At 15 months old, your child is embarking on a voyage of self-discovery and curiosity, becoming increasingly interested in their surroundings. With newfound independence in walking and stronger communication, their propensity towards playful engagement is expanding, including activities like scooping items, playful scribbling, and simplifying reading materials.
You can harness these explorative instincts to create an environment that enhances their developmental skills. The good news is that most of the materials required for these activities are likely already within your reach. Fostering this learning environment doesn't require specialist equipment or expensive toys. Instead, you can nurture the child's skills through simple and fun activities.
15-Month Milestones - What Skills are Developed?
Your child's newfound physical and emotional skills are developmental milestones - the new abilities that help measure their growth and progress in comparison to their peers. These milestones function as guidelines rather than deadlines, as each child develops at their own pace.
At around 15 months, it's common for your toddler to develop social and emotional, language and communication, cognitive, and gross and fine motor skills. Your child may begin to display affection towards you, try to say the words beyond 'mama' and 'dada', correctly use common objects like a cup or a book, and show progress in physical activities such as walking or feeding herself.
Promoting Development through Play
Engaging your toddler with various fun activities can prove helpful in enhancing their developmental skillset. Five such activities are detailed here, including playing with bubbles, letting them experiment with crayons, introducing them to the concepts of scooping and cleaning, reading a storybook to them, and letting them play with water.
Bubbles can help your child improve their eye-hand coordination and gross motor skills, as well as language development. As they watch you blow bubbles and try to catch them, they absorb the knowledge about basic physics, cause and effect, and hand-to-eye coordination. Additionally, these games encourage your child to communicate better.
Letting your child have their own 'Picasso' moment, where they hold a crayon and scribble on a sheet of paper, greatly aids their fine motor skills. The activity, when paired with a simple song, also improves their verbal communication skills.
Supporting Motor Skills and Communication
A scoop and clean game with blocks can not only entertain your child but also teach them about the consequences of their actions - if they scoop up toys in a bucket, the area turns clean, and if they dump them, it becomes messy again. This game also familiarizes them with basic physics concepts.
Reading a storybook to your toddler can greatly boost their verbal and communication skills, instilling in them better interaction techniques such as listening and interpretation. Asking them to turn the book's pages also develops their fine motor skills significantly.
Lastly, allowing your toddler to experiment with water and a paintbrush can help them significantly strengthen their motor skills. As they practice holding things and painting, their ability to grasp items improves. Describing their actions in simple language also enhances their language skills.
Overall, the promotion of your child's development doesn't have to include complicated activities. Simple day-to-day activities can go a long way to encourage your child's growth. Ensure to foster a playful and interactive environment to help them continue exploring their world.