Your Toddler is a Looker

This is a part of a series of articles based on the book ‘How to Maximize Your Child’s Learning Ability’ by Dr. Lauren Bradway and Barbara Albers Hill

Tips for enhancing an toddler's existing looker skills 

Once you have identified your toddler as a looker as per Dr. Bradway's Quickcheck, there are a few things you can do to further develop his 'looker' abilities. Take him outdoors and play a game with him where he has to identify different objects that you name like a tree, bird, dog, etc. Encourage the artist in your toddler and give him different coloured papers and crayons, chalk or colour pencils so that he can scribble to his heart's content. Give him plenty of old magazines to do with as he pleases. Put together an album of pictures of the immediate family and familiar objects and go through it with your toddler. Buy him toys that require him to match and sort shapes and colours. Get him boxes or vessels of different sizes that he can fit one into the other. Make him pour water from a plastic pitcher into plastic cups. Draw a basic outline of a table setting (plate, fork, knife, spoon) and try to make your toddler follow the plan using actual utensils. Encourage him to play with puzzles and keep him supplied with fresh ones by exchanging puzzles with neighbours and friends.
 

Developing listener skills in looker toddlers 

The basic aim of these activities is to encourage your toddler's conversational and listening abilities. Activities such as playing with hand puppets, make-believe tea parties, and playing shop with your toddler fulfil this objective. When speaking to your toddler, speak loudly, enunciate your words and keep your sentences short and simple. If your toddler mispronounces a word, repeat what he has said pronouncing the word correctly. Don’t make television a habit. Read aloud to your toddler, tell him stories and make him listen to songs. Play hide- and-seek with your child at home where he has to find you following the sound of your voice. Hide a special treat somewhere in the house and give your child verbal directions to find it. Pop-up, scratch-and-sniff, and lift-and-look books help to make story-telling come alive for your toddler.  Build your child's vocabulary by organizing special outings to new places like the zoo, the grocery store, and the park.
 

Developing mover skills in looker toddlers  

The best way to do this is by encouraging as much outdoor activity as possible. When playing in the park, toddlers usually run, jump, and climb and this encourages the development of their gross motor movements. If you have the space, an inflatable pool is a good purchase. Make your toddler walk along a two-inch by four-inch wooden plank with his arms outstretched. Sing and act out the song, "This is the way we touch our toes…" Pretend that you and your toddler are in a marching band with instruments like the drums and cymbals to keep time. You can also march to music with your toddler to improve his coordination. Act out routine actions like shaving and brushing your teeth and ask your toddler to identify what you're doing. Make a playhouse complete with "doors" and "windows" using old cardboard cartons. Crawl inside with your toddler and play house.