by sylvia guinan salis

Created on: May 12, 2008

Language development through play - for toddlers and preschoolers.

As my twins have just turned three, I thought it would be an appropriate time to share my thoughts on toddlerdom, games and language development. To say that I've spent the last few years immersed in the vagaries, wonders and traumas of preschool reality would be putting it mildly. With my twins I've had to be constantly on the ball and in tune with their needs in a very intense way on all levels. The beauty and challenge of this is that playtime, and language development have had to be major priorities so as to avoid boredom or any kind of neglect, which can wreak havoc, in terms of tantrums, accidents or general household mayhem.

It has been a very rewarding and insightful experience for me and I have been
able to observe my children from different perspectives.

firstly, I had already seen my firstborn through toddlerhood before the birth of the twins

secondly, my twins are boy and girl, so I saw firsthand, developmental issues attributible to gender differences

Lastly I have a one year old soon to be approaching "the terrible twos", so I'm not out of the woods yet and remain immersed in the toddler world for some time to come.

Once you get somewhat into the mind of the toddler, you will come up with hundreds of ideas for engaging and fun activities.

The things that they enjoy are not unlike those of older children in a general sense. For them, make believe is real and reality is make belief. They are open to so much imaginative and sensory experience that really, the world is your oyster. It's about playing with them rather than organising them per se and allowing them to draw you into their world. Basically if you provide them with the right toys or props, their enthusiasm will take the learning experience to wonderful heights. They are little exploring machines and all we have to do is provide engaging stimuli, then play, join in, and guide where appropriate..

I'll start with a list of activities that all of my children and friends' children have unfailingly enjoyed. They love to copy adults, which opens up endless possibilities for language development as they play telephone, for example, using some funny, grown up expressions you always come out with.

Favourites include:

1. Playing with tea sets; rich language learning opportunities there.

2. Dressing up in a silly way in grown up things, mostly accessories, as they are not so good at dressing themselves (they may be afraid of masks).

3. Dolls

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