HomeBlogAsk Our Experts: Toddlers

Ask Our Experts: Toddlers

I worry about my two-year-old son’s lack of interest in toys and over-interest in TV programs. It has come to the point where it doesn’t even matter what program is on TV, even boring documentaries seem more interesting to him than all the expensive developmental toys I offer to him. Will he grow out of it and do you think this behavior will affect his performance in school later on in life?~

Children generally like human interaction from as young as one month of age in which they will start to have good eye contact especially toward their mommy’s or daddy’s face. So I guess the reason your young son prefers to watch TV programs instead of playing with his toys is because TV provides some form of audio-visual interactions whereas he has less interaction with his toys unless someone is playing with him. Most children have minimal attention span and will move from one toy to another. Try to bring in some friends to play with him and you may be surprised to see how interested he is with the toys as he either shares or becomes possessive with them!

At the age of two, your son should be able to run steadily and enjoy playing with friends. Your may want to offer building blocks and he should be confident enough to build a tower of 6 to 8 blocks. He might also be able to hold a pencil well and imitate horizontal and vertical lines. If he can interact and play well with his peers and communicate using 2-3 words sentences, then your son’s developmental milestone is appropriate for his age and he should be able to perform normally in school later. Some warning signs that you may need to observe in your son’s behavior are poor eye contact, a preference for playing alone, poor response to his surrounding or people around him, poor attention span and speech delay. If you notice the above warning signs, do consult your pediatrician for proper developmental screening.


A little boy in my toddler’s playschool has been pushing her around in a rough manner, one time even causing her to fall to the ground. His parents seem to just watch and do nothing as he grabs toys from my girl, who of course ends up in tears. How do I deal with this?~

As parents, it is only natural that we feel very protective of our children and it breaks our heart when we see them get hurt. However, it’s important to acknowledge that we cannot always be there to protect our children, so we need to empower our children to protect themselves too. These incidents are opportunities for incidental learning. You can approach the child gently and say “Lets play nicely together”.

Be a role model to the child and your daughter, demonstrate how to play nice. You can also pull your daughter aside and tell her that “when someone is rough, we stay away”. When you notice the boy grabs toys from your daughter, you can approach them and say “No grabbing. Lets share our toys” or “Lets take turns to play with the toys”. When your daughter cries, try not to jump in to ‘save’ her from the situation. You can calm her down gently and say, “Mommy knows you’re upset when someone takes your toys. Can we let him play with the toy for a while?” Then distract your daughter with other toys/games.

You can also say, “Lets go and ask for our toys”. Then demonstrate how you can ask the toys from the boy nicely. If the other child ignores you, approach the parents of the child and say, “I noticed your son is a little rough when he plays, can we do anything to help him play gently with my daughter?” If you choose to approach the teacher instead, you can say, “I noticed this boy is a little rough with other children, is there anything we can do to help them play nicely with one another?”

 

Leave a comment

İstanbul escort mersin escort kocaeli escort sakarya escort antalya Escort adana Escort escort bayan escort mersin

elazığ Escort escort ankara escort bayan izmir escort adana escort antalya escort bursa konya escort bayan hatay escort bayan