By 18 months your toddler may

Probably have seemingly endless energy and capacity for making a mess. 

They may be: 

• much more confident on their feet 
• able to build a tower of three or four blocks 
• ‘helping’ clear up toys or copying you doing housework 
• speaking a few simple words 
• able to feed themselves with a spoon and fork and drink from a cup 

You can encourage development by 

• letting them explore in a safe environment 
• reading to then (rhyming and repetition are especially good) 
• singing and dancing together 
• letting them scribble with big crayons 
• playing with playdough 
• letting them enjoy playing with water at the kitchen bench while you work 
• walking in the park, feeding the ducks 
• getting them together with other children 

They will imitate whatever you are doing. This is time for lots of hugs and cuddles. At this stage they cannot remember concepts clearly so cannot decide what is right and wrong. Let them make simple choices, like which shirt or shoes to wear today. Say it is dinner time; don’t ask if they are hungry. They also have no concept of time, so they won’t understand if you say you will do something later. Their concentration span is short so they will play with a toy briefly before discarding it for another one.