The earliest and most rudimentary indication of play is the social smile, which occurs at about 4 to 6 weeks of age. Play is prosocial and evolves as the child progresses through infancy and childhood. The purposes of play are to provide avenues to think and express emotions, consider alternative ways of viewing a situation, explore new ways of reacting to situations, provide outlets for imagination, and to understand cause-and-effect in relationships. Moreover, play creates opportunities for the development of cognitive skills throughout childhood development. It is an expected, normal process in children. Practice playing together at home, and start in small settings where there may only be one or two other children.Play is the engagement of activity for enjoyment and recreation rather than for any set purpose. If your child is too timid to play with other children at an age when they should, it might be a sign of anxiety. It should be seen as a worthy educational pursuit, as long as there is a good balance between playing together and playing alone. Solitary play in older children is also normal. That’s perfectly normal, even during preschool years. Some young children may continue to play by themselves even when playmates are available. There’s a time and place for solitary, parallel, and associative or cooperative play. Proper cognitive development and harmonious social behavior happen when your young child gets enough of both. They take cues from their parents and they also learn by exploring on their own at their own pace, parallel play included. Toddlers are typically are social creatures who depend on interacting with their caregivers first of all, and other people as they get to know more of their surrounding world. You can practice sharing at home, but don’t be surprised if they get upset when their parallel play companion grabs their toy. Toddlers in the parallel play stage are naturally possessive of their toys, as they do not understand sharing yet. Learning the word and concept “mine” is an important step in understanding boundaries.Īllow them to say “mine” to protect what’s theirs, but help them understand that toys brought to a common area can be safely shared without fear of being taken away. It’s the age when their minds take some big leaps in terms of development when they learn to assert themselves. Learning to shareĭon’t expect your children of this age to sit quietly and play without ever eyeing the others’ toys. Interactions can be positive (children being nice to each other) or negative (one child pushes another or grabs a toy). These observations will be put to good use when the time comes where they are developmentally ready for group play. Your child is exactly where they should be: in their own world, which is situated in the middle of the bigger world they have yet to figure out.īy observing other children interact, your child gets a glimpse into social interaction. Understanding social interactions and learning about boundaries They range from joy to fear to frustration or simple silliness, and are mostly based on what they experience in real life.īy observing them play, you may get a glimpse into how their mind works at this young age and better understand their budding personality. They’re also using everything they can get their hands on, including toys, their own hands, and even dirt and sticks, to express feelings. Freedom to express their desires and feelingsĭuring parallel play your little one learns more than just how a toy rolls, falls down, or moves when pushed. Keep in mind that what looks simple to you can be a challenging thing for little hands that are learning fine-tuning moves.Īlso, a simple action by a child may have a complicated imaginative component behind it. There’s no right or wrong way of playing. Whether toddlers simply repeat an activity or experiment with something new they picked up during parallel play, it’s all part of learning and growing. Play is a highly imaginative pursuit that engages body and mind. They’ll add to their vocabulary and surprise you with it later. Sometimes they may peek and see a toy or an action being called a certain word. Language developmentĪs your toddler sits and minds their own playing, they will also be listening and learning words from nearby children or adults. Parallel playing may seem self-centered, yet there are many benefits for your toddler. Next comes parallel play, where your child simply plays on their own while observing and being near others. Then they use those observations during solitary play. At first your baby watches adults and other children do things, and they will often mimic, or copy, behaviors.
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