Video on development of 12-18 months
Development from 12 to18 Months – English
Heading: Development from 12 to 18 Months
Sub-heading: Walk
Scene: The mother holds her little boy's hands to teach him walk. The boy cruises a few steps by holding onto a TV cabinet. Another 2 children walk freely by themselves in the living room. One of the boy squats down to pick up a toy from the floor. He then walk to and climb up the sofa.
Narrator: Children start learning to walk at this stage. Although they may still wobble in their steps they can balance fairly well and try to squat down. Some of them may even climb onto furniture.
Scene: The mother holds her little boy's hands to teach him walk. A family member uses a toy to attract the boy to walk towards her. The little girl who knows how to walk is pulling a toy cart along.
Narrator: You can encourage your child to walk more such as by giving her a pull-along toy when walking. You can also take your child to the playground or to have more outdoor activities.
Sub-heading: Coordinate with hands and fingers
Scene: A baby is playing with an activity board. She uses her fingers to spin, press, pat and turns the different knobs on the activity board. The boy puts a small ball through the hole of a toy ring held by his mother. The boy is playing toy blocks with his parents. He stacks one block on top of another. Another girl sits on her father's lap is reading a big cardboard story book. She turns the page by herself. She scribbles on a magic board. She follows her parents' instructions by putting her toys in and taking them out of a basket.
Narrator: Their hands and fingers coordination has become more accurate. They can stack blocks, turn thick pages of a book, doodle with a crayon and put objects in and out of a container.
Scene: The girl and her father is playing with toys on the floor.
Daddy: Comb.
Scene: The girl hands the comb to her father.
Narrator: At this stage they know the name of objects and will look at the object named by you.
Daddy: Telephone.
Scene: The girl picks up the toy phone and pretends to talk.
Daddy: Drink.
Scene: The girl takes the toy cup from the floor and pretends to drink. The father then holds a doll and shows it to the girl.
Daddy: Comb comb.
Scene: The girl picks up the toy comb and comb the hair of the doll.
Sub-heading: Understands simple instructions
Narrator: They can also follow simple instructions.
Scene: The girl plays attentively with her toys. The father holds out his hand to the girl.
Daddy: Give me.
Scene: The girl puts the toy in the father's hand.
Daddy: Good girl. Bye-bye.
Scene: The girl waves bye-bye.
Sub-heading: Begin to talk
Scene: The father and mother play and talk to her girl. The girl responds by making sounds like “Ah” “Ah”.
Narrator: As they start to talk with jargons or sometimes words, try talking to them frequently and let them imitate your words.
Scene: The girl picks up a ball.
Mother: What's that? A ball.
Scene: The girl hands the ball to her father and makes some sound like “Eh” “Eh”.
Sub-heading: Think
Scene: The girl looks at and explores the toy phone in her hand.
Narrator: Children of this age start to take interest and experiment on things around them.
Scene: A boy is playing with his parents. He throws a ball to the floor and it bounces. He finds it funny. He then thorws different objects on the floor to test if they also bounce.
Narrator: For instance, when a child finds out a ball bounces when he throws it, he will throw other objects to check whether they will bounce too.
Scene: Another little boy is playing toy blocks with his parents. He finds a block hidden under a box easily. The boy drops the block and it rolls under the sofa accidentally. He crwals down on the floor and try to stick his hand under the sofa to get it back.
Narrator: They will also try to solve problems.
Scene: A boy and a girl are playing tea set on the floor. The girl puts a toy spoon to the doll's mouth and pretends feeding it. She puts a toy phone to her ear and pretends talking with her father. The parents are reading newspaper on the sofa, a boy holds a book and imitates what they are doing.
Narrator: They like simple pretend play such as playing with a tea set or imitate the actions of adults. The way they play actually reflects their observation in daily life.
Sub-heading: Care for self
Scene: Three toddlers sitting side by side eating at a small table. They try to use the spoon to feed themselves and hold a cup to drink.
Narrator: Give more chances for your child to try in self care activities. You will discover that he can do so much like eat with a spoon and drink with a cup.
Scene: One of the little boy plays with his food while eating and makes a mess on the table.
Narrator: Don't get upset if your child makes a mess during the learning process. You should praise and encourage him. This can help your child to build up a sense of achievement and to be independent.
Scene: The mother praise the girl eating nicely by clapping her hands. The father hands a piece of paper towel to the boy to clean his mouth.
Sub-heading: Like being with other children
Scene: Three toddlers are playing in the living room. Each child is playing with different toys and with little interactions.
Narrator: Children like making new friends at this stage. Although they like being with other children they still play on their own most of the time.
Scene: A boy and a girl are snatching a toy. The boy cries when he fails to get the toy. Then another boy comes and he snatches the toy from the girl.
Narrator: They are still self-centered and may snatch toys, throw tantrums or even fight with other children. If that happens, stop him immediately and encourage your child to express his needs through words or gestures.
Scene: The father comes over and stops the boy. The boy stops and use gestures to show his father what he wants.
Both nature and nurture affect every child's development. While nature is important in determining your baby's capabilities and abilities, the role of a nurturing environment is of equal importance in your baby's learning and emotion development.
Development is a continuous process and has a certain sequence that children would go through. However, parents should remember that every child is unique. Children have their own pace in development and vary in their abilities. If you are unduly concerned, talk to your doctors or nurses.
What you can do to help your baby's development
What babies can do
What you can do
I can walk!
Make the home environment safe
From wobbling to walking, I can go anywhere I want to go!
I can climb onto low furniture
My eye-hand coordination enables me to do more
Play with me
I can place toys into a box
I can stack blocks
I can turn the pages of a book
I can hold a crayon and try to scribble
I start to understand what you say; I also learn to talk
I start to understand names of familiar persons and objects. I will look at them when you mention their names
I start to understand simple instructions, e.g. “Give me the ball”
The words that I can understand are more than I can say
Children at this stage can vary greatly in language development. So I could still be babbling, or could be having more than 10 words
I begin to think and solve problems by trial and error
Encourage me to solve problems myself
I like experiments. e.g., if I discover that the ball will bounce back after being thrown out, I will try to throw other objects to see whether the same results will happen
I will try solving simple problems, e.g. I will try to get things out of my reach by using a stick
I like imitating adults
I can take care of myself
Give me time and chance to learn by myself
I can pick up food with my fingers and put it into my mouth
I will try to use a spoon to eat and a cup to drink
I need you to understand my emotions
Guide me to get on with people and express my emotions
I like to be with other kids, even though we don't know yet how to play together
I am still self-centred and will fight over toys with other kids
I always lose temper as I am still unable to control my emotions and express myself verbally
