Cognitive Development in Toddlers 12 to 24 Months Old

Cognitive development at this stage has advanced to the point where your child exercises their problem-solving abilities to find a hidden toy (12–18 months). They may do something over and over to find out how it works. Also, they are developing a facility for stacking blocks or putting objects into a container (18 months) and most likely derive great pleasure from doing so. Encourage them to explore with their hands and fingers with activities such as scribbling (18 months) with a crayon or playing with a bubble wand.
Support your child to reach their goals and teach them to ask for help. When you see that they are getting frustrated when not able to solve a problem, offer to assist or demonstrate an alternate approach to the problem and work through it together. Help, but do not do it for them; the more they do on their own, the more they will learn.

Activities to Stimulate Cognitive Development in Toddlers 12 to 24 Months

Playing with your child is the best way to encourage your child's positive cognitive development. Provide lots of positive reinforcement for every success, and show patience and understanding for any mistakes. Here are fun activities for you to enjoy together:

Promote memory skills.

• Watch videos of family events or look at photographs to recognize familiar faces.
• Try guiding their hand to draw each letter with finger paint.

Read aloud every day.

• Even if you only read for 5 or 10 minutes, your child will learn words by hearing you say them.
• Make it an interactive experience. Name objects in the books and let your toddler point to them.

Explain things as they're happening.

• Make it a conversation and listen actively when they talk.
• Play peek-a-boo. Peek-a-boo is great for cognitive development as the toddler will learn about object permanence (objects exist even when out of sight).

Ask them to find things.

• You'll be surprised how much they know.

Expand on their words.

• If they say “car,” make it into a sentence.

Put faces to voices to stimulate memory.

• When friends and family call on the phone, put pictures near the phone so they can see who's talking to them.

Sing.

• Introduce nursery rhymes, finger plays and counting rhymes.
• Listen to recordings.

Use the mirror.

• Let them make faces and name their body parts.

Introduce new environments.

• New playgrounds, the grocery store or the children's room at the library are all exciting places to explore.

Play with writing.

• Experiment with chunky crayons.
• Help them colour on paper and learn NOT to eat the paper or crayons.

Provide them with the opportunity to make appropriate choices.

• Let them choose their shirt or what kind of fruit they would like to eat.

Explore new ideas.

• Practice using toys with specific functions, e.g. rolling a toy car.
• Expand this to “real life” play, like having a tea party for teddy bears.

Play together.

• Play side-by-side, allowing them to explore independently with the comfort of your support nearby.

Practice stacking.

• Use blocks to help them develop fine motor skills and understand balance and cause and effect.

Why Is Nutrition Important?

Evidence supports that children who enjoy high-quality nutrition early in life have greater visual acuity, language skills and developmental outcomes. Encourage your child’s success with a balanced diet of nutrient-rich foods.