The Toddler Games

Balance
The ability to assume and maintain body positions against the force of gravity. A sense of balance is crucial for learning how to sit, stand, walk, run, jump, skate, and ride a bike.

Body Awareness
A person’s understanding of what limbs, joints, and muscles feel like as well as his ability to locate his own body parts.

Concept Awareness
An understanding of specific concepts, such as open/closed and big/little.

Creative Expression
Using voice, movement, or art (such as painting or drawing) to communicate feelings and ideas.

Eye-foot Coordination
Gauging distance and depth with the eyes and processing that information to coordinate when and where to place the feet. Eye-foot coordination is required, for example, when kicking a ball or walking on uneven path.

Eye-hand Coordination
Directing the position and motion of the hands (when tossing or catching a ball, for instance) in response to visual information.

Fine Motor Skills
Control of the small muscles, especially those in the hands, to execute small movement, such as picking up a raisin, cutting with scissors, writing, and using buttons, snaps, and shoelaces.

Gross Motor Skills
Control of the large muscles, such as those in the arms and legs. Gross motor activities include walking, running, and climbing. Click here for more detail.

Language Development
The complex process of acquiring language skills, including understanding human speech, producing sounds and spoken language, and learning how to read and write.

Listening Skills
The ability to discern various sounds, including music, rhythm, and pitch, as well as the intonation of spoken language.

Rhythm Exploration
The act of exploring the rhythms and underlying beat of music through movement.

Self-Concept
A child’s understanding that he is an individual person. A child who has a good self-concept feels good about himself.

Social Skills
Interacting and relating appropriately to other people, including sharing, taking turns, and recognizing other people’s emotions.

Tactile Stimulation
Input to receptors that respond to pressure, temperature, pain, and the movement of hairs on the skin. Tactile stimulation enables a child to feel comfortable with new experiences such as first foods and unexpected touch.

Visual Discrimination
The ability to focus and distinguish objects within a visual field. A toddler uses visual discrimination to find a bird in a picture or locate a parent in a crowd of people.

Visual Memory
The ability to recall objects, faces, and images. Visual memory allows a child to remember a sequence of objects or pictures. It also serves as a foundation for learning to read.