Intellectual Development means being able to communicate, to think both creatively and abstractly, to pay attention, solve problems, and develop keen judgment and a lifelong readiness to learn.

Comfort Through the comfort and responsiveness of an adult, toddlers will learn how to handle their emotions and how to seek help when needed. Parents Can: Be patient – do not rush to fill in the words when their toddler is talking, as he may be organizing some thoughts Child Will: Know you are interested in what he has to say, and that he can take time to organize his thoughts without feeling rushed Parents Can: Provide opportunities for their toddler to talk about things that she finds interesting Child Will: Want to have conversations with others, and include them in experiences Parents Can: Encourage imaginative play Child Will: Feel secure enough to experiment with different roles, and use language to express herself

Play Through opportunities for play, toddlers will experience joyful, free, spontaneous moments of fun while learning about themselves and others. Parents Can: Ask questions requiring a choice (for example, "Do you want the round cracker or the square one?") Ask open-ended questions (for example, "How does the bunny feel to you?" "What did you see on your walk?") Child Will: Feel that his opinions matter Practice using descriptive words Parents Can: Let their toddler fill in the blanks while singing a song Child Will: Use words that he has heard repeated Enjoy singing important words on his own Parents Can: Have conversations during play time that encourage their toddler to talk about what she is doing Child Will: Master the ability to express her feelings about daily events, and know that you are interested

Teach Through routines and emotionally and physically safe and secure environments, toddlers can learn how to think, solve problems and communicate. Parents Can: Keep expanding on language by adding more new words and descriptions about events in their toddler's day Child Will: Develop confidence in the use of many words and feel secure enough to try new words Parents Can: Start introducing basic concepts into conversations, such as time, colour and size Child Will: Begin to develop an understanding of abstract concepts (such as time, opposites and size) and will use these in her daily conversations

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