Activities to Encourage Social & Emotional Development: 12-18 months
The online magazine Parents.com recently published an article providing several activities to encourage social and emotional development for 12-18 month olds. The activities include:
1.) Snuggle with your child
- Touch your child. Give him kisses, hugs, and snuggles
2.) Make time for games
- Play games with your child such as rolling a ball back and forth. Games help your children learn to take turns
3.) Name your toddler’s emotions
-Help your child identify his emotions by naming them. He might be overwhelmed by anger, fear, or sadness. Giving him names for his feelings makes them less scary
4.) Take him out on the town
-Go out! Take your child to restaurants, museums, stores. Run errands. Do everyday life stuff that involves interacting with people to model how to do it, and give your child opportunities to practice himself if he wants to. He will start to interact with people of all ages when he’s ready.
5.) Give him positive reinforcement
-Celebrate your child for being good. If he wants attention and gets more of it when he is mischievous than when he is behaving well, he will tent toward being more mischievous in the future.
6.) Act silly
-Feel free to act silly with your child. Make funny faces, do a crazy dance, and wear pants on your head. Doing silly things is liberating and it makes your child laugh. It’s great for everyone!
