According to psychology, imitation is the process by which an individual copies the behaviors of others from hearing and observing. Whether intentional or unintentional, this action still plays an important role in the development and learning of each individual, especially in preschool and young children. Because through imitation, children will become aware of themselves, form behavioral standards, and learn and recognize the world around them.
In the previous article, parents understood whether it is good for children to imitate and what to do when their children misbehave. Today, Mykingdom will work with parents to learn the role of imitation in each stage of a child's development, thereby providing the most accurate and effective way to educate.
Below are important milestones in your baby's imitation process.
Children from 4 to 7 months old
Children from 4 months to 7 months old begin to observe the behaviors, facial expressions, and words of their parents and caregivers. Your baby tries to "copy" what he observes and expresses it with sounds like aaah, uuuu... following a certain melody that you may not be able to understand.
Children from 8 to 12 months old
Now that your baby is a bit older, he or she can imitate simple gestures such as clapping hands, blowing kisses, making ugly faces, holding a spoon, moving toys from one hand to another, and giving food. into the mouth... Besides, babies also imitate sounds and words such as ba ba, mam mam, go... This is considered an important stage for babies to learn to speak, so parents should spend Spend more time with your child and start speaking short, easy-to-understand sentences for your child to learn. However, parents should not try to speak in their child's slurred voice because it will make it difficult for the child to grasp and speak correctly later.
Children from 13 to 17 months old
At this stage, children can quickly imitate the actions and words of adults. Parents can easily see that their children are performing the dance moves and movements of adults more flexibly than before. Parents should encourage children to imitate with interesting games such as peek-a-boo, stacking blocks, reading books, reading poetry, and singing fun, easy-to-understand children's songs.
18 month old child
18-month-old children have better imitation skills than before. At this time, children can imitate their parents doing familiar activities such as sweeping the floor, holding the phone, feeding dolls... Parents can encourage their children's imitation skills by letting them do it themselves. Personal tasks such as taking socks off feet, putting dirty clothes in the basin, putting toys in baskets... These activities will help children practice independence and early motor skills.
Children from 19 to 35 months old
At this stage, children like to imitate sounds, especially the final sounds of sentences that their parents and grandparents say. For example, when parents say "This is a cat", the baby will say back "Cat". Furthermore, babies can imitate their parents' gestures and intonation. In addition, babies also imitate the sounds of animals such as cats meowing, dogs barking, ducks quacking, traffic sounds, sirens beeping... in daily life.
Regarding behavioral imitation skills, children at this stage can already perform more difficult activities such as putting on and taking off pants, wearing slippers, climbing stairs... Parents can train their children to brush their teeth, for sure. Your baby will feel excited and learn.
36 month old child
The imitation skills of 36-month-old children are demonstrated through the way they learn and explore their surroundings. Children can imitate many complex actions when playing pretend activities of adults, imitating characters in stories and movies they watch. Parents should spend time accompanying and creating conditions for their children to play useful role-playing games such as playing the role of a doctor examining patients, being a cashier at a supermarket, or being a car repair engineer. ...
Above is the role of imitation skills in each developmental milestone of children from 4 months to 36 months old. Hopefully this article will help parents better understand this imitation skill and have appropriate ways to play and educate their children at each specific stage.
Parents, please immediately visit the website of Mykingdom Toy Kingdom at: http://www.mykingdom.com.vn and buy many quality smart toys and role-playing toys with many attractive incentives to Children play passionately and develop comprehensively. Don't forget to follow Mykingdom's " Handbook " section to learn more useful articles.
