Zero to five years of age is the best time to take advantage of the baby's development of the brain, his language, social skills, and fine motor skills.  Parents should teach, sing, talk, and most importantly play with the children as much as they can during these important stages in their lives.

During play, our children learn a lot.  That's why it's essential to expose them to educational toys which will help them reach their learning potential.  One of the trusted toy manufacturers that support this is Fisher-Price.

According to Deborah, Weber, Ph.D. Director, Early Childhood Development Research from the USA, during an event I attended a few weeks ago, children develop at their own pace and reach milestones at different times.  Are you also guilty of comparing your child to another one of same age (only at the back of your head) when you see the things the other baby could already do?  Ako, yes, I am guilty of that.  But gladly, Dr. Deborah reminded every mom in the audience that each child is unique.  What parents could do to help their child learn is to support them with their learning road by giving them wonderful experiences as they grow from infants to young child. She also supports Fisher-Price's well-designed educational toys which has something for every child in different stages.

Sharing with you the differnt child stages, what they could already do and their milestones:

Ang ganda ng talk ni Dr. Deborah Webber and I really learned a lot.  Here were some of the parenting tips or learnings I picked up from her talk:

What's so important about choosing the right kind of toys for our kids?  Hindi ba pwedeng kung anong laruan ni Kuya, pwede na rin palaro sa bunso?  
No.  There are toys that could be over-stimulate a younger child which will not help in his brain development.  Always check the age-appropriate labels of the toys.  Toys which are interactive and challenging enough but without causing him frustration.  Plus, not all toys of older child's generation still meet the safety standard of toys today. 

How about exposing my child to differnt toys, kasi ang daming regalo nung birthday?
Dr. Webber answered this by saying, choose a few toys he would get used to seeing or playing each day.  Too much again would over stimulate the child.  If he gets tired of these set of toys, you may change the selection of toys every 3 months.

What is independent or unstructured play?
It's the time when our children play by themselves without us stepping in.  It's letting our children explore the educational toys and the surrounding by themselves so that they learn from these hands-on experience. 

Should I start reading to my child when he's already talking?
The earlier the better.  Read to the child even during infancy.  It's a great way to bond with them and studies show that reading could improve the child's language skills and increase their interest in reading.

Tantrums.  How to handle?
Let the child cry.  He throws tantrums when he can't express how he feels with words.  Give the child a few minutes to deal with his frustration.  When he's already calm, talk to the child about what the situation, reassure him of your love and be firm. 

Moms of this age are so lucky because there are so many resources that would help us (yes, kasama ako sa moms of little ones!) navigate through early childhood development and how toys play an integral part in their Physical, Cognitive, and Social & Emotional Development.  Honestly, being a mom of almost 15 years still doesn't make me an expert at all on motherhood and parenting.  There are still so many new things to learn each time.  Thanks to doctors who study how our children develops and of course to toy manufacturers such as Fisher-Price who have our children as their top of mind when designing quality and beneficial toys.  In every milestone, Fisher-Price is every step of the way.  Sharing with you age-appropriate Fisher-Price toys for your reference: