The period from birth to about two years of age is the “play alone” phase for your baby. If you remember, your baby first plays with himself; he was trying to get to know his own body; Then he became interested in the stimuli around him and by following the colors, sounds and movements around him, he reacted to these stimuli and developed games.
Between 12 months and 18 months, your baby’s more curious and fast learning identity; Thanks to his muscle control, which also increases his dominance, he will be able to deal with those around him, especially in finer details. During this period when he discovers his surroundings, your child will rightfully prefer to play alone. Indeed, there is so much to learn and do!
Parallel Game
While many children show that they enjoy socializing gradually, especially after 18 months, they still continue to play alone. During these periods, they pass into the parallel game phase. In other words, they enjoy being with other friends; They probably like to play side-by-side with other children, but often play their own games independently. Even though they don’t play together, they watch each other and try to ask for a toy, speak their mind, etc. situations, they may interact with each other to a small extent.
And socializing…
Real socializing and playing together will begin after the age of three. In short, the next year will be the period when your baby will prefer to spend time with himself and with you, and will constantly try to discover something new. The more “ready” the environment you will prepare for him, that is, it is prepared in a child-friendly way and in a way that supports development, the easier your job will be.
In this period, if you want to increase your baby’s communication with other babies and children or to support his progress in socialization, you can arrange a playtime with one of your neighbors, for example, once a week. They won’t be friends yet, but they can still start taking small steps to communicate and socialize.
Playgroups and a “yes” environment…
If you are going to playgroups to step into socialization, we will recommend you to choose groups that are not too crowded first. At first, groups of two or three will make your baby feel better. If you are planning or have started to join professional playgroups such as Playorena, Gymboree or My Gym, we have some important advice for you. Please do not force your baby to participate in the game. Let him watch, listen, let the desire to participate first and then start to participate. Sometimes, when you bring your baby to participate in the group play with such effort, your baby may prefer to play with the lock of a locked box that he sees there. Probably the current “sensitive developmental period” is different. Sometimes, he may prefer to stand on the sidelines or play with different things, as if he is not interested in games at all. However, he is probably listening to the songs being sung and learning by observing the games in between. It is important that such environments are a “yes” environment for your baby, not “no” or “come on”. After a few weeks, you may notice that your baby has suddenly joined the group and is trying to hum the lyrics of the songs, imitating their movements as if he knew them. The important thing is that we manage to adapt to the rhythm of our babies during these periods, and that we allow them to be fed in those areas by observing their interests correctly. When we offer a stimulus on a subject that interests them, their focus time will increase, and their development in this area will progress much faster.