Playing with a Younger Child

Sometimes we play with a baby or a younger child who takes a toy from you because they are still learning to play. In this story, Javi learns how to play with a younger child, and offer them another toy instead. 

Grown-ups, try this at home! A companion episode with tips is coming next! 

Did you try this with your child? How'd it go? Connect with us at realstoriesrealchildren@gmail.com, or on IG at @RealStoriesRealChildren and let us know! 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:19

Welcome to Real Stories for Real Children, where we tell stories about real things that happen in children's lives and help them know what to say and what to do. Has there ever been a time when you were playing with someone who is younger or smaller than you? Sometimes you play with someone who's younger and they're still learning how to play. And you have to play a little bit differently than you do with your friends. In this story, we see Javi learn how to play with his baby sister, Valentina. Once there was a child named Javi. He had a baby sister named Valentina. Javi loved his little sister. She liked to laugh at things he did, and she liked to watch him play. When Valentina was first a new baby, she couldn't move or touch much. She mostly just watched him and laughed. As Valentina and Javi both started to get a little older, Valentina started to want to touch the toys that Javi was playing with, and she wanted to do what he was doing. One day, Javi was playing with some cars. Valentina had learned to crawl, and she crawled over to him and started touching some of the cars that he was using. Javi was lining up the cars in a straight line. Valentina reached for one of the cars in the middle of the line and picked it up in her hand. Javi said, Hey no! No, stop! And he took the toy out of Valentina's hand. Valentina got surprised and started to cry. Javi's papa saw the whole thing. He walked over and sat next down to Javi. He said, Javi, can I tell you something? Javi said, Yeah. His papa said, Did you know that you were once a baby, just like Valentina? Javi said, a baby? His papa said, Yes, you were a baby once too. And you didn't really know how to play with other people. Sometimes you would take toys that other people were playing with. When babies are learning how to play, they don't always know that they need to wait. And they don't always know that someone else is using something. Sometimes they just take something they see because they don't know how to play with other people yet. Javi said to his papa, Valentina took my car. His papa said, Yes, she did, and I see that you did not like that. It's okay for you to be upset if she takes something that you're using, but we have to help her know that she has to wait or find something else. Javi looked at Valentina and said, Go find something else. Javi's papa smiled. He said, Sometimes babies don't understand. Can you find something that she could play with and bring it to her? Javi looked around. He saw a stuffed monkey toy that he knew Valentina really liked. He walked over and picked up the monkey toy and handed it to Valentina. Valentina giggled and took it. Javi put the car back in the line with the other cars. His papa said, that was very kind of you to offer her something else. When you're playing with someone who is younger than you, sometimes you have to offer them something different and be very gentle if they try to take something from you. Because babies are still learning how to play. A few days later, Javi and Valentina were playing again. And this time Javi's mama was in the same room. Javi was building a train track so that he could run his trains around and around in a circle. Valentina watched, and after a few moments, she crawled over to the train track and started grabbing the traps. Javi said, No, stop! His mama said, Javi, remember, babies are still learning how to play. Is there something else you could offer your sister? Javi saw a book. He picked it up, handed it to his sister, and said, Here you go. Valentina took the book, and Javi kept building his train track. Your turn. Did you know that you were once a baby too? Has there ever been a time that you played with someone who was younger than you or someone who didn't know how to play yet? Remember, babies are still learning how to play. If you're ever playing with a baby or someone younger than you, and they take something without asking, you can offer them something else. Now you know what to do if you're ever playing with someone younger than you, or a baby who is still learning how to play. Until next time, grown-ups, please try this at home.