Your Child Is A Scientist!

Did You Know?
Children are using the same methods of discovery as scientists. They're testing hypotheses, doing experiments and drawing conclusions. How can your child do this best? Through unstructured, imaginative play!

Nurturing your child's development from 18 to 36 months

What's going on:

Play is essential for the 2-year-old. It builds all areas of his development. Through play, he interacts more with friends, uses pretend play to understand things in more complex ways and learns important concepts such as big and small and up and down.

What you can do:

• Provide your child with objects, toys and immerse them in environments that lend themselves to imaginative play and join in with them! You will learn a lot about her thoughts and feelings and can help her expand her thinking. Interaction through play will also build a strong connection between you and your child, and can help encourage creativity. You can do this in many ways. For example, ask what will happen next in the story he is acting out. If he is "cooking," you might say, "What are you cooking? It smells good. Can I have some?"
  
  
• Make plans for your children to spend time with other children. He will learn about the pleasure of making friends. In addition, the more opportunity he has to interact with peers, the more he will learn about how to get along well with others.

Questions to ask yourself:

• What kind of play does your child most enjoy? How do you know? What does this tell you about him?
  
  The more you know about your child's style of play the more you can foster the activities he finds engaging. Don't be overly concerned with being "educational" with your child; instead, follow his lead and play games he loves that foster curiosity.
  
  
• How does your child use her imagination? What do you think she is learning through her pretend play?
  
  All areas of development (social/emotional/intellectual/language/motor) are linked. Each depends on, and influences, the others. What children experience through play shapes their development as they adapt to the world. Let your child know that you understand what she's experiencing by asking questions. Talk about what your child is observing and doing.

Did you know:

• In 1981, forty percent of a typical school-age child's time was spent playing.
• In 1997 that number dropped to twenty-five percent.
• Forty percent of all school districts have eliminated recess.

Free play is not a waste of time! Find time for play!

Sources:
Golinkoff, Roberta Michnick, Ph.D. and Hirsh-Pasek, Kathy, Ph.D. Einstein Never Used Flash Cards: How are Children Really Learn-and Why They Need to Play More and Memorize Less. United States: Rodale, 2003.

Zero to Three: American Academy of Pediatrics.