Having fun together
In the early years, you are your child’s favourite play partner. Have fun with your child, be playful and encourage their interests. This helps them to be confident and curious.
You don’t need special equipment or fancy toys. Your child will enjoy your attention, whether you are talking, singing, or rattling an object in front of them. With regular household objects (bowls, pots, spoons) and items in nature (pinecones, leaves) you can talk about colours, number, sizes, textures, etc. Pretending is another fun way to play with your child. When you pretend that one object is another, you are helping them develop their imagination. For example, pretend that a block is a car or a banana is a telephone.
As your child gets older, you can model things like waiting for a turn, sharing objects, solving problems, and following simple rules in a game. This will help your child learn how to cooperate and have fun with others.
- Taking care of a new baby is a lot of work.
- When I accept people’s offer to help or I ask someone for help,
- It gives me time to take care of myself,
- So I can be there for my baby and enjoy our time together.
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- When my baby is alert, I notice and copy the noises my baby makes.
- I also talk about the things my baby is doing.
- My baby enjoys having all my attention in this way.
- We don’t need any toys and we can do this almost anywhere.
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- My baby loves music and loves to “dance” along when I sing.
- The rhymes and lyrics in the song help my baby learn new words.
- Singing to my baby is a fun way to be together.
- Lots of things can be “toys”, like household objects and some snow brought indoors.
- As we play together, I talk about what we are doing and watch my child’s reaction.
- It’s a great way to learn what my child is interested in.
- Sometimes the simplest things are the most fun for my toddler – and for me.
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- My child enjoys playing with us and getting our full attention.
- We try to focus on playing without getting distracted.
- My child can then play alone for a little while, especially when we are close by.
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- For the memory game, “what’s missing?” I put out a few objects.
- While my child’s eyes are closed, I take one away.
- My child can usually remember what is missing and sometimes my child likes to give me a turn.
- We will play this with more objects as my child gets older.
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