Tell stories to your child and ask questions about what they remember. Activities that involve music and art support cognitive, social-emotional and multisensory skills. Provide opportunities for your child to sing, dance and draw. Begin to introduce some age-appropriate games like Sing songs and play rhythms so that your child can learn and join in the fun. Ask your child to tell you what else might happen in the story. Encourage pretend play based on these stories.

Provide opportunities for make-believe play-for example, pretending to drink out of an empty cup or offering toys that enable pretend play. Help your child explore her body through different movements-for example, walking, jumping and standing on one leg. This is a good age to try a parent-supervised playdate. Give your child opportunities to play with peers. Remember, it is parents and caregivers' presence and attention that enriches children―not fancy electronic gadgets. Simple and inexpensive objects are some of the best ways to support a child's creativity and grasp of how the world works. Let your child play with blocks, empty containers, wooden spoons, shape sorters and puzzles. Playful learning, where children take the lead and follow their own curiosity, should be the main focus of high-quality early childhood education. When choosing child care and preschools, look for those that include unstructured playtime. Taking them outside to play on the grass orĬatch bubbles, for example, is a great way to do this. You'll know your baby gets the idea if you hide a toy under a blanket and they go looking for it.Įxpose your baby to a variety of sensory experiences. This reinforces object permanence, the idea that something still exists even if you can see it. Use a mirror to show your baby their different facial expressions. Put a few toys within reach of your baby so they can take toys out and play with them. Give your baby opportunities to learn that their actions have effects-for example, when they drop a toy and it falls to the ground. Make sure your baby has a safe environment to crawl and explore. Place your baby in different positions so they can see the world from different angles. Let them bring safe objects to their mouth to explore and experience new textures. Show your baby interesting objects such as a brightly colored toy. This sort of vocal turn-taking forms the basis of social language skills. Imitate your baby's coos and babbles and have back-and-forth 'conversation' using your baby's sounds as a prompt. 'You can get my attention and a smile from me anytime you want―just by smiling yourself.'

Responding with a smile of your own is a form of play that also teaches a baby a critical Playful learning can start with a baby's first smile. Some examples of ways to do this: Birth to 6 months old

The AAP encourages parents to use play to help meet their child's health and developmental milestones, beginning from birth. As they actively engage with and joyfully discover their world, children gain 21st century skills that increasingly call for teamwork and innovation. Learning is best fueled by tapping into a child's natural urge to play, rather than just outside factors like test scores. Quality child care or preschool programs that include playful approaches to learning. Pediatricians also advise parents to look for To help keep play a key part of childhood, pediatricians may begin writing a 'prescription for play' at every Media use and screen time are among the reasons. Tightly structured family and school schedules, fewer safe places to play and rising Despite its many benefits, statistics show that the amount of time children get to play has been declining for decades.

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