Engaged Play with Toddlers

Children learn so much through play. It teaches them skills that they can use throughout their entire lives. They need to learn to play by themselves, with children of different ages, and with adults. They should get a well rounded education when it comes to play and social skills. When you play games or perform tasks with your toddler, it is called engaged play, or constructive play.

Engaged play, in particular, teaches children to interact with other people. Playing alone or watching too much TV leaves children with an emotional disconnect that hinders them when it comes to forming relationships, having a conscious, and making sound decisions. It is often up to parents to limit the amount of TV and alone time that a child has and engage them in back and forth activities or games.

It's about more than learning to take turns. Interactive experiences actually help a child's brain to develop and grow. Engaged play teaches toddlers how to deal with strong emotions, solve problems, and makes them want to make their parents proud.

It can be a difficult task to constantly engage a toddler, but you don't have to do it 24/7. Learning to play alone is good, too. Just make sure that you are playing a few games together and talking constructively to each other a few times every day. Here are some ideas for you to consider when you're looking to help your toddler develop.

The simplest form of engaged play is reading. Human touch is important and reading offers you some quiet time to snuggle and bond. To make it a more participatory activity, Stop every now and then and make eye contact with your child. Make a comment about the story or pictures. Encourage them to use their imagination and make up new parts to the story or guess what is going to happen. Developing a good imagination is essential to being happy as an adult, being able to image a positive future, and thinking outside of the box when it comes to problem solving.

Back and forth games are very beneficial. Singing songs together, dancing, playing hand games, or even just sitting and talking are all great forms of engaged play. You can work constructive play into your daily routines. Let your child pull laundry from the dryer and put it in the basket. Make splash sounds and talk about the clothes crashing into the ocean. Help your child to imagine using things for something other than their intended functions.

You can use laundry and other chores to boost self-esteem and develop confidence while getting in your engaged play time. Make a game out of hanging clothes. Most children can't reach their hanging bar, so consider hanging one down low for them to hang a few items from. Or, you can create an obstacle course that includes a step stool or climbing structure to get the clothes up to the "zip line in the sky". Use baby hangers or children's hangers for this activity. Children as young as one or two can manipulate a shirt on to infant hangers.

They will be so proud, entertained, and engaged, fostering proper cognitive, physical, emotional, and social development. Come up with your own activities and have fun with your toddler!