Your child is reaching the age of Cooperation, a time between 2-3 years of age when he becomes more social and interactive with peers. Although many parents believe that their children are cooperating when they do what they are told to do, they are actually just acting “in compliance.”¹ True cooperation is a prosocial behavior (i.e. a positive behavior that benefits others) where a child works with others to reach a common, mutually beneficial goal.^1,2 Ultimately, your child’s ability to socialize and cooperate will depend greatly on his emotional intelligence, the understanding of how to manage his emotional state when relating to and working with others.³

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At the beginning of this stage, your child will still prefer to parallel play next to other children, using similar toys or copying how other children play, rather than play with them in a purposeful or organized way.^3,4,5 As he matures into an older toddler, he will become genuinely more interested in interacting with others and sharing his toys as he plays next to other children. Although he will still be playing on his own (e.g. making his own pretend dinner or block creation), he is sharing his toys and play materials in a form of play called associate play.^3,4

Your child may prefer playing with specific friends at this age,^5,6 and he may also try participating in certain group activities when he feels ready and able to join in. He will most likely rely on you to help him resolve conflicts, since for now, he still sees things only from his own perspective (egocentrism).^5,7 Rest assured, however, that your child will get better at working with others as he improves his understanding of “taking turns,” Self-Concept ideas (e.g. “mine,” “his,” “yours”), and gender differences. With social interaction taking a larger role in his learning at this stage, one of the best things you can do for your toddler is to continue giving him many opportunities to play socially and cooperatively with his caretakers and friends.

Play Tips:

Do you want to know how you can support your toddler’s development of Cooperation skills at this age? It’s easy! Read on for some simple tips to incorporate into your daily play time together.

1. Engage in pretend scenarios to develop rules of play.^8,9,10 According to Lev Vygotsky, a renowned psychologist and contributor to early childhood development, children learn by imitating, communicating, and interacting with their caretakers and peers. Pretend playing with peers gives your child a chance to observe and take on different roles, as well as practice the unwritten rules of play. These activities will not only develop his Cooperation skills, it will also improve his self-control.
2. Encourage group play time to develop cooperation and practice taking turns. Though your child may prefer to play next to his friends rather than with them at this age, be sure to offer plenty of group play activities and events.¹⁰ Social activities and small group games, even something as simple as going to the neighborhood playground with friends, helps him practice sharing, cooperation, and turn taking behaviors.
3. Use individual and possessive words often. Help your child better understand Cooperation and other prosocial behaviors by boosting his individual and possessive vocabulary and using these types of words every day. Simple words and phrases you can include are:

• “This is your teddy bear.”
• “It’s my turn, please wait.”
• “That is Daddy’s hairbrush. Would you like to ask if you can use it?”

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Developmental Milestones:

Has your baby achieved the following Cooperation developmental milestones yet? If yes, check off all the skill(s) she has already mastered to date using Playful Bee’s developmental milestones tracker. It’s absolutely FREE and easy to use, just click HERE!

• Takes turns in games and activities.
• Understands the idea of “mine” and “his” or “hers.”

Sources:

¹Zero to Three. Tips on Helping Your Child Learn to Cooperate. Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families. Retrieved February 26, 2014, from http://www.zerotothree.org/child-development/social-emotional-development/tips-on-helping-your-child-cooperate.html.

²Marion, M. (2003). Guidance of Young Children. Columbus, OH: Merrill Prentice Hall.

³Gellens, Suzanne R. (2013). Building Brains. St. Paul, MN: Redleaf Press.

⁴Albrecht, Kay (2011). What’s Play Got to Do with It?. Community Playthings. Retrieved February 26, 2014, from http://www.communityplaythings.com/resources/articles/2011/whats-play-got-to-do-with-it.

⁵Maryland State Department of Education (2010). Healthy Beginnings: Supporting Development and Learning from Birth through Three Years of Age.

⁶South Carolina Program for Infant/Toddler Care (2008). South Carolina’s Infant & Toddler Guidelines.

⁷Rathus, S. A. (2011). Childhood and Adolescence: Voyages in Development. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

⁸Preusse, Kathy. Fostering Prosocial Behavior in Young Children. Early Childhood News. Retrieved February 26, 2014, from http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychildhood/article_view.aspx?ArticleID=566.

⁹Mooney, Carol Garhart (2000). Theories of Childhood: An Introduction to Dewey, Montessori, Erikson, Piaget, and Vygotsky. St Paul, MN: Redleaf Press.

¹⁰Texas Early Learning Council. Little Texans, Big Futures: Your Early Learning Guide for Infants, Toddlers, and Three-Year-Olds.

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Playful Bee

Education Team at Playful Bee

Playful Bee is an e-Preschool that delivers inquiry-based preschool learning from the classroom to your home. Our preschool curriculum was created by our talented team of rock star teachers. With years of hands-on preschool and Kindergarten teaching experience, they've developed a high-quality preschool experience that is convenient-to-use and easy-to-teach by you, grandparents, or your nanny at home.

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