Me and My Friends

Materials You Need: Simple playthings or outdoor materials; A safe, well-supervised place for a small number of children to play together.

What You Can Do Together: At this age, your child is beginning to play together with others of his age—not just side by side but starting to do things together. If possible, bring a small number of children together, at first for short playtimes (unless your child has had many opportunities in childcare programs). In some locations, public parks are good places to find a few playmates, health restrictions permitting. Watch for signs of your child showing interest in playing with another child. If they don’t seem to know what to do, you might make a suggestion or offer objects: “Look, here are two spoons, one for each of you. Can you dig a hole together? Can you dig a really, really big one?” It’s important to supervise for safety and to support children if there are conflicts. Remember that they don’t have a lot of words yet, and their social skills are at an early stage.

What Your Child is Learning: Your child is beginning to enjoy social interactions outside his family. In school and in life, social competence will be important and will give him pleasure. Your child will also need his thinking skills to plan what and how to play with other children and will develop a greater ability to manage or “regulate” his emotions so that the play can continue.