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Child Development
Birth to 6 Months
6 Months to 1 Year
1 to 2 Years
2 to 3 Years
3 to 4 Years
4 to 6 Years
Tips For Parents
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1 TO 2 YEARS
Between the ages of one and two, your child is beginning to leave the stage of babyhood and become a toddler. He has gained many new skills and has a high level of energy. As a parent, your major role is to help your child enjoy his new-found independence while recognizing his need for security.
Exploration and Discovery
After her first birthday, your baby has undergone a physical transformation. She can now move around much faster and loves to explore her surroundings. However, she lacks the intellectual ability at this point to be able to think ahead, and has little memory of past events. The home and play environment need to be constantly monitored for safety. Socializing, trying new foods, and seeing new places are fun learning activities for toddlers.
More Communication
During this age, your child is absorbing language at a rapid rate. Although some toddlers may not verbalize as much as others, they understand what adults are saying. By the middle of the second year, your child may use about ten familiar words, but by the time he is two he will know at least two hundred. The first attempts at short sentences usually come near the age of two. Toddlers like to use gestures to get their ideas across, and it´s common for them to invent words for special objects.
Imitation
Toddlers are very observant and they learn by watching and imitating. They get great satisfaction from pretending to do an activity just like Mommy or Daddy. Role playing continues throughout childhood as a creative and imaginative form of play.
Naturally self-centered
At two, toddlers tend to be self-centered and are often overly confident. They are not quite ready to get along in peer groups and share with others. Their ability to think about the feelings and needs of others is a quality that develops gradually through childhood. Parents can help by modeling cooperative behavior and creating situations where sharing is a positive choice. This is an age when your child can begin to take part in self care activities, such as washing his hands, brushing his teeth, and learning to help with dressing. By the age of two you should teach your child to say "please" and "thank you" and praise him when he does.
Appropriate Toys for 1 to 2 Year Olds
- Push-and-Pull toys to improve muscle strength, coordination and balance.
- Musical toys such as a xylophone or drum to help them learn the difference between sounds, and to improve fine motor dexterity and hand-eye coordination
- Simple nesting toys such as cups or boxes
- Hammer and Peg toys, for pounding pegs through holes in a frame
- Blocks of different sizes, shapes and colors
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