22/08/2025
One of the most common myths in early childhood is that babies and toddlers need to be around other children to “socialize.”
In reality, the first years are about building secure, responsive relationships with primary caregivers. This is when the architecture of the brain is forming at an incredible pace, with over one million new neural connections being made every second. These connections are shaped by consistent, nurturing interactions.
Every cuddle, every shared smile, every time you respond to their needs, you strengthen the neural pathways for trust, empathy, communication, and cooperation. These are the building blocks that make future friendships and group interactions possible.
Social skills at this stage are not learned on the playground or in a group of same-age peers. They are formed through the back-and-forth exchanges, eye contact, and emotional attunement between a child and their caregiver. Peer play will naturally come later, once the child feels secure and confident in themselves. Solitary and parallel play in infancy and toddlerhood are not only normal but essential for healthy development.
We’ve unpacked this in Part 2 of our Summer of Play series, Stages and Schemas: https://www.weskoolhouse.com/product-page/summer-of-play-series-part-2-patterns-of-play-understanding-stages-and-sche
