Imagine you are stuck at the airport on a foggy New Year’s Eve hoping and praying that your plane will be able to land and you’ll be able to board and get back home in time for that quiet, romantic New Year’s dinner you and your husband have been planning for all week. That was the scenario for my daughter-in-law, Feleicia, and her 15-month old baby, Brooklyn last week. The flight was delayed, then delayed again, then delayed a third time, and finally, after a grueling 5-hour wait, was finally canceled.
Fortunately for this mom and toddler, there is a family tradition of making handmade toys for each of the grandchildren at Christmastime every year, and Brooklyn’s Grandma Bailey created a genius little contraption that reportedly kept this toddler and several other youngsters entertained as they sat at the airport waiting…and waiting.
Grandma Bailey simply cut a small one-inch-diameter hole in the lid of a recycled plastic container. Next, she added a supply of brightly-colored pom-poms that can be pushed into the hole by tiny fingers, dumped out, then pushed back in again. The result is a toy that can mesmerize a toddler. NOTE: Because this toy presents a potential choking hazard, it should only be used when there is an adult close by to supervise.
Why does a toddler get a kick out of repetitive games like this one? We have a couple of favorites at our house that we use to entertain the under-age-two crowd. One is a cardboard wrapping paper tube that you can drop balls into and watch them roll out the other end. Totally hilarious to a 15-month old! Another favorite is a small metal vase with some marbles from the Chinese Checkers game (also a choking hazard, so the marbles are stored away from toddlers when there’s not a grownup around). The little ones LOVE to put the marbles in and hear them “kerplink” into the bottom of the vase, then dump them out. Put them in. Dump them out. Put them in. Dump them out. I can guarantee that the adult will tire of this game long before a toddler will.
So what’s up with repetitive games like this and why do they have so much appeal for a toddler?
According to Parents magazine, “While it may seem like they’re just making noise by opening and closing a door, drawer, or container, they’re learning more than you think: how objects work, the sounds they make, and the basic concepts of “open” and “closed,” says Tovah Klein, Ph.D., director of Barnard College’s Center for Toddler Development in New York.”
A toddler is learning to hear and see subtle changes in the environment around her, and repetition is a way for her to start to get a handle on how the laws of physics work. While she may lack the dexterity to stack up blocks, Brooklyn LOVES to knock them over. She can’t put Duplo blocks together herself yet, but she can be entertained for a solid ten minutes pulling apart a stack of blocks I’ve put together for her. It’s a puzzling thing for an adult. “Usually, my baby’s attention span is so short, I have a hard time dreaming up a game to keep him occupied long enough to brush my teeth, but if he discovers that the toilet paper can be unrolled, he’ll unroll it every single day,” complained one mom.
Speech therapist, Carianne Vermeulen, assures parents that these repetitive games are normal and points out another important reason why repetition is so healthy for a baby’s brain:
“Repetition provides your baby with multiple opportunities to strengthen the pathways of the brain. The more connections the brain has, the greater its processing power. More connections also mean that information can travel in a number of ways, opening the door to more complex thinking.”
Turns out that all of that repetition is simply a toddler’s method for practicing skills she will need as she works to master how her brain and body function together. The “sameness” of the task is soothing and predictable, and that’s probably why a little one prefers it. Toddlers seem to appreciate repeated confirmation that things stay the same, and they seem to especially love knowing what to expect. That’s why your youngster loves playing pat-a-cake over and over again. It’s why a toddler has a preference for a specific book and wants to read the same one every day, even though there is a shelf full of others that are just as colorful. That baby who can’t quite walk yet but loves to go up and down a single stair with you holding on to her hands? She’s using the safety of your reassuring touch while she practices a complex motor skill she’ll use for the rest of her life.
The beauty is that once you understand the phenomenon of repetitive play, you can put it to good use for finding lots of activities that will entertain your toddler for a significant chunk of time–or at least long enough that you can get your teeth brushed. Here are a few more to try.
