Speaking of Play: 13-17 Months
From 13-17 months, your baby’s play skills are ready to take off, literally! By 18 months, most babies will be on the move. This means they can explore even more of the world around them. The possibilities of play grow along with their expanding world. During this stage, you can also expect your toddler to become a better communicator with gestures, sounds, and words. Read on to discover what you can do as a parent to help foster communication through play with your busy toddler!
Play Development
According to the Westby Play Scale, children at this stage begin to purposefully explore toys. Instead of mouthing or banging objects, they want to know how they work and how objects can be used together. Toddlers are starting to understand the relationships between objects, such as sizes, colors, and how objects can fit together. Social skills during play are also starting to emerge during this time. If your child cannot figure out how an object works, they will start to bring it to you for help! They may also begin to play alongside other children for brief periods of time.
Communication Skills
During this phase, children’s brains begin to process speech more quickly. This makes it easier for them to understand what is said to them. They will start to follow 1 step directions such as “Get the shoes” or “Give me the cup”. At this stage, children will understand more of what is said to them than what they are able to say themselves. But soon, it is expected that their babbling will start to transform into more words. By 18 months, children should be able to say, at a minimum, 10 words.
Toys to Explore
Chunky Wooden Puzzles
● Beginner puzzles offer opportunities for problem solving, fine motor skills, and language development!
● Try letting your child explore with the puzzle and see what they do first before jumping in to help them. Let them try to figure out how they work and discover what they can do with them.
● Puzzles are a great way to work on location words! Try using “In” and “Out” or “Off” and “On” to describe where the puzzle pieces are.
● What is on the puzzle pieces? Talk about the animals or people you see! What noises do the animals make? Where do they live?
Try using “In” and “Out” or “Off” and “On” to describe where the puzzle pieces are.
Busy Boards
● Busy boards are covered in items for your toddler to touch, press, turn, open, shut, spin, slide, switch, and more. They often have objects like light switches, zippers, locks, and/or textured fabrics that toddlers love to play with.
● Busy boards can help children with problem solving (How does this work? What does this do?), fine motor skills, and language development.
● Let your toddler explore, then show them something new they haven’t discovered yet. Watch to see what they do! They may try to imitate you, request more of watching you do it, or request help to do it with you!
● Talk about what is happening while playing! “Zip up! Zip down! On! Off! Soft! Bumpy!” Your child is learning to connect the words you say to their experiences while playing.
● Busy Boards are simple enough to make yourself with odds and ends around the house secured to a wooden board or you can purchase one already made.
Toy Cars
● Toy cars are a great way to help children learn to make simple comparisons. When children are lining up different cars, they are learning about how different cars have different sizes, shapes, and colors. Some cars go fast while others move slowly.
● Toy cars also provide a chance for children to explore more about cause and effect. What happens when I push the car? What happens when the car goes down the ramp?
● Having a friend over? Give each child a toy car to play with so they can start to experience interacting with peers without the pressure of sharing.
● Model the words children should use when playing with others. “Hi!” “Can I play?” “My turn! “Thank you!”
● Describe what the cars are doing! “Car! Fast car. Yellow car. Car goes up! Car goes down. More cars!”
Toy cars provide a chance for children to explore more about cause and effect.
Sand/Water Play
● Toddlers love filling and dumping water and sand! While playing, they are learning about the relationship between objects and answering questions like “Will this water fit in the big cup? What about the small cup? What happens when I move the sand with a rake? What about a spoon?”
● Sand and water play provide a great opportunity to talk using describing words! Is the water hot or cold? Is the sand wet or dry? Is the bucket big or small? Your toddler is learning about these concepts by listening to you describe them while playing.
● Sand and water play are a fun way for children to start working on early social skills because they can play near each other and engage in the same activity without having to worry too much about any other social rules yet.
● Sand and water play can come in many forms, from outdoor sand or water tables and sand boxes to indoor storage containers filled with sand or water, to playing in the bathtub!
Balls of Different Sizes
● Playing with balls can be a great way for toddlers to have active playtime while developing their coordination, language, and social skills.
● Try to find balls in various sizes, textures, and colors. Talk about their differences! This ball is red and bumpy! This ball is smooth and orange! My ball is big! Your ball is small!
● Talk about action words! We are kicking the balls! I am throwing the ball. Hold the ball! Let’s drop the ball in! Take it out!
● Roll a ball back and forth to one another - a game that develops social skills like turn taking.
Your child’s playtime is so important to their developing body and mind. Remember to focus on the process of play, and not the final product. Play is about learning and building relationships, not about what the block tower or picture looks like at the end. Playing together also promotes bonding. When your child sees the delight in your face as you take in their discoveries, they will want to play more and more!
This blog is part of a series. Click here to read an introduction about all the stages of play! Stay tuned for the next post in this series as we dive into the next stage of play! Concerned about your child’s play or language development? Feel free to contact us!
Puzzles, balls, and busy boards are all great options to teach your early communicator how to play and interact with the ever-expanding world around them!