10/06/2026
Yesterday, I put some “new to us” excavator trucks on the playground that my friend donated to us. Today, I put a new musical toy in the playroom that one of our families donated to us. This group of children are toddlers and young preschoolers. Anyone who has been around that age of children can imagine the conflict that might arise, placing one or two new toys in their play space. To my surprise and delight, there was no conflict. Yesterday, a two year old child was playing with one of the excavators. I saw another child look interested in the toy. That child walked up to the child with the toy and asked, “When you’re done playing with that, can I play with it?” Today, the children huddled around the musical toy, allowing the child who donated it a turn first. When that child was finished playing with it, another child started playing with it. Then another child said, “I would like a turn,” then waited patiently until the child was finished playing. Then we went outside and it wasn’t long before we had to run in to change a diaper. One child was unhappy about going back inside. A child got the new musical toy and gave it to the crying child to soothe him while I changed the diaper. 🥰
Empathy, self regulation, boundaries, taking turns, communication, awareness of others are just a few of the social emotional skills children learn through play.
