Doll play and the under 2 year old

My niece Thea is almost 2. She loves my "doll room". I have the privilege of watching her and her sister twice a week and it has been so much fun to watch her grow and watch how she plays.
Thea, as you can tell by the photo, prefers to play with all my doll stuff, on her own. Uninterrupted that is! Just before I snapped this photo she was feeding her doll (seated to the right)  an apple. She set the entire scene her self and as you can see she was not pleased to have me interrupt her.
 Thea is very much independent with her doll play and I wanted to know more about how 2 year olds develop and play. I found this interesting article at http://lisahwarren.hubpages.com/hub/Two-Year-Olds-and-Play and I thought that these passages were worth sharing
On  2 year old's and playing on their own...
"They need to learn to play, and they need things kept simple. Not only does a little sit-down play help offer a calm time during a frazzling day, but it can help a child learn that playing quietly can be enjoyable. Play offers a young child time without struggles for independence or worries about control."
I think that Thea has wonderful independent play skills, even giving me a few minutes to write while she plays! (For which I am very thankful!)
I wanted to share a bit more of Lisa H Warren's  article on how 2 year olds play and this passage explains how a two year old becomes aware of their independence.
"At two years old, these little folks have just recently become aware of their own independence. They know what they like and don't like, and what they want and don't want. They want to assert their new-found sense of independence, but because they're so little it isn't always possible to let them have/do what they want (because, to be honest, they sometimes want ridiculous stuff). Not being allowed to assert their independence, however, means that having a sense of control becomes very important for two-year-olds
Rules and too much structure aren't things for which two-year-olds are well equipped or ready."

"...Two-year-olds have a very short attention span, which might lead parents to think they aren't interested in sitting down and playing for any length of time. Surprisingly, though, a two-year-old will often sit and play for quite a while under some circumstances. Sometimes it may actually be more accurate to describe a two-year-old's attention span as "challenged", rather than "short"; because what can make the difference between whether a child will engage in any activity for any length of time is whether the child's interest has been captured. Yet something else to understand about a two-year-old is what will not only capture his interest, but maintain it for a while. Also important to recognize is that two-year-olds have a really easy sense of humor, and making use of that can help keep them entertained"

While I am not an expert in early childhood development I found the article from which I have posted parts of, to be informative and educational.
I believe in the power of play and the power of Doll Play, and thank you for taking the time to visit my blog.
As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com