Development during the first 12 months takes place at a tremendous pace. Your baby’s daily routine should include stimulation of his senses, motor skills and speech development. In order for this development to take place, you need to expose your child to a wide variety of stimulation in a loving, supportive and safe environment.

Provide your child with toys suitable for their age. The toys can take any form - from common household items such as kitchen utensils right through to educational toys. Remember - you do not need to spend a lot of money - just have to use your creativity and imagination!

When playing the games featured in Explore Play, remember that once we learn something new, it’s important to rehearse the new experience and do it or say it over and over again. This action strengthens pathways in the brain and makes it easier to recall. So play the games repeatedly, your child will feel comforted by the repetition, grow from the experience and may even amaze you by playing game slightly differently each time!

En joy means to ADD JOY so stop and take a moment to do just that - choose a favourite game first or sing a silly song or make silly faces, do something that makes you laugh and brighten the mood then play will naturally flow from there – after all it is a joyful activity - remember the goal of play is to HAVE FUN.

It can be funny when fingers get gluey, stickers aren’t found or you topple over on the lawn – laughter and happiness are integral to fun and enjoyment, not all play is serious business. When games don’t go as planned we can offer the irritable or easily frustrated toddler empathy and encouragement and humour is certainly an alternative too.

Infants and toddlers use play to work with all of their muscles, which means that play helps them develop gross motor skills (controlling their large muscles) and fine motor skills (controlling the smaller muscles of their hands and feet) as well as general coordination and balance.

Most children fall into a broad time line of normal milestone development; however each child experiences his own unique pattern of physical development. Although clues and patterns can be picked up in the first year, your toddler is much more interactive and active in the second year and therefore playing and doing activities with your toddler in the second year can really highlight possible delays in physical development and thereby assist as an indicator of both their physical and overall neurological states.

Try to make sure in daily life that you encourage symmetry wherever possible - especially as their bigger muscles start to develop more. What this means is that you should alternate (between left and right) all activities in order to allow both sides of the body to develop equally. This will avoid compensation patterns from arising further down their body.

Within the second year of life this includes:

• Alternating the side that you are on when playing with your toddler
• Changing the position they sit in while bathing
• Moving the car seat to different sides of the car
• Paying special attention to not leaving your child to do passive exercises like watching tv, swinging or sitting in a car seat for too long. Rather allow them to explore, create, imagine and grow.

Messy play is strongly encouraged in the second year of life as it stimulates the senses, builds fine motor skills, encourages problem solving and develops creativity and imagination. In the making of the Explore Play series, we saw a great deal of resistance from parents around messy play because it is less predictable and does, at times, require more effort and planning. But we also saw that once engaged in messy play, both parent and toddler would delight in a sensory rich, learning experience creating the perfect setting for learning.

1. In the second year it is helpful to offer a variety of interesting games and activities that encourage movement and the use of physical energy and also quieter, more focused games that challenge little brains.
2. Make quality time for your toddler each day when they can have your full attention. When you play with your child you are continuously communicating, sharing ideas, encouraging discussion. Your toddler will want you to play with them so join them at their level and let them know you are present and actively partaking and concentrating on their play. If a toddler receives quality time and attention they feel safe and confident to develop their independence and explore their world.
3. Acknowledge your toddler’s need to be independent and to attempt to do many things on their own even though they will seldom get things right on their first attempt. Your toddler needs to learn through interacting with the world around them and this includes lots of trial and error and making mistakes. We learn lasting lessons when given the opportunity to figure things out for ourselves. Your toddler will need you to find a balance between allowing them to develop their independence while still having lots of quality time with you.
4. Get things done while still encouraging play: We live in a time – oriented world where children have to get up, get dressed, eat, get in the car, out the car within certain time limits and can be stressful for them especially when their natural urge is just to play. Try to make these times more playful by singing songs together in the car, telling stories and by giving them more basic choices which allows your little one to feel more in control.
5. Children learn best when they are engaged in a fun and free spirited manner that encourages them to explore their world in a way that feels comfortable and natural. As your toddler’s confidence grows he may become quite assertive about playing games his way or trying his hand at deciding how activities will be done – embrace your toddler’s ability to lead and be creative.
6. Your toddler may relish in new activities or prefer familiar games, they may become frustrated by new challenges or quietly persevere. Regardless of how your toddler approaches games offer encouragement and reassurance, reflect their feelings and model for them how to overcome challenges. You can teach your toddler that they can ask for help when they are stuck and that it is okay not to always get things right the first time. In early play children are already learning valuable life lessons.
7. You can support your toddler in developing existing and new strengths by providing games and activities that they have mastered and feel confident with as well new games that set manageable challenges for them figure out. Trying to engage your toddler excessively in games that are beyond their capabilities will frustrate and dishearten them – slowly does it when it come to increasing the complexity of games and activities.

