Play is one of the most important ways children learn how to relate to other people. As they play, young children will find cooperation less frustrating and more satisfying than competition. Play enhances a sense of cooperation which is far more valuable traits than having a spirit of cut-throat competition. In addition, when children compete, only one person or team wins; everyone else loses.

It is important to remember not to pressure or demand children to excel at every physical task. The goal is to encourage youngsters to want to become more skilful. Don’t worry if your toddler doesn’t play with the toys you buy her/his like it is shown on the box or the way that your neighbor’s child plays. All children have their own way of playing, exploring and learning. Remember to provide toys for your children that encourage interaction. You and your toddler could entertain yourselves by having pretend conversations on toy telephones etc. At a later stage, you will find that dolls, stuffed toys, toy utensils, etc. also encourage role play in your toddler.

Safety
As parents and caregivers one of our main objectives is to provide children health and safety without being overprotective. It is especially during play that we have to keep a lookout for dangers at home and elsewhere. A good parent is observant of the environment the child spends time in, ensuring that there are no dangerous items the child is exposed to such as nails, glass or other sharp and harmful objects.

Congnitive Development
When we talk about cognitive development we usually mean the ability to read, write and do math and other logical and scientific reasoning. It is a well accepted fact amongst researchers of, child development that a child’s biological set up and environment shapes his or her brain. The biological set up (genes) plays the role of forming all the cells and brain regions while the environment (along with daily experiences) fine tunes and triggers the brain to learn and to adapt to different situations.

Environment & Experiences
At birth, the parts of the brain that handle thinking and emotional and social behavior are considerably underdeveloped. It is the outside world and environment with its plethora of experiences that shape these facilities of the brain. Everything that is sensed through sight, hearing, touch and smell develop the way people think, learn and behave.

Adults can help children develop thinking and reasoning skills by seeking answers to questions and problems together. Children become more creative as you encourage them to come up with their own ideas and solutions and then filter out the right answer. Explore the world with your children. They can be taught to recognize shapes and colors when you are out on the road and similarly introduce them to numbers by counting out loud when you are shopping for groceries and then proceed to basic mathematical operations. One can enhance children’s mathematical skills by introducing them to simple, enjoyable activities involving counting and sorting, simple measurements and calculations.

Nutrition
Many things can affect the growing brain. One of the most essential ones is nutrition. Children who are malnourished have more likeliness of undergoing inadequate brain growth, slower language and weaker memory. Research has reinforced the fact that breast-fed babies result in better learning advantages over babies fed formula milk and other substitutes to the mother’s milk. Some types of food that can enormously affect the adequate growth of your child’s brain are: seafood (highly important for pregnant mothers), red meats, eggs, leafy vegetables, soybeans and walnuts. All of these have been found to greatly enhance improvement in learning, mental alertness and clarity of thinking. They are also known to elevate the child’s mood, improve memory and learning.

Social Development
The social development of children incorporates all elements that influence their everyday behavior and their interaction with others. Each and every aspect of a child’s role as a social being is adapted from observing their parents, their immediate and extended family interactions and relationships.

Language & Communication Skills
As caregivers, we play an important role in helping children learn to communicate with others, and eventually, to read and write. Recent evidence indicates that the role of language is not solely to communicate one’s wants and needs but in fact having a good command of language goes hand-in-hand with the ability to be creative and to imagine new ideas and concepts. The fundamental approach parents ought to have during conversations with their children is to listen with sincere interest, to respond in a way that will enhance and continue conversation, and to allow the child time to formulate their ideas and answers. Waiting for replies is one of the most important things we can do to encourage language growth. Slow down and take the time to listen to what children have to say. Encourage conversation between children by urging them to ask questions of each other and engaging in interesting conversations among themselves. Parents that talk more to their children boost their vocabulary comprehensively. The habit to regularly read to your child also helps expand the child’s vocabulary