Children grow and learn fastest in the first two years. From a new born who can see blurr images into a toddler who is firm about his/her choices and preferences. Children have a tendency to learn most easily while playing because it’s fun, most importantly at this age when they have people around them that they identify with and have an understanding.
Playing is a very crucial aspect of your child’s growth both emotionally and mentally, they learn to express their emotions and feelings. And that’s why I prefer to be a PLAYMATE to my daughter. I feel it’s essential to be your child’s playmate as it really helped me build that bond with my princess.
So Out of my personal experience of playing with my little one and learning gradually about how to improve our play time, here are few Important things to keep in mind while you play with your child.
* Let them choose: I always let her choose the game. This helps me keep her occupied for a longer time, and we always begin with what and how she wants to play with. And then sometimes I try and teach her the right way of playing with that particular toy or a particular game.
* Get down on floor: It’s always important to relive your childhood while playing with your children. I get down on the floor when we play Ring - A - Roses, to keep it real, I always make it tough for her to find me when we play Hide n Seek. I get my hands equally messy when we finger paint, and when we are at beach playing in sand. Also this makes them feel equally involved just like you.
* You should enjoy the game too: While playing with your child it’s important for you to enjoy the game too. As a child loves to repeat things, and repetition lead to boredom in adults. This will divert your attention to your phone or the other chores that you must have finished instead of playing. It’s important to plan the playtime accordingly so that you enjoy it too.
* Teach them to be a good playmate: Make sure to train your child to play with a company while you play with them. Teach them to take turns, encourage them to share their toys with you. Also most importantly let them loose a game, they should be made accustomed to the feeling of loosing and winning both in order to enjoy playing with their age group. You can train them to be a wonderful playmate while playing with them.
* Keep your gadgets away: Being a mom blogger I always get tempted to capture every small and big moments to get some food for my grid. But I strictly keep my gadgets away for sometime in the day when I am playing with her. Undivided attention is the key to get them doing and enjoying the activity. And most importantly it helps me focus only on the play.
* Have patience: Being your toddler’s playmate isn’t a days work. It takes time and sometimes a lot of jumping around like a monkey. Try and begin with a more unstructured and fun playtime either water play, sand play, role play, basically anything that your child will love to play with.
By doing this, you'll be well on your way to teaching a toddler how to be a good playmate. Also you can make memories for your lifetime, as it’s best to spend a little more time with them before they are not little any more. Share with me your favourite playtime memory, or the favourite game that you two enjoy playing the most.