As parents and teachers, we feel it is our responsibility to make sure our children get the best education possible. We invest in toys and apparatus that are said to be the top of the range, “must have items” that will surely turn our kids into geniuses. We encourage them to build puzzles, boasting about how many pieces they connect at such a young age, and we spend hours trying to teach them how to count, say the alphabet and learn nursery rhyme upon nursery rhyme. Well I say, just let them play!
The only thing that a toddler needs to do is play. Yup, at this stage in life they really don’t need any formal teaching, everything they need that will equip them with the power to learn can be found in fun games and casual activities. It’s that simple!
It is in these games that your child will develop fine motor skills, gross motor skills, language, communication and a healthy self-esteem – all of the requirements which are necessary to learn as they grow and reach their formal educational years. So, you see, if your three-year-old doesn’t know how to build a puzzle or say his ABC’s, don’t fret! Those things aren’t important at this age, what is important is that you get your child aware of his body and develop his movements, language and social skills.
If you want your toddler to learn, play with him or her! From imaginative play to ball games and jungle gyms, all of these fun activities are instruments that will guide your child to learn the things he needs to know when his brain is ready to do so.
So, to break it down, these are the very basic things that your 1-3-year olds should be learning (through play):
- Fine motor skills. Developing the muscles in hands and fingers. Trying these skills out and practising them will help your toddler grow in independence as well as to learn how to manipulate small objects, like scissors and pencils, which will help them to write and learn in other areas as they grow older.
- Gross motor skills. The movement & coordination of large muscles in your arms, legs & bodies. Activities that include running, jumping, spinning, rolling etc. help to develop these skills. Again, these skills help with independence, but also aid with things like spatial awareness and to simply keep our little one’s bodies healthy and on the go. A healthy body equals a healthy mind!
- Language and communication. Teaching your toddler to not only talk but to communicate properly is in my opinion, the ultimate foundation for further learning. Read to them, talk to them, sing to them! All of these simple activities done in a casual manner will teach your child new words. Let them interact with kids their own age, as well as those who are slightly older, this way they will learn how to socialise and communicate effectively.
- Self-esteem. To learn efficiently, we need to have a good self-esteem. We cannot learn if we do not feel we are worthy of learning. A child’s self-esteem can be nurtured when we set the correct environment for play and other routine activities that make a child’s day. Let them try thing for themselves (yes, we have to let go just a little), praise their simplest of achievements (which for them are huge milestones) and let them enjoy playing they games the like best freely, this is, let them choose the direction in which they want their games to go.
Our kids have years and years of formal learning ahead of them. They will learn how to count and say their ABCs, don’t fret, but all in good time. If your child shows interest in learning, by all means, do not hold them back, but at the same time, do not pressure them to learn things that perhaps their little bodies and minds are just not ready for yet. Have fun, PLAY!
