Speaking of Play: 19-22 Months
Introduction
Time is flying and your toddler is nearly 2-years-old! Around this age, you can expect to see symbolic play continue to develop. Symbolic play, or pretend play, that has already started to emerge, will start to extend beyond themselves. Read on to learn more on what to expect, and how we as caregivers can be great partners in play!
Play development
As indicated on the Westby Play Scale, your child’s symbolic play will start to extend beyond themselves, and he or she will start to incorporate more toys or people into their pretend play. At times, they might even play independently for a longer duration of time. You can expect your child to start combining the use of two toys in pretend play to execute different functions, such as feeding a baby or cooking with play eggs in a pan. Socially, you might see your child starting to initiate play more with you or peers. At times, he or she might try to set new limits, and play is a great way to establish and reinforce expectations within play that can carry over to daily living tasks too.
Communication skills
What an exciting phase to see language bloom, and how fun that we get to encourage this growth through play! With increased receptive language skills in full swing, you can expect a burst of expressive language to follow. At this stage, many toddlers expand in both the variety of words used as well as phrase length. You may see your toddler start to build 2 word combinations with increased ease. Not only will they be building their repertoire of nouns and labels for objects in their environment, but you can expect combinations with other parts of speech such as action words (verbs) or possessives (my, mine). Children will also start to refer to objects or people that are not present in the immediate environment.
Toys to Explore
Help your little one help you - and introduce early independence by letting your little one use a broom or duster. They can use the real thing or you may opt to purchase a set.
Cleaning supplies
● Toddlers can be the best assistants! Although, sometimes it’s tough to actually get anything done, such as cleaning. So, why not give them some supplies of their own?
● These days, there are toddler vacuums that nearly pass for the real deal, along with little broom sets, mops, and even dusters! Little ones are eager to help, and this lets them do so with more independence.
● Try out these phrases while spring cleaning with your toddler: “clean it up!, sweep it up, help me clean, put it away, push the vacuum, wash it, scrub it.” Try out some tunes that encourage independence in cleaning as well!
● Don’t just limit language opportunities to the cleaning in play: Some kiddos love to follow one step directions like “Throw it out,” and “Put it in the laundry basket.”
Baby dolls allow your child to act out real-life, can offer a way to introduce toileting and vocabulary surrounding daily needs, e.g., “I’m hungry. I need a snack.”
Baby Dolls
● So much pretend play can take place with a baby doll. You’ll quickly find how observant your toddler has been when you all of the sudden realize they are able to reenact just about every activity of daily living you’ve been doing to keep them alive and well!
● Try pairing and modeling with the use of play brushes, diapers, and even little potties! This is also a great way to informally introduce potty training expectations and concepts.
● What action words can you target when playing dolls? So many! Try the following phrases in play: “sleep baby, more eat, go potty, brush hair, love you, help me,” to name a few! Continue to model full phrases and extension of these shorter phrases, as well!
Play Tools and Tool Benches
● Play tools and benches are a great way to build language while also introducing your toddler to opportunities to practice fine motor and visual spatial skills.
● Not only is it fun to play with these tools, but you’re helping to build life skills for later on!
● These phrases are great for incorporation of spatial concepts as well as more verbs: “Put it on, take it off, fix it, how many nails/screws?”
Reduce anxiety, introduce a community helper (such as doctor, dentist, surgeon, or vet), and give your child a way to learn how different tools work by playing with a doctor’s kit. Some models of language include, “Ouch!” and “I need help.” You also have opportunities for 1-2 step directions, “Take out the thermometer”, “Find the stethoscope and put it on”, “Get bear and give him a shot.”
Doctor’s Visit
● Acting out doctor visits can be beneficial for language support, as well as its benefits for building comfort levels for the the real deal when visiting the pediatrician.
● Many kits come with a stethoscope, blood pressure cuff, thermometer, bandaids, and more! There are many opportunities for your toddler to reenact procedures on themselves, their caregiver, or even their stuffed animals!
● How can we target phrases with pretend doctor’s visits? Try the following phrases: “How do you feel? So brave! Sit still, great job! Ouch! Need a bandaid?” Good luck training your little future surgeon!
Play or real food - both can be ways to “play” with food and ease anxieties surrounding foods, for those picky eaters. I also love using models of words and phrases, “I like it”, “Stir, stir, stir”, and “You do it.”
MORE Pretend Food
● If you’ve checked out our last blog on the emergence of symbolic play, then you know a lot of the activities shared continue to provide a great opportunity for pretend play in this new phase as well!
● You can expect to see continued interest in that play kitchen and make believe food. As your toddler gets older, you can encourage more combinations of functional cooking skills to incorporate food, cooking utensils, pots, pans, etc.
● There are SO many opportunities for language when cooking: “cut it, give me-, close it, hot-be careful!, turn it on, tastes yummy! I like it, I don’t like it.”
● With safety in mind of course, don’t hesitate to involve your child in actual cooking tasks at mealtime. Not only is this another great opportunity to target language skills, but you’re encouraging life skills and independence, too. Also, if you have concerns about feeding or picky eating, this is a great activity to encourage variety and introduction of new food in a low stress, no pressure way!
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!