Playing,Reading and Talking to your 2 year old(Part 1)

Regular play times together build up a bank of shared experiences which provide wonderful conversational topics.He is at a stage when adult suggestions sensitively given can do much to help him make imaginative leaps in his pretend play and also to find out many wonderful ways in which play material can be used.

1. Make sure that the setting is quiet. Switch of T.V or radios. Sit at his level.
   
2. Make sure the toys are intact and are kept in the same place so that your child knows exactly where they are and doesn't need to be distracted by searching for them.
3. Have a clear area of floor or table top so that he has plenty of room to play.
4. During play, for e.g. fixing Lego blocks ;you are creating an imaginative space for him and later, him wanting to try his hand in creating different things.
   
5. Give a running commentary of what you are doing with funny sounds and play words. Wait for responses from him, ask questions(Do you want this red block?Is it hard to fix? Do you want help? Is that a car you are making?).
6. If he walks away or takes something else , don't stop him and force him to play that activity. Their attention and concentration is only so much. Insist on putting away that toy and then take the new one.
7. Wanting the best for our child , we buy a lot of toys. Electronic, plastic,talking, interactive, educational..... A simple set of stacking cups and a cardboard box is one of the many simple inexpensive toys you can provide for your child and his imagination. So chill out! Don't feel bad that you cant afford to buy these expensive toys.
   
8. Do not display all his toys in his toy box or play room. He is more likely to play and mess with everything and naturally loose value for these toys and not to mention their various parts and pieces. Put a few of them away and bring out after a few months. When you bring out some new ones , put away some old ones. This helps you a lot , when they easily get bored with their toys. Old ones seem to look so new again!
9. Teaching them to put away their toys in the respective place is very important. Or you end up always putting them away a million times. Make strict rules. Tell them,'You don't put them in their boxes, you don't get to play with them'. Enforcing this can take time and effort. But once established , its worth all the time and effort. They also develop respect and value for their things.
   
10. Do not direct the play and conversation during play so much. Give way for them to develop their own pace and their own optimum learning situation. Giving streams of directions like ' Come and look at this', 'Now do this jigsaw', Finish this', put it this way' is not what your child wants to hear. It can now, however be enormously helpful to make some suggestions in order to help her extend her pretend play.
    
11. It is also very important to show her the various ways in which different play materials can be used. It's best, when showing her a new activity, to start it and then to withdraw and let her try it out for herself. She will let you know as soon as she wants your further involvement. A Canadian study , found that a group of children whose mothers showed a high level of intrusiveness into their children's play had significantly lower language attainments than did a group whose mothers followed their children's lead.

I hope these tips prove useful when you play with your little one. More to follow soon on reading and talking to your 2 year old.
Any comments or more ideas on playing with your children are appreciated.