by Kimberly Wolf

Created on: October 02, 2008   Last Updated: October 21, 2008

Providing your toddler with a happy and healthy environment to thrive in requires a lot of time, nurturing, and attentiveness on the part of the parents. This can be an intimidating responsibility because we are laying the foundation for the physical, intellectual, and emotional well being of our child. As a first time parent and friend to other first time parents, I am finding out that creating the most suitable environment for your toddler to thrive in varies with each child's individual needs.

From the moment we bring our tiny cooing bundle home from the hospital to the time we are all but bubble wrapping our house to prevent trips to the hospital, we instinctively begin providing basic needs for our child. The need for unconditional love and affection, mental and physical stimulation, and social interaction does not change from infant to toddler, but how we cater to those needs does change. As they begin to understand and navigate the world around them, toddlers will be able to comprehend more complex concepts such as learning to talk and carrying out simple requests made by their parents. We can encourage our toddler's growing curiosity about understanding our world by providing them with some essential needs.

Toddlers need plenty of love and affection and will learn how to reciprocate their love and affection to others from you. Make sure you let them know how much they are loved through plenty of verbal and physical displays of affection. Hugs, kisses, and cuddling comes naturally to some parents while others may need to make a more concerted effort to display their emotions. If you are one parent that needs to make more of an effort, by no means does this imply that you care for your child any less than someone who has no problem displaying their emotions. The fact that you do make an effort to provide this vital need for your toddler to thrive both psychologically and socially puts any such implication to rest.

Thanks to modern technology, we have access to a myriad of learning tools, toys, and games built especially to help toddlers expand their physical and mental capacity. Take advantage of them! These games and toys can also give your toddler some independent play time which lets you have some of that rare and sacred free time to relax, if only for a few moments. You can also play simple games with your toddler that achieves the same result at my favorite price: free. Play basic recognition games such as pointing out shapes, objects, and people to

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