5 books and songs that support toddlers in following directions

Learning to follow directions is a critical developmental milestone for toddlers that sets the foundation for their expressive language development. Between 12 and 24 months, children begin understanding and executing simple one-step instructions (e.g. "put your shoes on"), which gradually evolve into the understanding and execution of more complex multi-step directions (e.g. "go to the mudroom and get your shoes") over time.

Following Directions supports toddlers in their learning by:

• Exposing them to new vocabulary (e.g. nouns, verbs, prepositions, etc.). As we've discussed before: comprehension tends to precede production, so an understanding of these types of words is cemented before toddlers begin using them.

• Exposing them to new sentence structures that enable them to learn the relationships between words (which will help them use grammar down the line)

• Having them practice responding to the requests of caregivers (which in turn, supports social skills!)

• Supporting cognitive skills like working memory and problem-solving. For instance, toddlers must hold the direction in their mind before executing on it and they must problem solve how they are going to carry the direction out.

Now that we have covered some of the numerous benefits of learning to follow directions, let's chat about how we can support this essential skill: books and songs! There are several books and songs that have directions built right in so you can have your child follow directions in a relaxed and fun context (i.e. they won't feel like they're being pressured to do things!) Here are a few examples:

• If you're Happy and You Know It (Song + Book!)

  

  This is one of my absolute favourites. It is memorable, repetitive and so much fun to sing or read with toddlers. This book helps to familiarize your toddler with action words like "touch", "shout", "wiggle" and more and teaches body parts. The best part is that it can be easily modified on the fly to introduce new actions! There are many different versions of the song and book out there. So get creative and have fun with it!

  
  

• The Hokey Pokey (Song)

  This is a great song that is so much fun for toddlers to participate in. I love the inclusion of prepositions like 'in' and 'out' and the introduction to concepts like 'left' and 'right'. This song does a great job getting toddlers up and moving and executing gross motor movements too which provides a great format for learning new concepts!

  
  

• Open & Shut Them (Song)

  This is a song with many variations and provides several opportunities for toddlers to practice the actions "open" and "shut" using their bodies! It also helps to familiarize toddlers with body parts like 'chin' and 'lap'.

  
  

• From Head to Toe (Book)

  This book provides such a clever way of introducing tons of animals (e.g. giraffe, buffalo, monkey) and an action for each (e.g. turn my head, bend my neck). My oldest son in particular loved this book as a toddler and used to sit in front of a mirror performing the actions! It's so much fun!

  

• Pat the Bunny (Book)

  This is another classic with lots of fun actions for toddlers to perform. I love how the book is structured to show Paul and Judy performing an action (e.g. Judy can pat the bunny) and then asking if the reader can do it too (e.g. Now YOU pat the bunny!). There are lots of fun textures for toddlers to feel and interested sounds to listen to.

  
  

  

  
  

  Here are some things to keep in mind when giving your toddlers directions within these songs and books:

  
  

• It's perfectly OK if your toddler does not want to perform the action. We want to create a fun and relaxed atmosphere. Dial down the pressure. Up the fun.

• Model the actions for your toddler to help enhance understanding (it's a lot more fun when they're not the only ones!)

• Emphasize new concepts within instructions to make them more salient. So if your toddler is just learning body parts, exaggerate those words in the instruction e.g. "if you're happy and you know it, touch your NOSE!"

  
  

-- Meg