Supporting toddlers with everyday activities

Having a toddler (age one to three years) in the house can be a whirlwind of change and emotions. In our previous blog we looked at all the changes a toddler is experiencing and in this blog we’re going to look at how you as parents can support them with everyday activities.

Our society can put pressure on us as families to always be doing, always be learning but toddlers - and parents! - are in need of breaks and down time too. It’s important to remember that your toddler continues to need you a great deal and that your relationship is the most important thing. Your relationship with your child is what helps them to feel safe enough to explore and learn.

Independence: Toddlers start to want to be independent, for example wanting to put their own shoes on or climb into the car themselves. It can be helpful to consider the following points to support them in these tasks:

• Make time: As difficult as it can be sometimes, it is often easier to allow an extra 10-minutes each morning for your toddler to attempt a variety of everyday tasks, than it is to battle with them about every step. Also, this is how they learn! It might seem a long way to go yet, but by giving your one year old a few minutes to try and get their shoes on themselves, you will soon have a three or four year old capable of dressing themselves.

• Consider safety: Sometimes boundaries are important and safety is absolutely one of these times. You may be able to let your toddler try to climb into the car seat themselves most of the time if you have a driveway but when you are parked on the side of a busy road it won’t be safe. When this occurs gently explain this difference to your toddler and ensure they are safe.

• Scaffold activities: It can be helpful to break down complex tasks into smaller stages to help your toddler feel a sense of accomplishment. Your toddler may want to make their breakfast completely on their own but it may not be safe or realistic. By breaking down the tasks into stages we can support their independence, for example, by suggesting they get the plate, butter knife and butter while you toast the bread.

• Give choices: Choices make things more appealing and giving a toddler a choice is more likely to result in a happy little one and a task that’s done. Examples include, would you like to put your shoes on or your socks on yourself and I’ll do the other?

Learning and language: Toddlers are learning constantly and developing their language and using these ideas can help support their development.

• Conversation: Continue to immerse your toddler in a language rich environment. They learn by hearing words multiple times so it’s ok if they don’t understand most of what you’re saying - they soon will!

• Make learning everyday: Toddlers don’t need fancy toys, activity books or screens to learn. They learn best from the everyday world around us. As you go about your day - doing housework, shopping and meeting friends - talk to them about what you can see and hear. You can incorporate learning about numbers, shapes, colours and words into the everyday by pointing out ‘look there are two purple flowers’ or ‘that’s a digger, we don’t see them very often do we, it’s yellow’. This relaxed approach to learning suits toddlers better than trying to formally teach them. It’s thought that children learn through play best until around age seven.