Speaking of Play: 17-19 Months
Pretend food, toy phones, and playing dress-up are all excellent play ideas for your young toddler.
Around 17 months of age, your child will enter the symbolic phase of play. Symbolic play, also known as pretend play, is when a child uses an object or toy to represent something else. This is an important development in young children’s play. At the same time, your child’s communication skills will be starting to take off! Here is what every parent should know about this type of play and how to foster your child’s communication skills through play at home.
Play Development
According to the Westby Play Scale, this age marks the beginning of pretend play. Young children first start demonstrating pretend play on themselves. This is known as autosymbolic play. For example, a child might pretend to sleep, drink from a cup, or eat from a spoon. Children first start pretending by acting out events that are part of their everyday routines. Inherently, children entering this phase are now able to use most objects according to their function. The spoon your child used to bang on the table is now used to pretend to eat from a bowl. Children this age also begin to develop tool use, such as using a stick to reach a toy. Your child will also become even more advanced at finding hidden objects. Socially, your child may also play alongside other children for brief periods of time.
Your 17-month-old child is immersing themselves in the world and will enjoy getting messy and engaging in simple pretend play.
Communication Development
While there is a range of typical language development, by 18 months children should be able to say around 10 words, at a minimum, and understand many more. Your child will be able to use communication for multiple purposes now, including naming objects, actions, and locations, request more of an item or activity, as well as use most toddlers’ favorite word - “no!”. Children will use single words at first, but soon will be combining words to form two word phrases. At this stage, children can follow 1 step directions such as “Go get your shoes” or “Kiss the baby.” They can also point to pictures in books when you name them. Most children at this stage begin to enjoy listening to simple songs, stories, and rhymes - especially ones they have heard before.
Toys to Explore
Toy phone
● Toy phones are a great way to combine pretend play with emerging language skills! Think about it - What do we do with phones? We talk!
● Model simple conversations for your child on the toy phone. Soon they will be having their own “conversations” on the phone too. This is also a great way to practice social greetings such as “hello” and “goodbye”.
● As your child grows, toy phones will grow with your child. As their imagination and language expands, so will the complexity of their play with the phone.
Toy phones encourage communication, play, and social skills
Pretend food
● Pretend food sets are a wonderful way for young children to engage in auto symbolic play and use language from everyday routines.
● Serve up some play food with your child and pretend to have a meal together. Model what one might say while eating. “Yum! Pizza! This is yummy! More pizza. Yummy. I am eating yummy pizza!” Your child might just be able to imitate pretend eating noises at first, but as their language grows, they will use the language you model during play and at meals.
● Pretend meals are a great time to incorporate early social skills such as turn taking and using “please” and “thank you.”. Take turns serving pretend drinks from a pitcher and serving up pretend snacks. Model “please” when you need more and “thank you!” when you get it!
Wooden pretend food teaches vocabulary for types of foods, as well as actions like "cutting" and “eating”! Nom nom nom!
Costumes and props for dressup
● Playing dressup is a fun way for children to begin using pretend play skills. Young pretenders can dress up as someone familiar, such as Mommy or Daddy. As children grow, they are able to pretend to be new characters, such as doctors or firemen.
● There is no need to go out and buy fancy costumes - use what you have around the house! Try using old purses, ties, aprons, hats, or jewelery.
● Talk with your kid about what they are wearing! “An apron! I love your apron. You have a big apron! Are you going to cook? We wear aprons when we cook!”
Dress-up will help expand your child's imaginative play skills and help them make connections between people or characters to their own life.
Child safe mirror
● If you have ever seen a young child use a mirror, you know that they are fascinated by them! Mirrors can be a fun way to practice listening, talking, and just being silly together!
● Sit in front of a mirror with your child and practice saying “Hello!” to each other. See if your child can point to a few body parts that you name. They might even be able to name some body parts themselves!
● Practice following 1 step directions such as, “Point to your shoes”, “Show me your belly” or “Clap your hands!”
Art activities
● Painting, chalk, crayons, or markers are all activities to allow children to play while having an opportunity to develop their fine motor skills, language skills, and social skills!
● Create some art together with your child and talk about what you are drawing or painting. Art lends itself to many describing words!. “I drew the sun. My sun is yellow. Yellow sun! What are you drawing? Oh it looks like a circle. A big circle!”
● Lay out a long roll of paper or use paper shopping bags and let your child and their sibling or friend draw or paint together. Everyone should have their own space to create. This allows young children to experience playing alongside peers without the extra pressure of sharing.
Arts and crafts will help develop your child's fine motor, language and social skills.
As your child begins to use more and more of their imagination, encourage using open-ended toys and activities. Some toys are designed to only have one way to use them, such as a lego set that builds a very specific item. While these items can be fun and encourage certain skills, such as fine motor or problem solving, the activity is the same each time. Look for toys that can be used in different ways, allowing your child to listen or use new words each time they play with it. Remember to follow your child’s lead and let them show you what they are interested in!
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!