toddler: 1-2 years
Toddlers are continually building an understanding of language and of life through their everyday interactions with their families and other people.
Between 1 and 2 years old
toddlers learn to recognise many more words as well as different tones of voice. They begin to say words, phrases or even sentences and to communicate their thoughts and needs with words.
5 story activities
- Chat about what you are both doing, where you are going and how you are feeling. Ask questions and take the time to listen to your child's responses. He or she will enjoy being listened to and included in conversations.
- Sing nursery rhymes and songs together or put them on the stereo. Add dancing and momement.
- Play simple role-play games: pretend to be familiar people or animals or act out a simple story.
- Enjoy a cuddle a couple of times a day while looking at pictures, catalogues and simple books, reading the story or talking about the pictures and characters. Toddlers love touch-and-feel, and flap books.
- Put books in your child’s toy box and let him or her see you reading, to show they are important.
nursery rhymes and songs
Hey diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle.
The cow jumped over the moon.
The little dog laughed to see such fun
and the dish ran away with the spoon.
Traditional nursery rhyme
Visit 1001 stories for a selection of rhymes and songs for toddlers and pre-school children.
