Bambinos

Our toddlers need to be supported to do things for themselves – which is what they want to do!

Toddlers love exploring, they are discovering how things work. Messy play is great for toddlers, it helps them to explore and investigate but also to build their fine motor muscles, practicing threading skills and mark making.

Toddlers love playing - and that’s how they learn. Everything that they do now is helping them prepare for school in some way. Toddlers love getting involved in songs and rhymes. They join in with actions in the songs and stories that they know, and they can guess what comes next. Toddlers often listen to stories, and they will talk about the pictures in their favourite books, and what they think is happening. With recognizable pictures and labels around them, they know where to find things and these often prompt them to use more words. Our toddlers are beginning to say some counting words, and they will randomly engage in counting in their play. They will join in with number songs and are starting to say some numbers in the right order. Their towers are normally at least 10 blocks high and they like stacking and can use blocks and cups together too. With their mathematical minds they are working out which shape goes where in different shape sorters including puzzles.

Our toddlers need to be independent, so they need to ask adults to enable them to do this safely. They are supported to serve their own meals, pour their own water, and to use a knife and fork and an open cup – they are also reminded to wash their own hands. Our toddlers are learning how to recognise when they need to use the toilet, to tell an adult, and to follow the routines to go. They should wipe their own nose. Toddlers still need to sleep, so have a space that is protected for rest, relaxing, and comfortable. Our toddlers need support from adults to recognise their ‘big emotions’, so if they are feeling happy or sad, they know what that is, and can tell someone. Their communication is improving, they can make many different sounds with their mouths and can listen to and match all sorts of different sounds. They are starting to talk in full sentences and are trying to follow three-word instructions, but they do become frustrated, quite often and they don’t quite know how to do something that they want to do. They need adults that ‘get them’ and who don’t get cross, but give them the help that they need to learn to play socially. Our toddlers need to be supported to know what to do, so they understand and can copy. They are learning important things like sharing, turn-taking, and showing kindness to their friends. Adults support them to do what is right, and to recognise what is wrong, so they learn quickly and can do more for themselves without getting frustrated.

Toddlers love spending time outside – they know how to get themselves ready to go out, putting on their own coat and shoes. They can walk confidently on trips, but they also love spending time in the gardens, exploring and playing. They love being physical, climbing, balancing, running and jumping – adults need to provide lots of opportunities to do this both inside and out.