Child Care: Looking After Baby

Many parents (and pretty much all children!) love making the trip out to an indoor toddler play centre (often known as 'soft play'). If you're new to taking little kids out on trips like this, though, you might be wondering what the deal is: how much will the children interact with each other? How closely do they need to be supervised? When is it okay for you to take a little break?

All children develop at different schedules, which is why a parent shouldn't necessarily be alarmed if their child isn't yet pronouncing words as properly as others in their age group, or according to a parent's expectations. Some children will also simply outgrow a lisp or learn to enunciate as they get older; remember that a child's mouth, tongue, and muscles in the jaw are still developing when they're very young, so they may learn to pronounce difficult words and sounds as they become more physically capable.

Preschoolers enjoy sensory play and find it a useful way to pick up concepts and solidify ideas. Here are some ways to incorporate sensory play into school or home play. Play dough A standard salt play dough recipe of 1 cup of salt, 1 cup of water and 2 cups of flour can make some all-natural non-toxic play dough. Try dying the play dough with natural food dye for an extra pop of colour.