Parents need to stop thinking about what they don’t have and can’t afford when it comes to toys and games and to begin thinking about what they do have and how these things can be used. If you can begin to think creatively about play, you will feel inspired and empowered to tackle stimulation and development with ease and confidence.

Toy 1 - Simple Finger Puppets

You will need: The cardboard inner from a toilet roll or roller towel Paper Scissors A black pen or marker Glue or sticky tape
Instructions Take a piece of paper and draw a circle or any shape you like Fill in the shape with black lines, patterns or a simple face using the black pen or marker Cut out your shape and attach it to the cardboard inner using glue Place two fingers in the toilet roll inner and gently move the “finger puppet” across baby’s line of vision	Benefit: Encourages visual tracking so that baby can strengthen those little eye muscles and begin to focus and follow items in their line of vision more accurately Bright idea: For older babies and toddlers stick faces of animals and people on your toilet roll inner and make up your very own puppet show for your little one.

Toy 2 - A simple mobile

You will need: A plastic or wire coat hanger Lengths of ribbon, wool, scrap fabric, tinfoil, wrapping paper or cellophane paper Other items of interest you may want to tie to the end of the lengths of wool or ribbon A cup hook A length of string Sticky tape (optional)

Instructions Take a coat hanger Attach the lengths of ribbon, wool, scrap fabric, tinfoil, wrapping paper or cellophane paper by knotting them to the coat hanger or securing them with sticky tape Add on interesting items of your choice Attach mobile to the ceiling using a cup hook or length of string or hang the mobile in a sunny window or somewhere where your baby can lie or sit and watch the interesting odds and ends move around in the breeze

Benefit: Encourages baby to focus and provides a visual stimulus to stimulate little brains. If you hang the mobile low enough you will also encourage baby to reach and grasp at the interesting things he can see. Bright idea: The great thing about this inexpensive home made mobile is that you can add to it and change it all the time so that baby has new and interesting things to look at.

Toy 3 - Story Board

You will need: A piece of recycled cardboard from an empty cereal or washing powder box A piece of scrap fabric or wrapping paper Sticky tape or glue Felt sheets (R2.95 a sheet) or coloured cardboard Scissors

Instructions Take the recycled piece of cardboard cut from your empty box and cover with fabric or wrapping paper to make an interesting board Cut shapes from the felt in an assortment of sizes – small, medium and large. Think squares, circles, triangles rectangles, diamonds and so on. Place different shapes together on the board to create different pictures like a house, car, space rocket, face and so on.

Benefit: You can use the opportunity to talk about colours and shapes and encourage your little one to use their imagination to use the different shapes to create pictures. Bright idea: Include other materials like cotton wool, leaves and twigs from the garden and lengths of string or ribbon to add to your picture making.

Toy 4 - Bag of surprises

You will need: A simple draw string bag or pillow case Interesting items from around your home that your toddler can take out of the bag and explore

Instructions Take your draw string bag or pillowcase and fill it with interesting items that your toddler can explore – just ensure they are age appropriate items Give it to your little one to unpack and explore what they find Talk about the different things your toddler finds in the bag Rotate and add new items on a regular basis

Benefit: Develops problem solving, encourages object identification, encourages language development and fine motor skills. Bright idea: Keep this bag in a cupboard or draw and bring it out as a special play time activity when your little one seems to be looking for something new and different to do.  The simplest household items and toys that haven’t been seen for a while have great appeal for toddlers.

Through play, your child learns about co-operation, taking turns, asking for help, sharing, being assertive and taking charge of their world. Imaginary play also enables your child to make sense of the world around them as they act out the various roles they see being played out around them and everyday scenarios they witnesses or are part of. The role of the mother, the role of the father, the role of the doctor, the baby and friend are often all evident in your child’s play if you watch listen closely.