I’m a big kid now!
Your toddler may still be your “baby”, but they are getting bigger and more capable every day. Encourage independence – give them little jobs to build confidence, self-respect, and independence.
When trying new skills, children learn through trial and error!
- Allow your children to try eating with utensils. Even though there will invariably be a mess that follows, children feel incredible pride when they finally get their food to stay on their spoon and into their mouths!
- Resist the urge to take over when your children attempt to get dressed themselves. Provide a little guidance when they get stuck or frustrated, but let them work through finding the arm-holes or pulling their shorts up over their diapers.
- Sometimes children are just as surprised when they can do things as you are!
-
-
- Let your child experiment with climbing up onto the couch or sliding off the bed. Provide some “spotting” to ensure that they don’t fall or get hurt, but give them a little space to flex those muscles!
- Squeeze a little soap onto their hand in the bathtub and ask them to help you wash their body, or try asking them to rub a little lotion onto their legs after their bath.
- Give your child a children’s toothbrush and let them chew on it to “brush” their teeth. Then you can “double check” that there is no food left in their teeth!
-