Development at 17 Months
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Activity 1
Age Appropriate Gross Motor Development
Balances On One Foot With Support For Two To Three Seconds
I am learning to balance on one foot! Hold my hand and encourage me to lift up one foot. You may need to demonstrate the action to me if I do not understand. Observe if I am able to balance on one foot with support for at least 2 to 3 seconds! Am I able to balance on both my left and right feet? I usually develop this skill between 16 and 18 months.
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Steps
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Hold your child's hand while he is standing.
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Get him to lift up one leg. You may need to demonstrate balancing on one leg to him.
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Observe if he is able to balance on one leg for 2 to 3 seconds.
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Observe if he can do this on both his left and right feet.
Feedback
Your child is developing good balancing skills at this stage. Good balancing skills are essential for many sporting movements your child may learn later! This is the foundation from which your child will build many movement patterns upon. Take a look at the suggested activities for more ideas with this task.
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Provide your child with lots of opportunities to refine his balance by getting him to stand on one leg whenever you are putting his pants on for him. He may put one or both hands on your shoulder(s) while he lifts each leg for you.
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Challenge your child further by asking him to decrease his hand support on you!
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Face your child and hold his hands while playing some happy music. Sway from side to side, balancing on one leg briefly then shifting weight to the other leg.
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Activity 2
Age Appropriate Social Development
Uses Gestures To Interact With Other Children
While I am not used to being with other children my age, I will try to look and interact with them. It may be awkward as we cannot speak properly to each other. So if I want the toy the other kid is playing with, I'll probably just grab it. We may fight and get upset at times but this is normal. I will use gestures to interact with other children when I am 17 to 24 months old.
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Steps
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Place another child beside your child.
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Each of them has their own toys.
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Interest your child with the other child's toys.
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Observe what is your child's response.
Feedback
Your child is gaining an interest in what others are playing at this stage. This play skill usually develops between 17 and 24 months of age. He is also able to use his gestures to communicate his interest of "I want that toy", "Look at what I've got", etc. He is learning to develop nicely along this social skill.
Continue to place him in small play groups for him to learn to interact with other children. Use music and physical games to facilitate these interactions. You will have to intervene at this stage whenever the communication gestures are too negative. Teach him then what is appropriate for him to do.
Try the suggested activities to encourage positive play and the use of positive gestures to relate to his peers.
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Use physical play like in a ball pool or a big sand pit and place 2 children inside. After they are familiar with this environment, give each a new and different toy and help facilitate their interaction.
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Watch your child's favorite music video where he also dances to the music. Invite another child over to watch and dance along with him. You will have to facilitate their interaction. Do accept fights and see how they themselves resolve it.
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Use play dough activities and engineer the situation such that there is only 1 roller and 1 cutter. Give each one of them a different colored dough. Watch and facilitate when necessary the interaction.
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Redirect your child's hands to tap gently instead of hitting hard if he wants something from his peers.
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If your child is still not too able to interact positively with other children you can start by creating small group opportunities (only 2 children present) with you as an adult. Try facilitating their play and encouraging your child to use gestures like patting on the peer's shoulder or reaching out for the toy.
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