Ten things you can do to help your child to play.

Without play children have difficulties forming healthy relationships, they won't learn to develop and function in the world without positive play experiences. Active children are happy children, they are better adjusted, more co-operative with their peers and more popular because of it.

Parents who actively encourage play and communicate with their children provide excellent opportunities for speech and language development, information sharing and use of imagination. Here are ten ways you can help your child to develop through play. This is not an exhaustive list, merely a starter for parents who are uncertain how to encourage their child to become involved in their environment.

1) Allow yourself time to play with your child. We all lead busy lives, so we need to recognise the importance of playing with our children.

2) Have a couple of "treasure boxes" for children to explore. Natural materials, pine cones, leaves,shells,a short chain, a wooden spoon, keys, simple household objects can allow exploration of colour and texture and the developing of hand eye co-ordination. A dressing up box for toddlers, with a variety of old clothes of different materials are good starting boxes.

3) Communicate effectively by using facial expressions, eye contact and a positive tone of voice.

4) Use music to encourage your child to dance and to move more in their play.

5) Encourage messy play using jelly, spaghetti, Playdoh and sand.

6) Provide opportunity for water play with different containers, hose pipes and moulds.

7) Even when the weather is inclement, pull on warm waterproof clothing and get out to the park or beach. 

8) Read or look through books with your child and encourage them to tell a story or extend the story that they are familiar with.

9) Observe your child playing and  comment appropriately, this will help them develop vocabulary.

10) Allow your inner child to have some fun too!

How old is too old for a dummy/comforter?

Babies have a natural sucking reflex in the first few months which makes sucking a bottle, or dummy, comforting for them. From about six months you should introduce the use of beakers or cups.

By a year you should have separated your baby from the bottle or dummy. At about this time continuing with dummies can stop your child from talking properly, and increases salivation and drooling, which in turn can cause skin problems.

Here are six simple things you can do to encourage your child to do without their dummy/comforter.

1) Reduce the use of the dummy to only making it available at bed time and remove it once your child is asleep.

2) Encourage your child to talk by listening carefully and giving your full attention.

3) Encourage choices by naming the foods at meal times.

4) Encourage your child to use words instead of simply pointing at things.

5) Take the dummy out of your child's mouth when they are speaking.

6) Talk to your child. Use picture books and everyday situations like shopping, to encourage your child to talk. The more you talk to your child the more your child will learn and respond.

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