GOING THROUGH THE MOTIONS | At 14 months, Claire is at an age where she’s not interested in staying still. It’s okay most of the time, but it can make tasks like diaper changes, changing clothes, and wiping her face and hands after eating challenging. This can be frustrating, especially when we’re in a hurry to get out the door and we don’t have time to chase her down haha.
To keep her from trying to wrestle away from us, we sing songs to grab her attention long enough to get the task done. While this has worked pretty well, we’ve taken it a step further and taught her hand gestures that go with the song. Songs like “head, shoulders, knees, and toes”, “wheels on the bus”, and “five little monkeys” are great for this! She can’t do all the gestures yet, but as she tries, she’s able to get her wiggles out through concentrated movements in her arms and hands, keeping her body still enough so we can complete the task. It’s a bonus if big sister, Eleanor (2.5 years), is around to sing and do the motions with her! Making it a game is a fun way to connect with her, and she loves it too! Talking, singing, and pointing are not only important for learning and language development, but they can be great ways to make mundane tasks more enjoyable!
By Lizzy Tahsuda
Learn more about the Basic – Talk, Sing and Point