Parenting Tips for Your 33-34 Month Old Toddler
One of the most valuable skills we have as adults is the ability to solve problems. Through training and experience, we have learned what is best to do when there is trouble, how to avoid problems, or how to fix something that needs to be fixed.
Some people go through life solving problems well. Others go through life solving them poorly. Very young children are learning how to solve problems and developing their very own style of problem solving. Whether they learn to solve problems well or not so well depends largely on the help and encouragement they get as toddlers.
Every day, toddlers face problems and have a chance to practice solving them. For example, suppose Jimmy and Julie are building block houses, but neither has enough blocks to finish. You could suggest how they can solve this problem, but it is better if you help them learn to figure out how to solve the problem themselves.
To do this, you can describe what you see. You can say that they both want to finish their houses and neither has enough blocks. Then you can ask them for ideas on how they might solve the problem.
In doing this, you do two important things. You show them that you expect them to be able to solve problems, and give them a chance to practice doing so. At first, you might need to help them come up with ideas. Later, they’ll be able to do more problem solving on their own.
