Tips for Shy Toddlers

Do you have a shy toddler who always clings to your legs? Here are some tips we can share to help you encourage him to overcome his shyness and make him to be more social and outgoing:

Give him some time to get to know new surrounding and situation
Since toddlers always have something new to know and experience, this will be a bit difficult for shy toddlers to overcome. He might be worry, afraid, shy but curios as well. You as his parent can give support and encouragement by giving him some time to learn, try, mingle with and grow in his new environment. It mostly happens on the toddler’s first time in daycare / preschool, a play date or even being around family members he never or seldom meets.

Give positive encouragement than criticism
Every one is unique. Being shy is also one of uniqueness one has. Though it is a matter of personality trait, you as parent can help him to lessen this. You can let him know that we are all unique human beings who should be loved and accepted as we are. And please always keep in your mind not to compare him with somebody else. Anyway, we can choose not to be too shy since we need to mingle with somebody else. We cannot live alone. By the time goes by, he will get this idea and hopefully won’t be too shy anymore.

Help him to be confident
Some toddlers are shy because they are lack of confident. It might happen because they are not sure if they do something correctly and they are afraid of thier parents’ reaction. For example, your toddler colors the sky green, the flower black, the leaves purple, etc based on his imagination or favorite color at that time. You as parents can give him credit for his work.

The most important of all you can do for him is that you show your love, understanding, positive thinking and encouragement. You can share your problem with your parents too or any other relatives you trust, especially if you yourself were shy too. They must have solution and suggestion for you based on their experiences.

Do Toddlers Need Musical Toys?

The Answer is yes, toddlers do need musical toys! Since two years old, children begin to show their physical responses to music, repeat musical phrases and differentiate rhythms, intonations, tempos and other musical concepts. To help them develop musical skills while playing, we can sing and let them sing along with us some familiar lullabies, finger play songs, or through some musical toys. Of course they will not match the exact tune at first, but they will in time. Some examples of musical toys are band in a box, piano, saxophone, trumpet, microphone, etc. there a lot of choices you can find in a toy store or on-line store. You can choose one suitable with your toddler’s interest. For the beginning, you can give your toddler simple rhythm toy instruments to play with. Next time you can play a piano / keyboard, guitar or trumpet and see his response to it. I found some boys are interested in a set of drums. Maybe you can buy one for your beloved toddler too.

Besides musical toys, we can play some musical CDs or DVDs. One experience I have with my toddler is he likes music and tends to explore music through body movements. Whenever I play a record, he always moves his arms and hands following the tempo. He also loves to touch his body parts when I play Baby Einstein DVD From Head to Toe. Sometimes I hear him humming the rhythm of that song too.

Another alternative to introduce music to your toddlers is by giving visual stimulation while you sing a song. For instance, you sing a song about star, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. You can point to a star above and move your hand like sparkling in the dark. Or you can give your toddler a flower when you sing about it. Or you can be a flying flight / bird and let your toddler follow you “fly” around the room.

Have a nice try.

What Toys Really Do for Toddlers

One of the most primary parts in toddlers’ development is playtime. There are various kinds of toys and as a result there are so many activities of playing that toddlers can experience. Of course, each toy will provoke different activity, and each activity will give different influence in the toddlers’ development. There is no doubt that toys hold a very significant role for children’ development.

Toys have accompanied children in playing since long time ago in all society, ethnicity and cultures. And as the technology becomes more and more advanced year by year, the dynamic development of toys influence the toddler’s well being. As a matter of fact, toys nowadays play the main role to help encourage the physical, emotional, mental and also social development of a young child since toys are the fundamental tools to stimulate and thus build up toddler’s imagination, creativity and thoughts.

Meanwhile, outdoor baby toys can be used for involving toddlers in outdoor activities. As far as I’m concern toddlers have the right to play during childhood and outdoor activities are still the best way to support this right. Such activities will generate healthy toddlers with good motor skills.

Above all, toddlers will obtain a firm foundation for learning through play. Toys are fun and yet toys are educating as long as we know how to manage the activities that can be generated by a certain toy. Excellent and innovative toys are able to engage your toddler’s interest and his passion for fun, while they develop his motor, cognitive and social skills. Just don’t forget to search for toys suitable for your toddler’s interest and age, and then add some surprises to broaden his world of fantasy and imagination.