The Toddling Tots!

Ah, the toddler . . . a fully mobile being with virtually no commonsense!

For most parents — especially the stay-at-home mum — toddlerdom contains some of our most physically busy years: we’re up, we’re down, and up and down again . . . ‘Don’t touch Nana’s ornament’, ‘No, no, don’t pull the cat’s fur!’, ‘Ah, ah — you mustn’t poke your baby sister in the eye’, ‘Eeek — don’t build sandcastles on the lounge carpet’.

The best toddler-tamers tend to be extremely attentive parents because, let’s face it; toddlers are a hazard to themselves. However, toddlers are meant to be carefree risk-taking thrill-seekers. The toddler years are all about pushing boundaries — it’s in their job description!

 GREAT TOYS AND GAMES FOR TODDLERS

• Lift-the-flap books
• Soft toys, dolls and glove puppets
• Wooden building blocks
• Push-along and pull-along toys, such as trolleys and Buzzy Bees
• A toy tricycle, car, bike or tractor to sit on and push with their feet
• A mini-chair
• Stacking cups or rings and shape-sorter cubes
• Toy workbench with wooden hammer
• Pictorial wooden puzzles
• Rhyming poems and songs
• Arty activities, such as making things with play-doh or fingerpainting
• Imitation and imagination play, such as dress-ups and cardboard boxes
• Listening to music, playing with toy drums and rattles
• Physical activities, such as jumping, running, swimming and hopping
• Bath toys, such as waterproof letters and numbers; toys that float, such as a rubber duck; kitchen colander, plastic funnel, small bucket, small watering can and empty plastic bottles
• Favourite games: chasing blown-up balloons around the room; simple memory-card and counting games; games with rules, such as getting tagged ‘out’; and ball games: rolling, kicking, throwing and catching