you have left over disposable cups from a house party, you can give them to your kids to play with it. He will stack and unstack it.
Children make sense of the world around them through play. Whether this is through playing with found objects around the home or specific educational toys, play features very highly in every child’s vocabulary. By offering the toys to cultivate this play to assist with the child’s educational, social and emotional development, which is key in shaping the child. The goal is to design the activity specifically for the child in question and keep it fun.
