Social and emotional development
Your toddler wants you to be near him when he plays, and sometimes he wants you to help him, but he also wants to do things in his own way. He's both exploring and experimenting. Make suggestions, give him good ideas, show him things, but don't dominate. Let him be the leader. You can help him to play and concentrate for longer periods of time by stepping in when he gets stuck, giving him encouragement, and helping him to complete challenging tasks.
At this age, your toddler is much more aware of what you say and do. He'll want to help you and imitate what he has seen you do. Imitative toys like a tea set, a play house, or a toy telephone give your child a chance to play games where she imitates you in real life. This is great for encouraging speech as she invents conversations on the phone or with a doll.
Playing with others
Your toddler may become attached to a transition object, like a toy animal or blanket, as a comforting presence to take everywhere she goes. Although toddlers enjoy being with other children, they tend at first to play alongside rather than to interact with the other toddlers. Nonetheless, as they become more aware of each other, social interaction will begin and you may need to supervise -- or intervene if and when they get into conflict with one other. Over time, you can help your toddler learn how to play cooperative games with siblings and other toddlers. Make it easy for toddlers to share. When they're playing with others, offer toys with lots of pieces or material to go around, such as modelling clay or interlocking blocks or crayons.
Imagination
As your toddler gets closer to age two, he'll begin to use his imagination to animate objects, toy animals, dolls, and other toy people. He may use these "animated" creatures to act out scenes from everyday life and show his feelings. This adds an exciting new dimension to his play. Make-believe play increases his language skills in social interaction, provides a wonderful way to express and release feelings and individual or imitative creativity.
Puppets are wonderful toys to encourage this kind of imaginative play. You might help make puppets from old socks or mittens by sewing on buttons or beads for eyes and nose and using string for the hair. Paper-bag puppets offer children the fun of painting faces.
