Up to two years of age, your child will spend longer on toys
that she can use independently, particularly those that imitate
the adult world. Dolls, toy houses, and cars, for example, will
enable her to act out the scenes she sees in real life. As she
gets older, she will acquire new skills and enjoy anything that
tests them- building and knocking down, or constructing and
taking apart. Household items such as plastic containers and
cardboard tubes will stimulate her creativity and imagination.
Drawing, painting, making shapes with clay or colored dough, and
fitting together puzzles encourage creativity. Long before she’s
able to write or draw formally, your child will love scribbling
and using colors, so give her crayons and lots of paper. A box
of colored chalks and a blackboard and easel, set up at her
height, will be useful because she’ll be able to draw, then rub
out her work, and start again. Children love being part of the
domestic routine. A small child can be given a little bowl with
some flour to mi