When, what and how to play with a child of 1-1,5 years old?

Olechka, who was about three years old at the time, once said: "I love to work!" What do you think she meant? You'll never guess! She meant play! We've already talked about how play is a learning process for any child. So Olya was right to view her play as work.

At the age of one or two years, when children sleep two more times during the day, the best time for active wakefulness is the intervals between the first and second daytime sleep and from afternoon snack to dinner. If you take it by the hour, then this is approximately from 13.00 to 15.00 and from 16.30 to 19-20 hours. If the child sleeps once during the day, then the time of active wakefulness falls on the time from 9.00 to 12.00 and after the daytime sleep from 15.00-16.00 to 20-21.00. Some children-"larks" who get up early (at 6.00-7.00 in the morning) can be active before breakfast.

In spring and summer, when the child is not sleeping, he should be in the fresh air. (We will talk about the child's games outside when we consider walks.) And now we need to touch on the process of the child's wakefulness while he is at home - for example, during the cold period of time or when the weather is bad outside.

At home, a child can play either alone or under the guidance of an adult. In the first months of the second year of life, children usually reproduce previously learned actions during play. They "feed" and "rock" dolls, "dance" with them. Children observe what surrounds them, in particular - the homework of adults, and take part in it as much as possible. At the same time, play contributes to the general development of the child, expands his personal experience, helps the child develop positive character traits - concentration, persistence, purposefulness. Gradually, elements of what the child sees around him begin to appear in the game: he begins to "read" books, "dress up", "comb his hair", "clean up" the room, etc. This is the so-called imaginative play. For such a game, you need dolls, teddy bears, hares, cats and other animals, dishes of different sizes, boxes that the child can use as a bath, a bed for dolls, etc.

For active games you need carts, cars that children pull behind them with a string, or toys on wheels with a stick (butterflies, birds, etc.) that you can push in front of you. You need balls of different sizes, balls that you can roll and throw, hoops that you can crawl through, boxes that you can climb on, etc.

At the beginning of the second year of life, the child continues to practice developing his motor skills: he climbs a lot, climbing on various objects, climbs up the stairs, walks along a long bench, holding on to an adult's hand. Children love to roll and throw a ball, and after throwing it, run after it. Very often they try to involve adults in this. Little Lesha (1 year 3 months), having "caught" an adult partner, begins to throw the ball to him so that he catches it, and then, spreading his arms, waits for the adult to throw the ball back to him. Naturally, he does not yet know how to catch it, but he is very happy when an adult, swinging, carefully places the ball in his hands. He is especially happy when the adult says: "Well done, Leshenka! You caught the ball!"

Children love to splash in the water. They bathe dolls, launch boats or boats. And while bathing, they love to splash water, splashing it with their hands.

Along with active games, a child at this age likes to stack cubes, pyramids, bricks, and insert sticks or pencils into various holes. (Make sure your child doesn't stick anything into an electrical outlet!) On the one hand, this develops perseverance, and on the other, the small muscles of the hand, which are responsible for fine motor skills.

Children at this age love to imitate adults, putting on their things - for example, their father's hat or mother's boots. They pick up a newspaper (it doesn't matter that it's upside down, but I can "read" like dad!), a broom ("I'm cleaning"), a hammer. Children especially love to rummage through their mother's purse, taking out small items: lipstick, mascara, a mobile phone, etc. And, despite the fact that this may irritate you, you need to overcome yourself and allow yourself to "rummage" through your things. Moreover, it is advisable to accompany each item taken out of the bag with a comment - what it is and why it is needed. Such a calm game is very useful for a child before bedtime.

It is important to remember that there should not be too many toys. This means that the toys that the child is currently playing with should be just enough to maintain the child's attention during the game. If there are too many, the child's attention will be distracted, he will grab one toy after another, and in the end he will not finish anything. It is enough to give the child four or five toys. When the child's interest in them dries up, they should be put away and given the next set, and this one should be hidden for a while. Later, the next day, for example, having given them to the child, you will see that he will treat them as new. At this age, the child may already have a favorite toy that he never gets tired of and which he includes in any of his games. Depending on the gender, this can be a doll, a teddy bear, a dog, a car or even a set of toys (for example, blocks).

Usually, in a family, toys are stored in a box, haphazardly, mixed up - new and old, whole and broken. If you don't want to accustom your child to disorder, sort and repair toys in your free time. And, of course, involve your child in this! Remember that for you it will be work, and for him it is an educational game!

When it's time to go to bed, the game should change from active to calm. Reading or looking at books is best for this. It is important to remember that the child does not yet know how to handle them. Therefore, you should not give him a book and say: "Here. Read." You should sit next to him or sit him on your lap and, showing him the pictures, read the text or independently imagine what is depicted in the pictures. At the same time, you must remind the child that the book cannot be torn, thrown, etc. Otherwise, he will not learn to handle books carefully.

Independent play by a child has great educational value. It allows him to demonstrate resourcefulness, ingenuity, observation, and will. And even if you sometimes have to make room (for example, the "railway" goes across the entire room), then do it. And if the child's play starts to bother you, intervene in it for a while to change the situation in your favor. At the same time, under no circumstances yell at the child for "getting in your way" with his toys, and especially do not kick them away. Even if the child plays for a long time on his own and does not bother you in any way, from time to time you should intervene in the game, directing it in the right direction. For example, if a girl is playing with a doll (putting her to bed, feeding her, etc.), you can say to her: "Look, your doll is sick. Give her a thermometer." And give your daughter a stick, a pencil, or something similar. "Give her a shot. Give her some water. Take the car and take her to the doctor." This will extend the game and give it a new direction. If the child is building something from blocks, you can sit down next to him, build something together, and then, having disassembled the structure, offer him to build the same thing and help if necessary.

It is absolutely unacceptable to interrupt a child's play unless there is a good reason for doing so. Even if you need to feed him, or put him to bed, or dress him for a walk, you must help the child finish the game. If he is building something, you need to help him finish it; if he is driving a locomotive or a car, you need to show him where the final destination is. Let him "drive" his train there, blow the last whistle and go eat: "This is the final station. The locomotive should get here, and the driver should blow the whistle, close the door and go to the canteen to eat." If you do everything correctly, the child will not be nervous, capricious and will eat with appetite. If you interrupt the game rudely, he will be upset, will cry, will not want to leave the toys and will eat poorly. Do you need this?

And one more note. When playing with a child, you should always observe the measure. For active play, during which the child can run, laugh, jump, etc., you need to set aside time during the day or in the evening, but in no case before bedtime. And most often it happens that when adult family members come home from work and, having eaten, done some housework, start messing around with the child, he soon needs to go to bed. Of course, you can understand a dad or a grandpa who misses the baby and wants to play with him. Dear adults! Remember that love is shown in a careful attitude towards the child. And if you "rough it up" before bedtime, then he will sleep poorly, wake up at night and cry, and your game will do him no good, but harm. It is better to play quiet games with him: build something from blocks, read, draw, sing a song to him. Before bed, such games are much more useful than running, wrestling, boxing, football and other "sports".