Quality Time

Title: Parent-child Communication

Narrator: Parent-child Communication

Scene: Mum is playing a toy piano with her son Hei Hei in the living room.

Narrator: Mum is playing a toy piano with her son, Hei Hei, in the living room.

Scene: She glimpses the laundry on the sofa and rubs Hei Hei's head.

Narrator: She rubs Hei Hei's head and asks him to play with the toys as she has to do household chores.

Scene: Mum sits down and folds the clothes while Hei Hei is playing.

Narrator: Mum is folding the clothes while Hei Hei is playing.

Heading: Quality Time

Narrator: Quality time

Scene: Mum is playing with her son, Hei Hei, and doing household chores.

Narrator: Children often need our attention to chat and play with them. However, we may not always have time for them. If you make good use of “Quality Time” to build a good relationship with your children, they will trust you more and this makes parenting easier.

Scene: Mum is tickling Hei Hei on the sofa.

Narrator: Time spent with your child need not be long. Brief attention from time to time can have a better effect. Enjoy and tune in with your child even if the play seems to be silly and repetitive.

Scene: Mum is folding the clothes on the sofa. She smiles at Hei Hei and sings along the piano.

Narrator: Even if you are busy, you can give your child attention from time to time. Just like this mother, she often pays attention to her son and praises him while she is folding clothes.

Scene: Hei Hei goes to Mum while she is folding clothes at the sofa.

Narrator: Hei Hei goes to Mum while she is folding clothes. When your child needs you and comes to you, try to stop for a while whenever possible and respond to him.

Scene: Mum stops folding the clothes and talks to Hei Hei.

Narrator: Mum stops folding the clothes and responds to Hei Hei's needs.

Mum: Hei Hei, my dear! What's up? Mum is folding clothes.

Heading: Parent-child Communication Skills

Narrator: Parent-child communication skills

Scene: Scenes of Hei Hei throwing tantrums and Mum playing with him.

Narrator: Children of 18 to 24 months old may not express themselves well and are still self-centred. Using effective communication skills can help achieve two-way interactive communication with your child.

Scene: Hei Hei looks for his mother, but she is busy tidying up the table

Narrator: Mum is tidying up the table and holding the bowls while Hei Hei looks for her. She asks him to go and play on his own first.

Scene: Mum squats down, sits down and holds him to stay face-to-face while talking to him.

Sub-Heading: Face-to-face

Narrator: When talking to children, stay face-to-face at eye level with them. You can squat, sit down or hold them so that they can look right into your eyes.

Scene: Mum is playing with Hei Hei in the living room.

Narrator: When playing with children, don't just give them instructions and neglect their interests.

Scene: Mum picks a book and reads to Hei Hei. However, Hei Hei is more interested in other things.

Narrator: Mum suggests that Hei Hei reads a book. But seeing that Hei Hei is more interested in the cars, Mum lets him take the lead.

Sub-Heading: Let your child take the lead

Narrator: When you echo your child's interests, he will be more willing to communicate with you.

Scene: Mum and Hei Hei are playing balls in the living room.

Sub-Heading: Respond and praise

Narrator: When your child makes sounds, facial expressions or gestures, we can respond by imitating or guessing his meanings. Praise him for his efforts.

Scene: Mum passes the toys to Hei Hei and he puts them into the box.

Narrator: Hei Hei helps Mum tidy up the toys. After doing so, Mum praises Hei Hei with a big smile and applause.

Scene: Mum is playing with Hei Hei in the living room.

Sub-Heading: Talk about things in sight

Narrator: Make use of everyday situations to describe actions, names, uses or characteristics of things around your child to enhance his language and cognitive development.

Scene: Mum is bathing Hei Hei.

Narrator: Like at bath time, Mum says “Ducky” to Hei Hei while she holds a rubber duck.

Narrator: Mum describes what she's doing to Hei Hei while drying his body after a bath and helping him put on a shirt.

Scene: Mum is busy in the kitchen while Hei Hei is playing in the living room. Hei Hei looks for her.

Narrator: Mum is so busy in the kitchen and Hei Hei is playing in the living room. Then Hei Hei goes to her and Mum asks him to play on his own.

Scene: Hei Hei begins to throw a tantrum.

Sub-Heading: Prepare engaging activities

Narrator: If you are too busy to spare time with your child, do prepare in advance some interesting activities to engage him at such times so that he won't get bored and seek your attention.

Scene: Mum opens the kitchen cabinet trying to find some playthings for Hei Hei.

Narrator: Other than toys, durable household utensils can be fun! Remember, the most important thing is that they need to be appropriate to his developmental level.

Narrator: Mum brings Hei Hei some plastic bottles, boxes and paper tubes for him to play with.

Narrator: Children of this age have short attention span. You may retain the novelty of the activities for your child by preparing a variety of materials and putting away some for rotation. You really don't need to spend money on interesting toys!

End Shot: Department of Health logo

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