Toddler Play Skills and Language: How they work together.

Play has a HUGE impact on toddler language development and overall learning for children in general.  Despite this, parents often times are unaware of the how play skills develop and, to be fair, there isn't much talk about it in parenting books and articles. 

I'm hoping to shed some light on this for you today because play is the foundation upon which learning happens for kids.  I love this quote by Mr. Rogers:  “Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood.”  Amen to that. 

Parents will sometimes express their frustration that their toddler always seems to melt down when they get home from work.  I remember those days well, so I get it.  But you know what, our littles have been working all day too!  And I dare say that they often times work harder than us.

Okay, let's talk about play. It can be broken down into two areas:

• TYPES of play (which I discuss this week on my YouTube channel) 
• SOCIAL STAGES of play (which I will discuss in the next video).

Parents frequently express concerns regarding their child's play skills. Just as a child must walk before they run, they must go through these different types of play. Kids don't just magically start doing pretend play.  This comes after repeated experiences with each of the other types of play first.  

Here are the TYPES of play:

• Exploratory
• Relational
• Functional
• Symbolic

Click here to watch the video and learn more about each of these types as well as how purposeful play and joint attention impact communication.

Stay tuned as next week I will be talking about the SOCIAL STAGES of play.  This is always an interesting topic that can help understand the age old question that I get from parents:  why doesn't my child play with other kids?  More on that next time.  Have a great week, my friend!

PS:  If you have a question regarding toddler development that you would like me to answer, send me a message! You can reach me here.  

PSS: If you are concerned about your toddler's language skills, be sure to download my free Pre-Language Skills Checklist here.  

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