Play
Why Pretend Play Is Important for Development
In an era of structured learning activities and educational apps, pretend play can seem like a soft option — what children do when there isn't somethi...
3 min read
17 articles found
Play
Teaching Toddlers to Take Turns in Play
"It's not fair!" and grabbing toys from peers are not character defects — they reflect the genuine developmental immaturity of the systems required fo...
2 min read
Play
Building Social Skills Through Play
The playground, playdate, or preschool is where children's social skills truly develop. Unlike social skills taught in a classroom or through explicit...
6 min read
Play
Cooperative Play: How It Develops
Cooperative play—where two or more children work together toward a shared goal—is a significant developmental milestone. Unlike parallel play, where c...
5 min read
Parenting
Teaching Children to Respect Others
Respect means recognizing that other people have feelings, needs, and boundaries that matter. It's fundamental to healthy relationships. Yet many pare...
5 min read
Parenting
How Siblings Affect Each Other's Development
Siblings are often a child's first peer relationship and their most sustained relationship across life. How siblings interact with each other profound...
4 min read
Parenting
How Pretend Play Develops Social Understanding
Your child plays house, pretending to be the parent while you're the child. A toddler talks to a stuffed animal as if it's a real friend. Preschoolers...
6 min read
Parenting
Using Everyday Moments to Teach Social Skills
You don't need special lessons to teach social skills. Mealtimes, transitions, playtime, and sibling interactions are full of opportunities to practic...
6 min read
Family Life
How Children Learn Social Skills Within the Extended Family
Children learn critical social skills not just from parents and peers but from extended family relationships. Interactions with grandparents, aunts, u...
5 min read
Family Life
Relationships With Cousins and Other Relatives
Cousins and extended family relationships are often overlooked in discussions of child relationships, yet they provide valuable social experience and...
4 min read
Emotions
Emotional Intelligence in Early Childhood
Emotional intelligence has attracted significant research and popular attention for its role in predicting life outcomes — sometimes more strongly tha...
3 min read
Daycare
How to Talk to Your Child About Conflicts at Daycare
When a child comes home from daycare with a report of a conflict — either they were hurt, or the setting has told you they hurt someone — the conversa...
4 min read
Daycare
How Daycare Affects a Child's Social Development
Daycare is a social laboratory where children learn essential social skills through daily peer interaction. Unlike family relationships, peer relation...
6 min read
Family Life
Board Games and Family Activities by Age
Games and game-like activities offer young children entertainment, social skill development, and family bonding. Yet game success with young children...
5 min read
Emotions
Teaching Toddlers to Share: What Works, What Doesn't, and What Is Developmentally Realistic
The request to "share that toy" from a parent or early years educator, followed by a toddler's emphatic refusal and sometimes a meltdown, is one of th...
4 min read
Emotions
Peer Pressure: How to Help Children Navigate It
Conversations about peer pressure tend to focus on resistance: teaching children to say no, to walk away, to choose better friends. This isn't wrong,...
5 min read
Emotions
Peer Conflict in Toddlers: Why Children Fight Over Toys and What Adults Should Do
Two toddlers and one attractive toy is a reliably predictable situation: one will take the toy, the other will object, escalation will follow. Adults...
4 min read