The power of doing something over and over 🙃

Through repetition, your toddler deepens their understanding of how things work and strengthens their brain architecture. They also develop focus and persistence, two key executive function skills.

In this post:

• Activity: Simple repetitive play offers rewards
• Article: A simple way to increase your toddler’s attention span 
• Ask & Learn: My toddler likes to do the same things over and over again. How do I know when to change things up?

Simple repetitive play offers rewards

When playing with the Carrots and Carrot Lid for the Coin Bank, your child might push the carrots into the wooden box and enjoy their success for a moment. Then, they may be ready to retrieve the carrots and do it again—over and over.

Repetitive play like this also helps build your toddler’s problem-solving skills, confidence, and sense of autonomy ❤️

A simple way to increase your toddler’s attention span 

When you read a book or practice stacking blocks with your toddler, you do more than bond with them. You also help increase their attention span ❤️

Two related studies published in 2019 and 2022 found that when parents and their toddlers focused on a toy together, the toddlers paid attention a little longer and engaged in more complex play. This is called “joint attention.” In the studies, the toddlers continued to play with their toys—even after the parents shifted their attention away. 

3 key takeaways to help increase your toddler’s attention span

Touch, gesture, and talk about their toys. Play alongside your toddler as they put a ball down the Slide & Seek Ball Run. Gesture to show them how to open the different doors and get the ball out, narrating as you play: “Look, here’s the ball!” 

Use action words. One study showed that when parents used “action-orienting” talk—”Let’s roll the ball!”—the toddlers engaged in even richer and deeper play. Watch your toddler and comment on their actions or what they could do next. You could say, “Do you want to feed your bunny a carrot?” or “Let’s knock over the tower!” 

Follow your toddler’s lead. Notice where your toddler looks or reaches and then focus on that object together. According to one of the studies, toddlers paid attention longer when their parents followed their child’s interests.  

What parents are asking our experts…

Answer:

Doing the same thing again and again may seem boring to you, but it’s essential for your toddler’s learning. Through repetition, your child develops persistence and focus. When he repeatedly sends balls and other objects down The Slide & Seek Ball Run (The Babbler Play Kit) and then peeks into the doors to see what’s inside, he’s practicing fine motor skills and visual spatial awareness as well as investigating object permanence and cause and effect more deeply than he has in the past. These are just a few of the ways in which your son learns by rote. When he loses interest in an activity, that’s the time to move on.

Answered by:

Keep Exploring:

• Every toddler learns to walk at their own pace
• How your toddler learns boundaries
• Starting to talk about the potty

Book Bundles for The Play Kits

Having the right books at the right time makes all the difference during your child’s early years. Enjoy even more stage-based books—featuring real stories and families—when you add our Book Bundles to your Play Kits Subscription.

Learn more

The Course Packs

Each Course Pack is a compelete set of tools designed to help you and your child succeed.

Learn more

Learn more about the research:

Schatz, J. L., Suarez-Rivera, C., Kaplan, B. E., & Tamis-LaMonda, C.S. (2022). Infants’ object interactions are long and complex during joint engagement. Developmental Science, e13239. 

Suarez-Rivera, C., Smith, L. B., & Yu, C. (2019). Multimodal parent behaviors within joint attention support sustained attention in infants. Developmental Psychology, 55(1), 96–109. 

Yu, C., & Smith, L. B. (2016). The social origins of sustained attention in one-year-old human infants. Current Biology, 26(9), 1235-1240.