This has got to be one of our favourite pieces of design ever! Others have followed in its wake, including Mouse, Cow, Tiger and Bumble Bee wheelies, but for us (and our children) the Ladybird wears the crown. Beautifully crafted from the best quality materials to cope with hours...

, burglar alarm boxes and broken paving stones. Each one is a revelation, a whole new world of possibilities. What’s more, says chartered psychologist Nicola Barber, all this exploration is helping your toddler’s cognitive development. And, she adds

at school, something was happening to lower body image and raise body dissatisfaction levels. "Dieting awareness and body dissatisfaction develops over the first two years of school," say the authors. "Most of the girls believed that being thin would make

EXCITED CRIES CRESCENDO as we walk down the hall. Eleven-month-old Tom has spotted his beloved shapes jigsaw book. Giggles ring out as he turns the pages, busying himself removing stars and triangles, circles, squares and rectangles. Each piece is a triumph, held up for my inspec...

,” says Dr Evelyn McGregor, Lecturer in Child Development at Edinburgh University.2 Smile and your baby smiles with youIt’s one of the most wonderful moments – when your baby beams a great big smile back at you. It’s a fundamental interaction and a huge

Writing thank you notes is all part of teaching a child good manners, but the act of actually getting your child to sit down and write one can be such an uphill struggle that sometimes it just seems easier to do it yourself. But it's important that children learn to express their...

Explain feelings Describe how other people feel when they are sad or when they are hurt in clear and concise language. If your child breaks another child’s toy, for example, you can remind him how he felt when one of his toys broke, and say. “That is how Danny is feeling.” Be con...

Best toys for babies1. A Baby GymWhen: From birthWhat it does: Encourages and improves hand-eye coordination; tactile stimulation; and visual development. Babies quickly learn that if they “act”, certain toys “react” and the mirrors, soft toys

to develop memory and think for herself.By the age of three, your toddler will have developed around 1,000 trillion connections between the cells in her brain, which is around twice as many as the average adult!

. And guess what? It’s really good for him (even if it may mean soggy clothes for you). Lively outdoor play activities are important for your child’s development of independence and autonomy. According to the Children and Nature Network Research Studies, when