Play and Playthings by age: 18 months - 3 years

Skill: Gross Motor
Appropriate Playthings: first tricycle, wagon to get into, rocking horse, large balls, outdoor play equipment, push-pull toys

Skill: Fine Motor
Appropriate Playthings: weaving sets, art materials, peg boards, clothes pins for tossing into an open pan, large balls, wheel barrows, sandbox toys, blocks of different shapes and sizes, books (let the child turn the pages)

Skill: Exploration
Appropriate Playthings: sandbox, child-size play furniture, play appliances and utensils, handmade materials, doll furniture, large packing boxes for climbing in and out

Skill: Symbolic Representation
Appropriate Playthings: simple dress-up clothes, stuffed animals, dolls, tea sets

Skill: Problem Solving
Appropriate Playthings: various size boxes, simple puzzles, games, stringing large beads, take-apart toys with parts that snap together, construction toys that snap together

Skill: Creativity
Appropriate Playthings: clay and modeling dough, blocks, large crayons, non-electric trains, blackboard and chalk, simple musical instruments, finger paints, safety scissors, paper and pencils

Skill: Language
Appropriate Playthings: picture books, children's magazines, books on tape/CD, music

What caregivers can do:

• Begin reading regularly (see our early literacy resources).
• Pretend-play (create a traffic jam with a toy car).
• Hide things; "lose" things, and let children hide things from you.
• Build something with blocks.
• Play "guess what it is."
• Tell stories and let children supply missing words.
• Reverse roles (you be the child; child be the caregiver).
• Play follow-the-leader.
• Act out stories.
• Let children imitate your activities (such as washing dishes and cleaning house).
• Notice the child's play and praise efforts.
• Help children to classify objects.
• Sing to children.
• Read to children.
• Go on field trips in the backyard.
• Take children to the library.

Play and Playthings by age reprinted with permission from the National Network for Child Care - NNCC. (1994). Play is the business of kids. In *Better Kid Care: A video learn-at-home unit* (pp. 3-18). University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Cooperative Extension.