Learning how to manage buttons, snaps, zippers and other clothing fasteners also helps children learn to control these important muscles. Artistic play helps children develop both creative and fine muscle skills. These skills develop best when adults allow children to try things without being pressured to do them a certain way. Young children need lots of practice learning and using words to talk about what they see, know and do. They need good language skills to help them organize their thinking.
Children develop language skills from their interactions with others.
Parents' use of language and their responses to children's attempts to communicate guide language learning. For example, caregivers who talk to babies help them recognize that sounds and words are important, even if babies cannot yet understand what is being said. When caregivers respond to babies' babbling and speech-like sounds, they are preparing them to communicate with others. By talking with infants and toddlers, adults help them connect sounds with meanings. Being a can-do kid means being able to talk about what you can do.