Welcome to the whimsical world of toddlers, where each day is filled with non-stop learning, exploring, playing, and growth and development. As parents, we eagerly anticipate every milestone our little ones achieve, making sure to capture each one on video. However, have you ever noticed that sometimes it appears as if they are behind in one area of development while excelling in another? This is definitely a thing and can be attributed to the fact that toddlers often prioritize and focus their energy on working on one specific area of development, be it motor skills or communication skills, depending on their personality, temperament, and preferences.
Learning to walk is a challenge for most toddlers. They need serious focus and concentration as they learn how to balance, deal with falls, and build up the resiliency and courage to get up and try again. And again. And again. And again. Once they do take those wobbly first steps, all of a sudden their little world just got way bigger and so they become obsessed with exploring objects in their environment they previously could only see but couldn’t get their hands on. For seriously motor-driven little ones, it’s only natural that other areas of development, such as communication, take a back seat.
Just like some toddlers are physically motivated, others may be little social butterflies, motivated to interact and communicate with people in their world. These little ones invest their energy in honing their communication skills, even if it means temporarily putting their motor development on hold. They begin to connect the power of language, gestures, and facial expressions with expressing their wants, needs, and emotions.
As parents, we can actively support our little ones’ holistic development by striking a balance between motor and communication skills. Here are a few strategies to consider:
- Provide opportunities for your toddler to engage in activities that stimulate both their motor and communication skills. This can include playing with building blocks, drawing, dancing, or singing nursery rhymes together. Make sure to pair silly action sounds and/or words with physical actions during this fun time. For example, when stacking blocks with your child, say, “up,” repeatedly each time either you or your child stacks a block. Make silly sounds such as “zip,” and “zoom,” when drawing horizontal and vertical lines on paper with crayons.
- Be your child’s social secretary and set up playdates or join parent-child groups to expose your toddler to peers. Social interactions allow them to practice both their motor and communication skills while learning from their peers’ behaviors and language.
- Avoid comparing your toddler to other peers, cousins, or older siblings. This is really hard to do, but it may help to remember that each child has their own strengths, preferences, and personalities and this all comes in to play when they decide which area of development they want to excel at before moving on to the next area.
As parents, it’s our job to lay awake at night wondering if our kids are doing what they’re supposed to be doing when they’re supposed to be doing it. Keep this post in mind, knowing that your little one is progressing in their own remarkable way, hitting milestones on their own timeline.