TODDLERS MAY

• Explore the immediate environment (ask about a new object he/she finds, actively search through collection of toys).
• Ask simple “wh” questions (why, what, where).
• Try new ways of doing things and begin to take some risk.
• Initiate play with others.
• Choose one activity over another and pursue it for a brief period of time.
• Show interests in wanting to take care of self (dressing).
• Initiate activities at caregivers’ suggestions.
• Seek and take pleasure in both new and repeated skills and experiences.

YOU CAN

• Make child’s surroundings safe and inviting to encourage exploration.
• Provide child with a variety of safe and interesting objects that increase interest.
• Interact with child by asking simple questions and responding to his/her questions.
• Wonder aloud with child about why things happen.
• Read and tell diverse stories that introduce child to many people, places, and cultures.
• Try new tasks with child and describe them.
• Support child’s choices during daily activities (selecting books to read together)
• Provide consistency in the environment and the routine so child develops confidence and a sense of mastery.

TODDLERS MAY

• Show interest in favorite activities over and over again.
• Complete simple projects (3- to 5-piece puzzle, stacking blocks on top of one another).
• Continue to try a difficult task for a brief period of time (build a block structure for 3 to 5 minutes).
• Insist on some choices (what to wear, completing a project).
• Seek and accept assistance when encountering a problem.
• Listen and participate in story time (turning pages of book, using hand motions such as clapping at appropriate times).

YOU CAN

• Provide time for child to engage in sustained activities.
• Respond to child’s requests for assistance.
• Limit environmental distractions to help child sustain attention to activities (turn television off while child plays in the room).
• Talk with child about his/her activities using open-ended questions (“How did you do that? Tell me more.”).
• Involve child in active movement and language games (fingerplays, hokey pokey, freeze dance).
• Tell the child what he/she is doing while he/she does it (you are climbing the slide, and now you’re coming down.)

TODDLERS MAY

• Use strategies to manage strong emotions (get help, cover eyes, move away).
• Use words such as “stop” or “no” in a conflict.
• Communicate to caregivers when they are hungry or tired.
• Try different ways of doing things.
• Identify own interests, feelings, and needs.

YOU CAN

• Respond and acknowledge the child’s emotions including pride, sadness, frustration or happiness.
• Provide emotional and physical comfort when child is distressed.
• Modify environment to lessen stress.
• Facilitate consistent routines and structure.
• Model self-calming strategies.
• Create a comfortable environment that reflects family’s culture.

TODDLERS MAY

• Invent new uses for everyday materials (bang on pots and pans).
• Approach tasks experimentally, adapting as the activity evolves.
• Display an understanding of how objects work together (get the dustpan when adult is sweeping the floor).
• Enjoy opportunities for pretend play and creating things (“cooking” dinner for adult, feeding pretend food to adult).
• Pretend and use imagination during play.
• Use creative language to describe events.
• Build with blocks and other manipulatives.
• Play with dolls, costumes and acts out animal roles.
• Pretend to be in new and familiar places with new and familiar roles.
• Create an art project and with a simple story to accompany the artwork.

YOU CAN

• Provide child with art materials and a place to use them without adult-created models or specific instructions.
• Provide opportunities for child to remain absorbed in play.
• Engage child in creating and completing projects using different media (clay, collage, paint, music, dance, chalk, box construction, etc.).
• Encourage child to talk about and revisit his/her creative work.
• Use open-ended questions and descriptive language when interacting with the child.
• Make sure child has props from own culture to support pretend play.
• Encourage child to pretend, make-believe, and use his/her imagination.
• Engage child in narrating or dictating a story about a picture he/she drew.

TODDLERS MAY

• Substitute similar objects (stack boxes like blocks).
• Realize that behaviors can precede events (“If mom or dad put the pot on the stove, she/he is going to cook something to eat.”).
• Alter behavior based on a past event and builds on it (hand-washing prior to mealtime).
• Relate an experience today to one that happened in the past (hand-washing prior to mealtime).

YOU CAN

• Think “out loud” and talk about ideas with child using descriptive language (“you remembered where the puzzle piece fits.”)
• Invite the child to share thoughts and ideas about the world around him/her.
• Provide materials that are similar but produce different results (crayons, markers, paint).
• Narrate child’s play to him/her by describing what you see and hear.
• Demonstrate, explain and provide opportunities for child to think about and avoid negative or dangerous behavior (“The stove and iron are hot”).