Doesn’t it feel wonderful to see your baby run around and play pretend games? By the time they reach the third year, they can do impressive stuff like holding up a conversation, store memories, follow 2-3 step commands and ask you a lot of questions. Your baby is growing at a speedy pace and you can do many things to help make that growth easier for them.
Language skills
- To help them learn to communicate better, engage in simple conversations with them. If they are interested in what you are doing, try to answer it and talk to them.
- Ask them many questions to get their opinions. This also helps them build their language and store more sentences in their memory.
- Prompt them to be curious and ask you a lot of questions. When they ask you questions, don’t brush them away.
- Read to them and whenever they can ask them to repeat sentences with you.
- Try to engage in a reading book with stories that associate feelings and emotions. This way they will learn both speech and emotions.
Social
- Engage in pretend plays with imaginary scenarios and stories.
- You can ask your child to imitate something or someone from the book that they recently read or a video that they recently watched.
- Since your child is almost the age of joining the school at the age of three, try to engage them in plays with other children. This allows children to learn how to play in teams and resolve any conflict that arises. Slowly your child will also start being comfortable with sharing their toys. This is important for children about to reach the age of joining the school.
- Try to teach your toddler empathy by helping them see the other person’s point of view. You can do that by asking “how do you think someone is feeling?”. You can also explain a situation and help them understand a situation better. For example: Rita is feeling sad right now because her sister couldn’t come to the party. Maybe you can go and ask her if cutting the cake with you would make her feel better.
- Give words to their feelings by explaining how they might be feeling at a certain time. You could say, “You felt sad when you couldn’t go to the park to play because it rained”
Cognitive
- Puzzles are always interesting to children and at the same time, they boost critical thinking in toddlers. Give them age-appropriate puzzles so that they don’t feel overwhelmed by the complexity of the puzzle.
- Play games with them that require thinking and problem-solving.
- Toys that require your child’s attention are the best to develop their cognition.
- Encourage them to draw and paint as art encourages creativity.
- Brainstorm new ideas for your child by asking them questions and giving them situations to deal with.
Motor
It is better to teach and involve your child in small chores around the house from an early age. This will help them develop better habits that can help them throughout their life. At the same time, it will also teach them to use their muscles better. They will learn to grab and pick up things with more ease with practice in the third year.
Rest
Along with every other activity, your child will also require 12+ hours of rest and sleep to make sure that their development is happening at the rate that is expected. They might take a small nap during the day some days.
Diet
Growing children require a diet that can suffice their nutritional necessities. They are vulnerable to infections and diseases. You can help them by giving them healthy food that can make them stronger.
References:
- Your Child’s Third Year: https://www.abcpediatrictherapy.com/your-childs-third-year/
- 3-Year-Old Development and Milestones: https://www.verywellfamily.com/3-year-old-developmental-milestones-2764712
- 24–36 Months: Social-Emotional Development: https://www.zerotothree.org/resources/241-24-36-months-social-emotional-development
