Hi!
Yes, adding to or building off Meghan's response, I've found with my own child (she's 2!) it really helps her when I model how to play with toys, especially any new toys.
When you're adding new materials to the classroom, you could try introducing them to the class that morning and discuss ways together with them on how to use or play with the materials.
Also, in the classroom setting, you could use pictures to help demonstrate the use of the materials as well. Like Meghan said, build a tower, take a picture and then add that to the wall beside the blocks. That way, if you weren't able to "stage", they still have a reference to hopefully help them engage with the materials.
Hope this helps!
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Emily Simon
Product Marketing Manager, Teachstone
emily.simon@teachstone.com------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: 01-19-2022 12:41
From: Meghan Cornwell
Subject: Promoting Sharing
Hi Shanna,
One tip that I actually recently saw on TikTok was to stage toys as if they're already being played with before showing the child the option. So, for example, if you want a child to explore blocks, you'd set up a tower to encourage facilitation. New toys can feel intimidating if you don't know how it can be played with (much like how I'm intimidated by machines at the gym until I know what to do on them).
Another example would be having racecars lined up on a race track rather than having them in their storage container.
Good luck! Two year olds are challenging!
Meghan
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Meghan Cornwell
Content Marketing Manager
Teachstone
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