Greetings Families,

As the Monkey students grow older, their social and play skills develop as well.  All of the children have unique relationships with each other, no matter their age difference.  The older toddlers enjoy showing their younger friends how to use certain toys or pointing out pictures in books to them.  Their friendships are being strengthened through similar interests of play, such as caring for baby dolls, driving cars, and building structures.  Along with those activities, come different types of play stages. 

For instance, while participating in a racecar painting activity, the toddlers demonstrate associative play when they point out how their friend is using a car in a different paint color.  In this type of play, the children notice what their friends are doing and interact more with each other while playing by their side.  On the other hand, the younger Monkeys have moved from the solitary stage of play as infants, to parallel play as they become toddlers.  Two or more children can often be found gravitating towards the same toys, such as blocks.  One child may stack the blocks, while the other is investing the sounds the blocks make when they hit each other. In this type of play, the children use similar items while next to each other, but limit interaction with each other. 

Overall, the Monkey children have become more social with each other as they play peek-a-boo, dance together, and take notice of each other. 

Thank you for reading!

The Monkey Team