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Your
Toddler is a Mover
This is a part of a series of
articles based on the book 'How to Maximize Your Child's Learning Ability'
by Dr. Lauren Bradway and Barbara Albers Hill
Enhancing existing
mover skills
There are several ways in which you
can develop your toddler's gross motor skills. Make sure that she does
plenty of physical activity. Take her swimming/paddling and to the park
to play on the swings. Buy her a sponge ball that she can throw, catch
and kick. Help your toddler climb up and down staircases one step and one
foot at a time. Buy her a toy wagon that she can pull along and take her
favourite stuffed toy for a stroll. Give her a toy bucket, rake and
shovel to play with in the garden or sandpit. Your toddler will also enjoy
riding a tricycle with extra wheels for support. You could put your toddler
into a gymnastics class for children her age if there is one in your neighbourhood.
Give her cardboard shoeboxes that she can use as building blocks. There
should be plenty of physical contact between you and your child. So hold
her, hug her, stroke her and hug her as much as possible.
Developing looker
skills in mover toddlers
The aim is to make your toddler more
receptive to visual stimulation and to enhance her ability to visualize.
You can teach her to be more observant. Look at an object together for
a few minutes and put it away. Then you and your toddler should take turns
describing it. Take her for an outing and point out new sights and various
other details to her. Make your child do a little exercise to rest her
eyes. She should cup the palms of her hands over her eyes so that any light
is blocked and then close her eyes for about ten seconds. Another game
will help your toddler to focus. Roll a lightweight ball to each other
and ask her to keep her eyes on the ball. Put off the lights and tell your
toddler a story in the dark. This will help her to imagine better. You
can also play shop with her using pretend money and pretend objects in
order to build her visualizing skills. Give her glue sticks, large crayons,
old bits of paper and felt, plasticine, and washable markers so that she
can indulge her creativity through craft.
Developing listener
skills in mover toddlers
The basic aim of these activities
is to encourage your toddler's conversational and listening abilities.
Activities such as playing with hand puppets, make-believe tea parties,
and playing shop with your toddler fulfil this objective. When speaking
to your toddler, speak loudly, enunciate your words and keep your sentences
short and simple. If your toddler mispronounces a word, repeat what she
has said pronouncing the word correctly. Don't make television a habit.
Read aloud to your toddler, tell her stories and make her listen to songs.
Play hide- and-seek with your child at home where she has to find you following
the sound of your voice. Hide a special treat somewhere in the house and
give your child verbal directions to find it. Pop-up, scratch-and-sniff,
and lift-and-look books help to make story-telling come alive for your
toddler. Build your child's vocabulary by organizing special outings
to new places like the zoo, the grocery store, and the park.
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