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YEAR 2: The Importance of Play

Babies learn through their senses (sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell). When they get to be toddlers, they incorporate their senses into learning through play. By 18 months they’re starting to imitate adults’ behaviour, but they can’t distinguish fantasy from reality. They’re also as curious as little monkeys and love opening, closing, and touching anything within reach. This is when parents ‘raise’ their standard of living by putting everything of value out of reach.


Toddlers will play next to but not with another child. They enjoy repetitive games, but the games must be played their way! Parents can guide play to reinforce positive rather than negative behaviour. This they can do by understanding their toddler’s personality traits – their energy levels, response to situations (enthusiastic, curious, cautious, fearful, or adaptable) and how long they enjoy the game.


This second year is when you can nurture a love for books, reading and learning. By identifying pictures, colours and shapes as seen on the page, the toddler is grasping language, cognitive skills and developing his imagination. All this happens while cuddling on your lap, helping your toddler to feel secure and loved and you as the parent to enjoy the privilege of being the first and most important teacher your child will ever have!


Toddlers are also incredibly bold little tigers! They’re quite prepared to\ argue with an adult who towers over them like a genie, to stamp their feet in fury despite a disapproving audience and to defiantly fold their arms and say ‘no!’ to adults we wouldn’t dare to argue with!


Throughout your baby’s first year, NUK Products have been with you every step of the way, helping you to nurture your baby’s senses. This was achieved through sucking and feeding, tantalising taste buds with the introduction of solids, satisfying curiosity with touch and making your baby feel loved with cuddles and bonding time.


During your toddler’s second year, sucking continues to be an important part of learning independence. Dummies are self-comforters that can help toddlers gain confidence when they’re feeling anxious, afraid, and lonely or when they’re concentrating on a task. All NUK Dummies are orthodontically shaped so that they do not interfere with the natural sucking mechanism that synchronises jaw, palate, tongue, and lip muscle development.


The natural shape of the dummy does not interfere with teething, and this follows the NUK Principle of promoting healthy oral health and overall health development.

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