My Basic Plan for Bree

Bree is only 2 and a bit. It is very important for her to have uninterrupted playtime. I am intending to offer this on most mornings at her house. This helps Bree to be independent and creative. Reading a book or two just before lunch is a must every day. I am going to restrict ‘structured’ type play to just once or twice a week. I prefer to offer this in the mornings as well but I want to make sure that they do not interrupt her Free Play. When Bree pops over to Stella’s house in the afternoons, the little tot gets to play alongside an older child. This will be beneficial to her social development and it is a perfect way to introduce the idea of cooperation. Toddlers are pretty self-centred and there are plenty of things for them to explore and master independently for now. I therefore do not expect Bree to socialise like 4-5 year olds when she is in the company of Stella. People tend to see that being self-centred is bad but I actually think that this is an optimum stage in the child’s life to learn to focus or concentrate independently.

The word ‘structured’ sounds pretty serious but no, the activities I plan for Bree are very simple and no, I do not force her to participate. For example, she had been ladling beans from one large cake mixing (metal) bowl to a smaller salad bowl this week. She concentrates for 10-12 minutes per session. Because this activity involves large beans, I have to supervise closely to prevent choking. Last week, Bree and I played ‘Fetch’. For this activity, Bree had to fetch an item from her kitchen drawer for me. She had to listen to my request before going to the kitchen to fetch the item and then brought the item back in her empty ice-cream container to me. I sat on an armchair in the family area and had full view of the kitchen area that she was heading to. This may be a boring game for someone like Stella and may seem simple but it is not as easy for a toddler. To fetch the right item, Bree had to listen to my request, remember it and then look for it in the drawer to bring it back to me. It is not as simple as the doggy version of fetching a tennis ball that has been thrown. It is also an opportunity to model saying ‘Thank you’ and for her to ask, “What’s next, @#*-@#*?” By the way, she sounded very funny when she said the word ‘next’. It just occurred to me that Bree’s kitchen drawer is an interesting thing to blog about. I think I will do that this weekend.