What Was More Fun As A Child Finger Painting Or Making Things With Play Dough Or Clay

Is my child (3 1/2) developing correctly if she doesn't try to play with things with her hands like cheerios, blocks, clay, etc.? She doesn't appear to have anything wrong, she just hardly uses her hands to do anything. When should I be concerned?

At nearly four I think you should have some concerns, yes. If she’s truly not engaging with any toys or activities at that advanced age then there are definite worries. Does she write or draw or color? Does she feed herself? If she is refusing to use her hands for anything it’s certsinly going to effect her ability to write, use keyboards, etc. He fine motor and manual dexterity skills are already impaired if she’s never interacted with toys or other things to develop those skills. And the tragedy is you probably never encouraged the proper development when she was an infant. Did she play in her food? Was she allowed to get messy? Was she placed on her belly for tummy time? Did she crawl or go straight to walking? Because the crawling stage is of utmost importance to infant/child drvelopment. Did she have mobiles and crib toys to reach for and explore with her hands? Was she consistently encouraged to grasp and hold and teach for toys? Sadly many parents these days just can’t be bothered - too busy with their electronics or their own pursuits - until they begin to notice a child had a problem and by then it’s often too late.Put her in a pre-school. It might help to see other kids playing. But she may also need a medical intervention.

How do I play with toddlers?

After a decade, the years blend. Always explain what you are doing while you do it and why and vocabulary will be huge. It’s exhausting. More people who can play with your child is ideal. Takes a village.The POWER of PLAY.Get down to their eye-level and SMILE. Bright colors don’t hurt.Ages: 1–2.5. People Games: On your lap, play big horse (bumpy ride)/little horse(gentle ride). On your back, toddler (sits on your belly) can play airplane ride and steer. On your lap, can play car ride/seatbelt/(go through the things to get ready in a car before going to Disneyland in Japan), play claw machine (put money in /steer your hand to pick up stuff). Fill a pitcher and play “more” game (pour them a drink and give more when they say more). Throw plastic balls inside a tent.Build magneatos structures.Ages:3–4 People Games Show and Tell them how the world works on your toys or their toys. Kids love turning keys (vet toy dog house), flipping switches, on/off, filling buckets during waterplay, playing with sand sifters, pretending to do mommy or daddy work, cashier, chef, etc. Play bullfighter (you) and bull. Tag is fun but can get rough. My son liked to play slapjack on his head. Drive hot wheelz cars with them. Fake cook with them. Paint pottery with them. Long Balloon sword fights. Sock ball catch or dodgeball on the sofa so you can rest. Play pots and pans/kazoos or xylophone with your child. Be pizzamakers with Model magic clay or playdough. Build lego skyscrapers together. Dance with your child to songs They Might be Giants “Clap Your Hands”. “High Five” “Seven Days of the Week” and more. Sing and watch “Bob the Builder”, “Mickey’s club house”, “Charlie & Lola” “Barney”, ”Blues Clues”(Go deep in their world for first 5 minutes)Read to them Richard Scarry’s books. What do people do all day? Read to them technical books for the sounds of the multisyllable words. Read and play act books like the Three Musketeers so that they can see the action words in action.Tell them about your day. First, second, next, then finally. Ask them to do the same when ready. With boys, talking seems to work best when they’re actively doing something else.