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Home › Articles › Baby and Toddler › For the Fun of It

For the Fun of It

Loving, Chasing and Playing with Toddlers

By Mark Stackpole

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Dr. Kuczmarski also believes that there is tremendous value in sometimes doing nothing at all, which she calls "hammock time." "Daydreaming, hanging out, getting lost in your thoughts, doodling," she says. "Call it what you will, it means shifting gears into neutral. Our culture puts so much emphasis on 'doing,' and children soon pick that up. Children are profoundly nourished by introspective time. Too much focus on busy activities and games leaves very little time to dream, wonder, reflect and discover."

While playing with their toddlers, parents are often teaching them to climb up in the world, both literally and figuratively. After all, what young child doesn't like to climb?

Mills has seen her daughter climb everything she can at the park, whether it is the playground equipment or a fence that stands in her way. She has been amazed by her determination in dragging a chair over to the counter to climb onto and grab something previously out of reach. For kids, fun and functional often go hand-in-hand.

Raising a toddler means a lot of laughing, throwing, running, hugging, kissing, kicking, catching, rolling, tickling, playing, singing, sliding, climbing and dreaming. If you don't get enough of this on a daily basis, you run the risk of turning into an ogre. Who wants that when there is so much fun to be had?

Beyond Words

"Play gives parents an opportunity to bond with their toddlers, to instill values, to communicate symbolically and subliminally, as words sometimes rationalize and fail us, while using the five senses is more honest," says Debbie Mandel, a fitness and stress management expert, radio host and the author of Turn on Your Inner Light: Fitness for Body, Mind and Soul (Busy Bee, 2003).

How can simple activities go beyond words and teach valuable lessons?

  • Showing rather than telling values by playing catch. Sometimes you drop the ball and that's OK because you try again. Tea parties instill good manners and the good feeling we get from nourishing ourselves and others.
  • Dancing and racing to make exercise fun. Active play that promotes movement sets a lifelong habit for good health and releasing stress.
  • Crafts and stickers convey creativity. Color outside the lines and mix-and-match stickers. Children can experience quiet time to unleash their imagination and ability to see things differently before the world compels them to conform.
  • Building with blocks demonstrates that a child is an architect and can create his world, make it topple and rebuild it. This communicates resiliency and experimentation as we adapt to things.


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