Sometime around 1 year to 14 months of age, children speak their first words. Once language skills develop, they can be incorporated into play. For example, parents can ask children to identify the location of their nose or the family pet. Pronunciation is less important at this point than the act of verbalizing. In addition, parents can model appropriate times for verbalization. For example, if a child points to a favorite book, the parent can respond with a verbal question such as “Read the doggie book?”

This is the age when children begin to use their play skills to develop social relationships with other children. Parents can help facilitate this process by introducing their child to potential playmates. Initially, a child may play alongside other children without any interaction – a style of play known as parallel play. If the child does interact, it may be in an apparently negative manner, such as grabbing a toy away and shouting “Mine!” Physical confrontations are common among children in this age group.

However, by the time a child is 18 months old, such confrontations should give way to more productive social interactions. Children learn from one another by copying each other’s style of play and by mimicking each other’s behavior (such as laughing when their peer laughs).

Parents can also subtly increase the complexity of certain tasks as children grow older. For example, by 15 months, many children can successfully point to the lion in a group of illustrated animals.

Children in this age group also engage in “symbolic play” by imitating a parent’s actions. For example, they may follow their parent around with a dust rag and help perform housework or take a toy shovel out to help dig the garden. They may also enjoy playing with play food, dolls and dress-up clothes. By this age, children understand that toys are symbols of things in real life. Parents can also encourage their child to mimic adult behaviors, such as brushing teeth or putting on shoes.

Symbolic play is an important tool for learning a wide range of lessons. It helps teach the difference between real things and imaginary things and contributes to the cognitive development necessary to understand and manipulate symbols. This is an important factor in learning to add and subtract, and to read and write.

Other toys that can help children to explore and experiment include toy trains, outdoor swing sets and slides, crayons, blocks, and pots and pans. Children can develop fine motor skills and sharpen their analytical skills with pegboards, puzzles and shape-sorters. For example, using shape-sorters helps them to distinguish a square from a triangle. Toys than can be pushed, pulled, ridden or climbed on help children develop gross motor skills. Balls encourage the development of hand-eye coordination while playing with sets of toys, cars or animals promote sorting and categorization abilities.

By the end of a child’s second year, most boys and girls are able to engage in symbolic play, speak two-word sentences, follow instructions and imitate expressions. Over time, they will become increasingly sophisticated in using these techniques. They may first use objects that are miniature versions of real items (e.g., toy cups and plates). Eventually, they learn to pretend other items, such as a piece of cardboard, can be a plate.

By the time children reach age 3, they have a firm grasp of spatial relationships and can improve this understanding by completing puzzles. They can also identify colors. Imaginative play becomes increasingly creative and involves more elaborate storytelling. Despite all this advancement, children at age 3 may not yet have a firm grasp of the difference between reality and fantasy. They may even view cartoon characters and computer games as having a basis in reality, and may believe that their parents have omnipotent powers.

Around the age of 3, children also begin to play more cooperatively. They can learn that they have to take turns during games. They also begin to test their playmates by teasing them or displaying anger toward them in an attempt to see how far they can push while still remaining friends.

By age 4, children are becoming much more aware of all aspects of their lives. Their play with peers is highly cooperative and they begin to comfortably engage in activities such as ball games, playing house and building things together (e.g., with blocks or sand). They are much more likely to share toys, and have learned that sharing belongings with others means this act is likely to be reciprocated.

Imaginative play continues to become more creative, with children frequently using storytelling through toys as a way to act out their emotions. Parents should not become alarmed if this play occasionally has violent overtones (e.g., having two stuffed animals fight one another), as this is a way for the child to release aggression.

Children this age often develop imaginary friends with whom they may “play” when they are alone. This is normal, and typically is only considered a problem if children repeatedly blame their imaginary friend for bad behavior. Children this age can also learn to develop mental and physical skills by trying out equipment at a local playground.